Not proud of your undergrad GPA? Concerned it will hamper your chances of graduate acceptance?  Get ready to find out what to do about it.

The 5 A’s for your low GPA:

1. Assess your GPA (2:40)

Is it really low?

I define a low GPA as one that is .3 on the U.S. 4.0 scale or more below your target school’s average GPA for accepted students.  This information can usually be found in the posted class profile and sometimes in U.S. News rankings.  An alternative definition, which also works in my book, is a GPA that is below the target school’s 75th or 80th percentile, if you have that information.

Let’s take a look at either these definitions and discuss what’s good and bad about them.

The Good

Either of these definitions is relative to the schools that you are targeting.  So if you have a 3.3 and the average GPA of the entering class is a 3.3, you do not have a low GPA. However, don’t tune out yet. If you have that same 3.3 and the schools you are aiming for has an average GPA for accepted students of 3.7+, as do several medical schools, Stanford Business School, a few law schools, and other graduate programs, then you have a low GPA. And you should definitely listen in to the rest of this show.

The Bad

While I like this definition, I also have to issue some warnings and caveats.

• Admissions is about much more than GPA, as you will see later in this show. You cannot look at any one number and focus exclusively on it.

• By focusing on the average, the definition doesn’t reflect the impact of trends in GPA or extenuating circumstances.

• It doesn’t reflect the impact of diversity and non-academic experience on how schools view these numbers.

• Doesn’t reflect how far away you are from the average. A little below is less of a problem than a full point below.

The elements that are not included in my definition – really the fuzzier aspects of admission and the flaws in my definition– provide opportunity for those of you who may have a low GPA and still want to attend the program of your dreams.  They allow you to show that your GPA doesn’t define you or your capability.

2. Analyze the cause(s) of your low GPA (6:19)

Ask yourself:

• Did you have a hard time adjusting to college so your GPA took a hit your freshman year, but improved every year with your landing on the Dean’s List for the last two years and having a 4.0 the last year?

• Did illness or circumstances beyond your control cause a drop in your grades for a specific period of time?

• Did you declare the wrong major and have poor grades in that major until you realized your true calling? Then you started to excel.

• Were you working part-time to support yourself or did you have a major sports commitment in order to qualify for an athletic scholarship?

• Did you start out strong, maybe earning a 3.9 during your freshman year, but then lost your motivation? Did your grades drop steadily so that your GPA average during your senior year had declined to a 3.1? This trend is a red flag even if the overall GPA is a 3.4 or 3.5.

The list above presents several causes in order of difficulty in overcoming them (easiest to hardest).

The causes of your low GPA – as well as how low it is – will influence how you deal with it and how much effort you must expend to mitigate it.

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3. Address your low GPA (8:10)

The basic goal in addressing your GPA is to show it isn’t an accurate reflection of your ability, to show you are capable of much, much more.

There are two basic steps to make that case:

1. Ace your test. Whether it’s the MCAT, GMAT, LSAT,