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even admissions criteriaSeven admissions criteriaPage 1 of 7Article content:GMAT
ScoreApplication essaysTimingGPAWork experienceRecommendationsInterviewsGMAT SC
OREIt's sad, but it's true: your GMAT score is probablythe most important factor
in determining whetheryou will be admitted to a top business school. I wantto c
larify that statement, though, so you won'tmisunderstand me.Most applicants beli
eve there is a significantdifference between a 680 and a 720 on the GMAT.There i
sn't. The extra 40 points won't help yourchances of being admitted. That's why I
'm frustratedwhen I hear from people who score 680 and insist onretaking the exa
m. They would be better served byburning their GMAT-prep books and turning their
attention to the application essays (the next step inthe process).If you hope to
have a reasonable chance of beingadmitted to a top program, though, your GMAT s
corewill need to be "in the ballpark."If it isn't you'll have a hard time winnin
g a spot at A-list schools no matter how good your work experienceand undergradu
ate GPA might be. That's why Ibelieve GMAT score is the most important factor in
being admitted to a top program. If your score isn'tin the ballpark, you won't b
e in the game.So What's Considered "In the Ballpark?"At virtually all of the top
programs, the ballpark startsin the mid 600s. That doesn't mean there is a stri
ctcut-off -- there isn't. But if you look closely at a school's numbers you'll s
ee that below about 620, yourchances of being admitted fall pretty dramatically.
Take a look at the graph below. It shows the "middle80 percent range" of GMAT sc
ores for studentsadmitted to a typical top MBA program.You can see that the medi
an score is about 680; butthe median can be deceiving. You don't need to beatit
to be accepted. It should be obvious that half of allaccepted applicants score b
elow the median, but forsome reason many of my GMAT students feel theyneed to be
at a school's median to have a reasonableshot at getting in. I've had to talk qu
ite a few of theminto applying to MBA programs they are nowattending (or have al
ready finished) because theywere initially discouraged when their GMAT scores fe
llslightly below their target schools' medians.What Score Will I Need If I Hope
to Attend aTop Program?If your GMAT score is within a school's median 80percent
range, even if it's 60 points below the school's median, you have a reasonable c
hance of beingadmitted. If it's below that 80 percent range you stillhave a shot
, but it's a long shot. (I'll discuss howapplicants with GMAT scores below the m
edian 80percent range get admitted to top programs in thenext section on applica
tion essays.)Most MBA programs now print their median 80percent ranges in their
brochures. For those that don't, you can make a rough estimate by assuming thera
nge starts about 60 points below the median andends about 60 points above it. As
long as you arewithin that range, you have a reasonable chance ofbeing admitted
.Are the Separate Scores for Math and VerbalImportant?Yes, especially the math s
core. The admissionspeople put a lot of emphasis on math skills whenmaking their
decisions. (See the discussion on GPAfor more on this.) So it's important that
you do wellon the math portion of the GMAT.The math and verbal scores range from
0 to about52. (I know that ETS claims the scale can go as highas 60, but it has
never actually gone over 52). Mystrongest students are those in the "40-40 Club
."That means they score in the 40's in both math andverbal.It's great to have th
at kind of balance, but if you aregoing to be stronger on one portion of the tes
t thanon the other, it's clearly better to be stronger in math.What if I Hope to
Apply to Top Schools But MyGMAT Score is Below 600?You need to take the test ag
ain. I'm not saying thatyou can't get into a top program -- you can. But yourcha
nces are slim. So if you have time to take the testagain, you'd be foolish not t
o.And that brings up a good point about multiple testscores. I'm not aware of a
single top school (or evenan average school for that matter) that still averages
GMAT scores. I'm sure that someone out there willfind a program that does so, bu
t until I hear fromthat person, let's stick to the general rule: Schoolsconsider
only your highest GMAT score.Can I Take the Test 15 Times and Just ReportMy Hig
hest Score?Sort of. Before the GMAT exam begins, the computerwill ask you which
schools you would like your scoresforwarded to. You get five schools included in
thecost of the test, and any others will cost you $25 each.You can elect not to
have your scores forwarded toany schools. After you have seen your scores (youg

et them immediately after finishing the test), youcan then pay $25 each to have
them sent to theschools you choose.Your "GMAT transcript" will report only your
threemost recent scores. So if you took the test four timesand scored 450 each t
ime, but didn't have yourscores forwarded, you could still pull off thatmiraculo
us 700 the fifth time and then send yourscores. The admissions office would see
only two 450's and a 700.It doesn't really matter, though, whether you sendyour
transcript after each test or wait until you scorethe number you want. In the en
d, the school'sapplication will ask you to specify the score you wantthe admissi
ons committee to consider. (And, no, youcan't mix and match your best verbal sco
re and yourbest math score from different tests).What About the Essay Score on t
he GMAT?You will have to write two essays on the GMAT (the "Analytical Writing S
ection"). They will be scored on ascale of 1 to 6, and those points will not be
added toyour other GMAT score.The essays are extremely simple. I teach my studen
tsa basic template to follow and they seem to do verywell with it. They regularl
y score perfect 6's (the 99thpercentile) just by following the template.It's bee
n my experience, though, that your essayscore is pretty much worthless, so I spe
nd very littletime on it in class. A few years ago I asked theadmissions directo
r of a Top-5 school what she wasdoing with the essay scores. She laughed at me a
ndsaid she wasn't really using them (though that isn'twhat her brochures say).I
have to agree with her. The GMAT essays areridiculous. Given how well some stude
nts have doneby just following a formula, the scores seem prettymeaningless. And
now the essays are being gradedby computer, making them even more worthless. So
don't spend a lot of time studying for the AWA essays, and don't put too much em
phasis on your essayscore. I can assure you the admissions committeewon't.Having
the list tempts some people to try to writetheir essays ahead of time. The pool
of essay topics isso large, though, that it would be impossible to writean essa
y for each (and remember them all) beforetest day. Your time would be better spe
nt studyingthe other sections of the GMAT.What About Taking the Exam Under "NonStandard Accommodations?"Most people don't know that they can take the GMATunder
what ETS, the test administrator, calls "non-standard accommodations." That mea
ns you can gettwice as much time as everyone else, if that's whatyou need to com
pensate for a medical condition. ETSdoesn't promote this accommodation veryaggre
ssively, but I've had many of my students takethe test "non-standard" and all of
them who havegotten a truly significant accommodation (such asdouble time) have
gone up at least 100 points fromwhat they were scoring with me on practice test
sgiven under standard conditions.I had one student who consistently scored in th
e mid500s with me. He took the test under non-standardconditions (he got double
time), went up more than100 points, and was accepted at Harvard. I don'tthink Ha
rvard would have taken him in the mid-500s,so the special accommodations worked
outparticularly well for him.Should I Take a GMAT-Prep Course?If you hope to go
to a top school, you'd be crazy notto prepare for the GMAT. Being admitted to Ke
lloggor Columbia or a similar school is well worth the timeand money invested in
a good prep course.I don't want to steer you toward one company overanother, bu
t I would suggest that you take thelongest, most comprehensive course available
in yourarea. And look for a good instructor. A good teachercan reveal subtleties
about the test that aren't writteninto any book, and just having the structure
of aclass will force you to work harder than you would ifyou chose to study on y
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