Bad grades or low GMAT? - 工管

Evolution has no will. [Apologies to any Creationists out there, but just
indulge us for a moment…]

If you think ¨the tornado〃 occurred because nature felt fat one day, and
took its self-image issues out on humanity, it would… not sit quite right.
If a train that was hurtling toward a defenseless child all of sudden ran out
of gas moments before impact, sparing the childˆs life… sure the parents of
that child might thank nature, but I might get pissed that the train that
killed MY child wasnˆt so kind.

Take morality and will out of it for a second though, and understand that…
stuff happens. Cells divide, asteroids crash into things, tornados… wreak
havoc. Why? It can all be explained (a bit soullessly) by simple, clear, ¨
scientific〃 explanations. Chemical, biological, physical THINGS line up to
result in cause/effect moments in time.

Such should be the M.O. of an explanation of a bad grade or low GMAT score.
Be soulless about it. Be scientific. Stuff happened that led to it, and hereˆ
s what that stuff is.

Letˆs boil the ¨excuse〃 down to two types: Personal and Professional.
Personal reasons: supporting a family, sick family member, being a new
immigrant, etc. Professional reasons: holding a full time job while in
school, lack of balance between job-related endeavor and coursework.

The last thing that the Adcom wants to read is a whiny set of long-winded
excuses. So whatˆs the right way?

Confident. Candid. Concise.

Do not be apologetic, just… explain it. Donˆt justify it, just explain it.
Donˆt try to spin it, just explain it. A clear, quick explanation ITSELF can
earn you credibility, more so than your argumentation.

I screwed up. Hereˆs what happened. Not an excuse, thatˆs just what
happened. Hereˆs proof that I learned from it.

Zip in, zip out.

Everyone has a bad grade, and lots of folks didnˆt do so well on the GMAT.
Donˆt pretend that you are the coolest smartest person or the first-ever to
have to work through college or support family. Just explain it coolly and
crisply. This the one time you actually WANT to be a bit soulless. Weˆll
accept a destructive earthquake if we understand things like ¨fault lines.〃
Harder to swallow when Mother Earth tries to justify it.

Good luck with everything gang--like always:)
Jon Frank
Founder Precision Essay
http://www.precisionessay.com

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