MBA Crystal Ball

Hi Seamogal,

//How important are GMAT scores in your applications?

Here's the general gyan on this topic --> How important is the GMAT score

// BE from Mumbai university with distinction followed by Masters from Cornell (3.5 GPA).
:
Working in cleantech after that for 3 years

That's a pretty good profile by Indian applicant standards (the last 3 being the loaded words in there).

//Want to apply to top schools i.e. Stanford, Haas.

For any 'regular' top school, the situation would be different. Stanford and Haas are tough nuts to crack.

Statistically, Stanford is the toughest school in the world to get into. Tougher than Harvard.

Haas also attracts a lot of strong tech applicants. Stanford and Haas have an average GMAT that's higher than yours by 30 and 20 points respectively.


//Scored 700 on GMAT. I think I can do a bit better. Would it be worthwhile to give GMAT again?

Can you quantify 'a bit better'? Is that 10 points, 20, 40? Also, important to know how much extra effort you'd need to get there?

At these top bschools, a very high GMAT doesn't mean much. Read this story about an Indian applicant who had a 780 GMAT score.

If you are planning to turn all the attention towards fixing the GMAT score but at the cost of ignoring the rest of your application components (application strategy, positioning, storyline etc) till the last minute, then it would be a bad idea.

You might also want to include schools where you'd be more competitive with the current GMAT score.

Thank you for the reply.

I have scored 730-740 in my last two Manhattan mocks. So am expecting to hit that level atleast. I also feel was low on prep (hardly 15 days)

I have shortlisted around 8-10 university with Cornell, McComb and HKUST forming the lower end of the list.

Too ambitious I guess!!! Anyways I am registering for MAP for a detailed strategy development. But I think it might take around 15 days for that process.

So wanted to get GMAT question out of the way and start my prep for the same.

Seamogal,

//I have scored 730-740 in my last two Manhattan mocks. So am expecting to hit that level atleast. I also feel was low on prep (hardly 15 days)

If you can hit 740 or more with minimal effort, go for it. At least you won't have sleepless nights fretting and fuming about what might have happened if you had only given it one more try.

//...shortlisted around 8-10 university with Cornell, McComb and HKUST forming the lower end of the list.
:
Too ambitious I guess!!! Anyways I am registering for MAP for a detailed strategy development.

We'll find out how ambitious (or balanced) it is once we finish the MAP. The GMAT score is just one of the many parameters we'll use in the evaluation phase.

As long as you have your list of 5 free schools for the GMAT test day, don't worry too much about the school list. For now, focus on the next immediate milestone.

//But I think it might take around 15 days for that process.

The MAP takes roughly 5 working days to complete. So you'd have enough time to work on the apps after that and keep 'em ready for Round 1 deadlines.

//So wanted to get GMAT question out of the way and start my prep for the same.

Get back with some good news and we'll kickstart the interesting parts of the application work. Good luck, buddy.

The official GMAT site FAQ mentions that

As part of your test fee, you may have your scores sent to up to five school programs, which you must select before you take the test.

What are the pros and cons of it ?

shanbhagp wrote:..you may have your scores sent to up to five school programs...What are the pros and cons of it ?

Pros: They are offering you ~$150 on a platter, as it takes $28 to send the GMAT score to any bschool separately.

Cons: Nothing in absolute terms really, as they aren't forcing you to use it. But going in unprepared with the list of schools would mean you are flushing freebies down the drain.

So choose your business schools well before you go for the test.

You can use your practice test scores to get an idea of your expected score range. Combine that with the other elements that are important from a bschool selection perspective (goals, overall profile strength, geography etc).

Thanks for the info. Sameer.

I don't know how that happens, so I'm asking..

How does one submit their GMAT scores ? I mean the technical aspects of it and what all programs does the GMAT (http://www.mba.com) send to; like for HBS 2+2 ?
How do they synchronize with the respective college application deadlines ?

Regards.

Hi shanbhagp,

let us answer your questions:

How does one submit their GMAT scores ? I mean the technical aspects of it and what all programs does the GMAT (http://www.mba.com) send to; like for HBS 2+2 ?

You submit your GMAT scores to business school programs directly from your account. You will have such option while registering (you can try to register and see how it works; the payment stage is the final one so you can test it without paying anything), on the test day and after the test. As Sameer wrote earlier, before the test you have the option of sending up to 5 score reports to different programs for free.

You can find the program which you wish to send your score report to with the simple search instruments. You can search it by program's name and also by program's unique code. For example, Insead's code is DL3-S8-89 (the schools usually also put it on its websites, for example: http://mba.insead.edu/admissions/applic ... cklist.cfm).

How do they synchronize with the respective college application deadlines ?

Here is the basic information about sending the score reports and timing:
http://www.mba.com/the-gmat/gmat-scores ... hools.aspx

We would like just to add that some schools may request non-official score report (simply your score which you mention in your application form) before the deadline. This means that you can take the test even 1 day before the application deadline. Other schools may require official score report from your side before the deadline. In this case you will need to take the test at least 3 weeks before the application deadline. All in all you need to check this requirement with each school you apply to.

Thanks a lot, GoGMAT Team for clarifying my queries. Thank you Sameer.

Hi All

I study in Allahabad,and am in pre-final year of Graduation and want to prepare for GMAT, now since there is no coaching here for GMAT, but there is 1 for CAT, so people here are telling me to go for CAT, as preparing well for CAT will make GMAT a cakewalk to me.

So I have started my CAT preparations by joining CAT classroom course from IMS. But I feel the style and pattern of questions are very different in both the papers, and in order to get a feel of that, I was considering to join a GMAT correspondence course (any other bright ideas will be welcomed)

I can get IMS GMAT correspondence material for 4500
Please tell me how good is it content wise and test-wise . From all the posts I have read Kaplan,OG, Princeton etc are mentioned but no one has mentioned about the IMS material. GMAT veterans please throw light on this topic.

shreypankaj wrote:..want to prepare for GMAT, now since there is no coaching here for GMAT, but there is 1 for CAT...But I feel the style and pattern of questions are very different in both the papers,

Pankaj bhai, as you have personally experienced it, the CAT format, level of difficulty and the overall preparation approach is very different from GMAT.

So it is a bad decision to use CAT material to prepare for GMAT. It's like training for volleyball, when you want to go for a basketball match...because both happen in courts and both involve, er, balls.

shreypankaj wrote:...I was considering to join a GMAT correspondence course (any other bright ideas will be welcomed)..

Just a word of caution, you might end up confused at the end of the training, because the two courses are taking you in different directions.

shreypankaj wrote:I can get IMS GMAT correspondence material for 4500
Please tell me how good is it content wise and test-wise . From all the posts I have read Kaplan,OG, Princeton etc are mentioned but no one has mentioned about the IMS material.

If remote or offline options are what you want, why not go for the best internationally? Read these stories by folks to describe how to get a high GMAT score of 700+. Most of the material they've used is available through Flipkart.

Alternatively, you could consider some of the good online GMAT prep courses in India and complement it with free GMAT support by experts on our forum.