Common questions about the role & importance of GMAT scores
Posted: September 8th, 2014, 10:19 pm
[This is an article that we wrote for Pagalguy]
International business schools have been increasingly figuring on the radar screens of Indian professionals hoping to take their careers to the next level.
Check out the number of posts that we get in our Free profile evaluation section of the forum to get an idea of the level of interest.
However, there are major differences between these international options and our Indian MBA programs – starting from the rationale for pursuing the degree to the kind of career options one can explore after graduation.
An international program can be very expensive. So it’s only natural to have a ton of questions before candidates are comfortable with the idea of shelling out all that money to essentially get the same three letter acronym on their CV that a whole lot of their former classmates and current colleagues have already got from India.
For the last 10 years that I’ve been active as an admissions consultant, there are some questions that come up more frequently than the others.
This series is an attempt to collate those questions and provide high-level perspectives on each. Use them to grasp the basic principles and then follow it up with further research.
An excellent (and free) starting point is to start participating on the relevant discussion threads on MCB, where some really helpful folks (students, alumni, consultants and fellow aspirants) are helping out.
We start off with a few questions related to the GMAT, an important component in the application process.
Q1. I’m not very good at standardised tests (Or “I’m really short on time” Or “I’d prefer an easier way around this” Or...add your reason here). Are there any schools that accept applicants without a GMAT score?
Yes, there are schools that don’t require a GMAT score or substitute it with an alternative test score.
Some top schools have started accepting GRE as an alternative to the GMAT score for their management courses. This trend of schools accepting both GMAT and GRE scores will possibly increase over time, as it increases the applicant pool for bschools substantially. A few others may have their own aptitude tests.
For certain executive and part-time MBA programs, a few schools have done away with the GMAT and started focussing on other aspects (like undergrad academic performance, work-experience) to judge the candidate’s potential to do well in the program and after graduating.
On the other hand, a large number of bschools will grant you an admission based on an English proficiency test (like TOEFL or IELTS) and maybe a short Statement of Purpose with an interview. Others might even skip that formality. As long as you can pay the fees, the doors will remain open.
It’s incorrect to make general assumptions, but if you are targeting schools that make it extremely easy for every Tom, Diksha and Haridas to get in, carry out a thorough research about the calibre of students in the class, the quality of the degree you’d get from the institution and its market value.
For now the fact is, almost all the top ranked schools offering full-time MBA programs would need a GMAT score. If you don’t have it, then you’d have a tough time creating your shortlist of options worth applying to.
Q2. As a child I’ve always dreamt of getting into XYZ university. What GMAT score should I aim for, that’ll guarantee an admission offer from this bschool? What’s the minimum cut-off for this bschool?
Almost all the good bschools publish some basic statistics about their current class. The average GMAT is one of them. Others could include average age, average work experience, pre-MBA industries/roles/nationalities. Check out the websites of the individual schools to get this data. Along with the average GMAT, many schools also publish an 80 percentile range for the GMAT score (e.g. 650 – 750).
You’d hardly find a school that tells you the ‘minimum’ cutoff or any threshold that’ll guarantee you a seat, or for that matter even get you an interview call. Many of the top schools reject candidates who’ve scored a perfect 800 on the GMAT as the rest of their profile isn’t as impressive. You’ll also find students who’ve got into extremely competitive schools with a very low GMAT score.
As a general approach, aim for the highest GMAT score you can possibly achieve. Then forget about it and focus on the other important parameters that are really critical from the Admission officer’s perspective (more on what these are later).
Q3. I was consistently scoring between 730-750 in my practice GMAT tests, but I don’t know what happened in the real test. I ended up with a low GMAT score of XXX. What should I do now?
First things first. Most of the mock tests that private companies create can never give you an exact idea of how much you can score on the real test. The scoring algorithm, the level of difficulty for the questions and the degree to which these companies can mimic the ‘adaptable’ nature of the GMAT can and does vary substantially.
MBA.com offers a couple of free tests to download and these are considered to provide the best estimates. Then there are a whole lot of non-technical aspects at work – nerves, unfamiliar test center, pressure – that can impact your performance on the test day. Be aware of these differences before you analyse your D-day performance and compare it to what’s happened earlier in the practice tests.
The good (?) thing about the GMAT is that you can take it multiple times. Schools generally take the highest score you submit to them. So you’ve basically got two options – retake it or move to the other parts of the application – depending on the scenarios described below.
Scenario 1: Your actual score is dramatically lower than your practice test score.
If you have the time, the inclination and $250 to spare, go ahead and re-take it.
Scenario 2: There’s only a marginal (10-30 point) difference between your expected and actual score.
Put a lid on it and move on. Relatively speaking, the GMAT is the easiest aspect to fix. But beyond a certain point, the incremental value is negligible.
