<p>I attended a 4 year school in upstate new york my freshmen year but due to surgery
on my shoulder before my fall finals, post surgery recovery was much worse then i expected and it had a huge effect on my finals. Then i had depression/stress going into my spring semester - in all i got a 1.5gpa for my freshmen year (30credits). I then went back home and went to a local CC for a year where i got a 3.9GPA for 53 credits (i took summer classes before and after my spring/fall semesters). Currently i am at Rutgers where i am doing very well in the undergrad business school... ontrack to graduate with a 3.7-3.8ish. For employment i know theyll only look at my rutgers grades and i'll be able to tell them that i did very etc but im worried about business school. I plan on applying to business school after 2-3 years of work. Do you think theyll look at my freshmen grades and think about it...? or it really wont matter after my rutgers gpa + work experience? Should i talk about it at all in my essay or avoid it completely so it doesnt get any unnecessary attention?</p>
<p>You'll be fine with your gpa from Rutgers, and I wouldn't address it unless it's brought up. If an essay can lead you to discuss that issue then I would, but I wouldn't a) volunteer it up or b) try to hide it. It is what it is (I hate that saying). You can angle it in a way that shows you over came diversity, succeeded when failure was staring you down, etc. I think most people looking at your grades, even without looking at anything else, will know there's a story behind it and won't fault you for it.</p>
<p>Most MBA schools require to see 4 years of transcripts. In some applications, you can self report, but after acceptance, they want to see your transcripts. You can mitigate poor freshman grades by taking a few business related classes at your local college and getting As.</p>