GMAT is difficult? Do Student’s Hate GMAT? Reasons Fact or Fiction

Most people hate GMAT, but very few understand its role and importance in MBA admissions.

GMAT is critical when you are applying with a below average GPA. In that case, you need a few post-

college A’s and a high GMAT to show that you have the intellectual ability and self-discipline for a

demanding MBA program.

But you must be feeling that, The GMAT has nothing to do with your ability to achieve something in

business and isn’t/shouldn’t be that important to business schools?

If your undergraduate grades are low, particularly in your junior and senior year, but you have a high

GMAT score, consider taking a few post-college quantitative courses. Many admissions committees

want evidence of your ability to perform academically in quantitative courses. Most top ranked

business schools receive an overwhelming number of applicants with very high scores. Therefore,

the deciding factor becomes your previous academic performance.

A low GMAT can certainly keep you out of business school. Can a high score get you in? Only to a

school that wants to use your GMAT to make itself look good. These schools are usually outside the

top ten. Therefore GMAT plays the most important part, when you are applying in a B School.

GMAT is clearly an important factor in your admission to an MBA program; take it again if you have

scored poorly. Here you have an advantage, that admissions committee will most likely look at your

most recent score for evaluation.

GMAT is only one piece of the puzzle. Strong recommendations, well-written essays, Strong

postgraduate work record (if any), and a decent GPA are the other elements that contribute to the

overall picture of your application.

GMAT scores for the top U.S. schools are tremendously high. Just to let you know, There are 29

whole-time MBA programs in the U.S.

Importance of GMAT and work-experience in an MBA application

GMAT Score: This remains the single-most important factor which determines the college selection. Generally, applicants go by the average MBA scores indicated by each college. However, it is important to go a bit deeper into the class profiles or independent ranking websites to determine the range of GMAT scores for mid-50% of successful applicants. Typically, if the average GMAT would be say, 680, then the mid-50% could be 650 – 700 or mid-80% around 640 – 740. Thus, if an applicant has say, 670, he/she need not feel ineligible to apply. While applying to good colleges (ranked by FT) I would recommend a minimum score of 680 and to other colleges in US / world of a score not less than 650. These scores can be considered competitive. Of course, no GMAT score can be considered in isolation and other factors discussed below do matter a lot.

While the average GMAT score published by universities / colleges is an absolute score, the range of GMAT scores discussed above gives a better idea of the qualitative aspects of the application. One has to reflect as to why some candidates with a GMAT score which is nearer the lower end of the range do get selected whereas candidates having scores above the average GMAT score or even near the top end of the range do not make it? It is obvious that these candidates had something which appealed to the admission committee. This could be the length of work-experience or more importantly the industry / sector which the applicant has been working in. Typically, engineers do well in GMAT and hence get high scores. However, an MBA program thrives on diversity. So the admissions committee would consider an application from a historically unrepresented industry /sector perhaps a bit more favourably and settle for a lower GMAT score if all other aspects of the application are fine. Sectors like banking /consulting typically see a third of the applications. Thus, the admissions committee might select candidates with higher GMAT scores from these sectors as the competition within these sectors would be tough. Since most of the MBA programs work on cohort system, it is necessary for the selectors to maintain diversity as all cohorts should be as equally balanced and hence they try and balance the intake lest a particular class should be tilted towards any particular industry or sector.

I have seen candidates with as high as 760 in GMAT not getting selected due to the length of work-experience not being sufficient or below the class average. Top MBA programs typically require a work experience of about or nearing 5 years. Although the college web-sites do mention that minimum requirement to apply would be 2 years or 3 years of work-ex, it is important to understand that for post-MBA employment, pre-MBA work experience plays a major role. Colleges / Universities in US are not recruiting grounds for entry-level position. The MBA graduate from these colleges typically would be absorbed in middle level positions and hence previous work-ex plays a major role. This would hold well even if the applicant is looking for a career change post MBA.

Amar Mainkar

Head of Counselling

CLEAR PERCEPTIONS