This is just a general guideline to help you decide. Whether you re-take it or not would also depend on how strong the rest of your application is.
International business schools have been increasingly figuring on the radar screens of Indian professionals hoping to take their careers to the next level.
Check out the number of posts that we get in our Free profile evaluation section of the forum to get an idea of the level of interest.
However, there are major differences between these international options and our Indian MBA programs – starting from the rationale for pursuing the degree to the kind of career options one can explore after graduation.
An international program can be very expensive. So it’s only natural to have a ton of questions before candidates are comfortable with the idea of shelling out all that money to essentially get the same three letter acronym on their CV that a whole lot of their former classmates and current colleagues have already got from India.
For the last 10 years that I’ve been active as an admissions consultant, there are some questions that come up more frequently than the others.
This series is an attempt to collate those questions and provide high-level perspectives on each. Use them to grasp the basic principles and then follow it up with further research.
An excellent (and free) starting point is to start participating on the relevant discussion threads on MCB, where some really helpful folks (students, alumni, consultants and fellow aspirants) are helping out.
We start off with a few questions related to the GMAT, an important component in the application process.
Q1. I’m not very good at standardised tests (Or “I’m really short on time” Or “I’d prefer an easier way around this” Or...add your reason here). Are there any schools that accept applicants without a GMAT score?
Yes, there are schools that don’t require a GMAT score or substitute it with an alternative test score.
Some top schools have started accepting GRE as an alternative to the GMAT score for their management courses. This trend of schools accepting both GMAT and GRE scores will possibly increase over time, as it increases the applicant pool for bschools substantially. A few others may have their own aptitude tests.
For certain executive and part-time MBA programs, a few schools have done away with the GMAT and started focussing on other aspects (like undergrad academic performance, work-experience) to judge the candidate’s potential to do well in the program and after graduating.
On the other hand, a large number of bschools will grant you an admission based on an English proficiency test (like TOEFL or IELTS) and maybe a short Statement of Purpose with an interview. Others might even skip that formality. As long as you can pay the fees, the doors will remain open.
It’s incorrect to make general assumptions, but if you are targeting schools that make it extremely easy for every Tom, Diksha and Haridas to get in, carry out a thorough research about the calibre of students in the class, the quality of the degree you’d get from the institution and its market value.
For now the fact is, almost all the top ranked schools offering full-time MBA programs would need a GMAT score. If you don’t have it, then you’d have a tough time creating your shortlist of options worth applying to.
Q2. As a child I’ve always dreamt of getting into XYZ university. What GMAT score should I aim for, that’ll guarantee an admission offer from this bschool? What’s the minimum cut-off for this bschool?
Almost all the good bschools publish some basic statistics about their current class. The average GMAT is one of them. Others could include average age, average work experience, pre-MBA industries/roles/nationalities. Check out the websites of the individual schools to get this data. Along with the average GMAT, many schools also publish an 80 percentile range for the GMAT score (e.g. 650 – 750).
You’d hardly find a school that tells you the ‘minimum’ cutoff or any threshold that’ll guarantee you a seat, or for that matter even get you an interview call. Many of the top schools reject candidates who’ve scored a perfect 800 on the GMAT as the rest of their profile isn’t as impressive. You’ll also find students who’ve got into extremely competitive schools with a very low GMAT score.
As a general approach, aim for the highest GMAT score you can possibly achieve. Then forget about it and focus on the other important parameters that are really critical from the Admission officer’s perspective (more on what these are later).
Q3. I was consistently scoring between 730-750 in my practice GMAT tests, but I don’t know what happened in the real test. I ended up with a low GMAT score of XXX. What should I do now?
First things first. Most of the mock tests that private companies create can never give you an exact idea of how much you can score on the real test. The scoring algorithm, the level of difficulty for the questions and the degree to which these companies can mimic the ‘adaptable’ nature of the GMAT can and does vary substantially.
MBA.com offers a couple of free tests to download and these are considered to provide the best estimates. Then there are a whole lot of non-technical aspects at work – nerves, unfamiliar test center, pressure – that can impact your performance on the test day. Be aware of these differences before you analyse your D-day performance and compare it to what’s happened earlier in the practice tests.
The good (?) thing about the GMAT is that you can take it multiple times. Schools generally take the highest score you submit to them. So you’ve basically got two options – retake it or move to the other parts of the application – depending on the scenarios described below.
Scenario 1: Your actual score is dramatically lower than your practice test score.
If you have the time, the inclination and $250 to spare, go ahead and re-take it.
Scenario 2: There’s only a marginal (10-30 point) difference between your expected and actual score.
Put a lid on it and move on. Relatively speaking, the GMAT is the easiest aspect to fix. But beyond a certain point, the incremental value is negligible.
This is just a general guideline to help you decide. Whether you re-take it or not would also depend on how strong the rest of your application is.