Well, I should amend that I guess because your GMAT score is definitely important, very important. But it is certainly not the be all and end all of a business school application. I am sometimes asked by applicants "I scored XYZ in GMAT. What schools can I apply to?"
It is this applicant with such a mindset that I want to address this post, to say that while your score is important, you must not let it weigh you down if you scored a tad less than you expected. Understand that it is just one of the several factors that the AdComm will evaluate and if you take good care with the other elements of the app like your essays, the application form, your resume and the recos, you can offset a below par GMAT score.
Also, while most aspirants look at the mean or median GMAT scores published by a school, one should also look at the range. So while the median GMAT score in Stanford class of 2014 is around 730, the lower end of the range is around 550. And since most schools display the GMAT score range of the middle 80% of the class only, the actual lowest score to make it to Stanford might be even lower than 550.
But this does not mean that one need not put in the hard work to maximize his or her GMAT score. Remember that each and every element of the full application package must be as strong as we can make it, while retaining full authenticity, because the competition is fierce. The things to remember are:
It is this applicant with such a mindset that I want to address this post, to say that while your score is important, you must not let it weigh you down if you scored a tad less than you expected. Understand that it is just one of the several factors that the AdComm will evaluate and if you take good care with the other elements of the app like your essays, the application form, your resume and the recos, you can offset a below par GMAT score.
Also, while most aspirants look at the mean or median GMAT scores published by a school, one should also look at the range. So while the median GMAT score in Stanford class of 2014 is around 730, the lower end of the range is around 550. And since most schools display the GMAT score range of the middle 80% of the class only, the actual lowest score to make it to Stanford might be even lower than 550.
But this does not mean that one need not put in the hard work to maximize his or her GMAT score. Remember that each and every element of the full application package must be as strong as we can make it, while retaining full authenticity, because the competition is fierce. The things to remember are:
- One below par element of your application package (like the GMAT score) is not enough reason to give up hope.
- The more profitable view is to evaluate the overall strength of your own application and take that as one of the inputs, along with other inputs like your career goals etc., to choose the correct schools to apply to.
I found The GMAT Coach on Google and their program worked beautifully for me. I watched it on my big screen, in my lay-z-boy. They were cool as hell and helped me out when I needed it.
ReplyDeletequestions on the GMAT