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Hi,

I would like to ask whether I need to explain my lack of extracurricular activities during my undergraduate study in the optional essay question, or should I maintain salience about it?

I believe the fact that I wanted to maintain a high GPA while taking the maximum credit hours in all summer and normal terms to graduate 1 year ahead of my batch played I big role to distract me from having extracurricular activities.

Of course I will not write an essay that is full of excuses, but I need to explain what was my situation at that time.

I would really appreciate your valuable thoughts.

Many thanks.

Sincerely,
Hatem

Dear Hatem,

Thanks for your note. In general, I think it would be a good idea to convey to adcom the fact that you were unable to take part in XCs in college because you took a heavy courseload and graduated a year early. I would not say that you didn't pursue XCs because you were focused on grades/GPA - since there are hundreds of applicants in the pool who manage to secure high marks AND take advantage of XCs.

Of course, now the question is how you should convey this information to the adcom. If the school offers an essay topic that asks you to speak to your undergraduate experience, you can likely work this angle in there. If a school doesn't seem to have any essay topics that would be appropriate to touch upon this subject, you might discuss it in an optional essay.

One last thought: it's one thing to have limited XCs in college due to an accelerated pursuit of the degree you earned - but you will still need to show the MBA programs how you hope to get involved on campus if you are admitted to b-school. As such, it will be critical to showcase your current outside activities/community service so as to make a case. In other words, most of your argument hinges on the assumption that you have solid current activities - since if you don't, the adcom will likely just assume that you aren't the sort of person who gets involved.

Best of luck,

Graham

Dear Graham,

Many thanks for your valuable input. I really appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Hatem