waitingchan

I agreed with you until the admission office for MBA (usually required all professional references) said its not rare that they see bad recommendations. And that's when I started to kinda worry... And Yes, I totally agree not ask to see it..lol..that's a bad approach.

Hi...wow interesting, thanks for your input. I guess it's a bit different in Canada. I have heard from MBA admission office that "make sure your recommendation is strong, it's not rare that we see bad recommendations"..although, typically, one would think, if you write a bad recommendation, why don't you just save yourself some time and refuse to do it. I guess in my case, he didn't refuse to let me read it, but he didn't offer to show me...and I didn't ask....

Thanks for your reply...That's what I thought a lot of professional references do... uhmm...

Thanks!! I would never ask for it if they didn't offer to give it to me. Just a little worried...nothing I can do anyway...

Hi ! Good point. But the thing is...we don't want them to be candid or even talk about negative things right? I mean...it's a recommendation, we want it to be strong... Please let me know if I am wrong here...

Hi everyone, I'm wondering if your references let you read their letters? From a couple of my friends, it's the norm that they let you read them, especially professional references. One of my reference gave me a copy, the other didn't, and I heard he let another person read it before when he did hers. Does that mean what he wrote for me was bad/weak? I'm kinda worried.... (although there is nothing I can really do at the point fingers crossed) Any thoughts? thanks!!

600 characters! They know what I'm doing, but I think I should at least use some words to show politeness, I don't think that's a problem. But I will definitely cut some uneccessary information I agree. I guess I was asking more on if it's worth it to write one at all, since it's not like I have straight As and suddenly 2 D/Fs, nor an upward trend towards senior year shame.... Thanks everyone!

Hi, thanks for your input. My GPA is 2.8, which is definitely one of the lowest for grad school applicant. I'm applying for Healthcare administration, more of a professional degree rather than academic, so it offsets a little bit. I feel addendum can go both ways, either they dislike you or they forgive you.

Hi! great input! I had a lack of facts because the addendum is limited to 600 characters, right now, this is in the high 500s characters, I can definitely remove some wording (such as left home part) and put more facts, but I can't really write out the details because of the character counts. Should I give out what the family issue was? Some people suggested not to do that, so I didn't put any details and put "details can be provided if needed" instead, in case they want to interview me, is that the rigth thing to do? There is no upward trend in my uGPA but I took post bac classes at university extension and got 4.0, should I mention that?? I feel they can see it through transcript so I didn't bother to write it out. But maybe I should at least mention it?? Thank you so much for these great suggestions!!

Can someone give me advice for my low GPA addendum? Anyone has experience on how to write, if at all? There were some issues/hardships in my family and my grades were harmed because of this, but my concern is, there isn't really an upward trend in my uGPA, should I even write an addendum at all? I hope it does not leave a bad impression (finding excuses..ect) The word limit is 600 so I kept it short, which I should anyway. Thanks so much in advance! Admission Committee, I would like to provide an explanation for my low GPA. During freshmen year when I left home for the first time in life, my family went through a tragic event (details can be provided if needed) Now that I became mature, independent and emotionally strong, I believe my undergraduate GPA does not fully represent my capabilities in further education. Please take this information into account when you evaluate my application. Thank you for your time and consideration.