GMAT is the sole basis for admission decision
Or so a recent comment on my post 720 and retake GMAT would have me believe.
Here it is:
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"You have to remember that you are competing with literally thousands of Indian Male IT Professionals.
You are in this bucket (i.e., Another Indian Male IT Professional) and are competing with the the other Indian Male IT Professionals applying.
Hence, you have to be at least as good as, if not better than the other thousand Indian Male IT Professionals applying to MBA schools.
Take a look at ths blog of another
Indian Male IT Professional applicant:
http://i4iday.blogspot.com/2006/11/updates.html
His scores are top:
GMAT: 750 (Q50 V41)
GMAT AWA: 6.0
TOEFL: 300/300
This is type of person you are competing with.
If you do not have scores like this, the AdComs are going to look at the other people in your bucket and ask why your scores are not the same, if not better."
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I am responding to that comment here because a lot of applicants, especially Indians (because of our traditional stress on acads), still seem unable to understand that a lot goes into an app, and GMAT is but a part of it.
I do understand that I come from, arguably, the most competent pool of applicants : Indian IT Male. BUT! Admission decisions are NOT based on GMAT alone! There are several other factors that collectively determine it: Essays, Recos, Extra Currics, Comm Service, interview, communication skills, interpersonal skills, GMAT & acads etc etc etc. In my personal opinion, of all these, essays are probably the single largest factor that sway decisions one way or another.
Most importantly, it is how you distinguish yourself. it is of prime importance that you choose the right examples and highlight the right qualities. I think this was where I went wrong last yr. I was competitive at most schools I applied to last yr. But I didnt invest as much time doing a deep-dive into my experiences as I should have. I feel its better to spend more time doing that, than fretting over a "low" score.
But, all else being more or less same, the adcom would definitely prefer an applicant with higher GMAT and acads, as s/he is more likely to perform well in class. And thats only fair. Thats why its important to bring out the different and interesting aspects of your work and personal life.
Inspite of having been dinged from my top choice schools last yr; inspite of just getting a ding from a top choice school this yr, I still say GMAT is not the reason, or at least not the only reason for the reject. I have utmost faith in the admissions process. Even if I get dinged at all the schools, I will still not accuse the schools of rejecting my app due to GMAT. If at all thats the reason given, it just means I didnt do a good job of highlighting the more important facts of my app, forcing them to look at my GMAT to distinguish me from others. Would urge others also to not fall into this trap of thinking that GMAT is the be all and end all of this process.
Here it is:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"You have to remember that you are competing with literally thousands of Indian Male IT Professionals.
You are in this bucket (i.e., Another Indian Male IT Professional) and are competing with the the other Indian Male IT Professionals applying.
Hence, you have to be at least as good as, if not better than the other thousand Indian Male IT Professionals applying to MBA schools.
Take a look at ths blog of another
Indian Male IT Professional applicant:
http://i4iday.blogspot.com/2006/11/updates.html
His scores are top:
GMAT: 750 (Q50 V41)
GMAT AWA: 6.0
TOEFL: 300/300
This is type of person you are competing with.
If you do not have scores like this, the AdComs are going to look at the other people in your bucket and ask why your scores are not the same, if not better."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am responding to that comment here because a lot of applicants, especially Indians (because of our traditional stress on acads), still seem unable to understand that a lot goes into an app, and GMAT is but a part of it.
I do understand that I come from, arguably, the most competent pool of applicants : Indian IT Male. BUT! Admission decisions are NOT based on GMAT alone! There are several other factors that collectively determine it: Essays, Recos, Extra Currics, Comm Service, interview, communication skills, interpersonal skills, GMAT & acads etc etc etc. In my personal opinion, of all these, essays are probably the single largest factor that sway decisions one way or another.
Most importantly, it is how you distinguish yourself. it is of prime importance that you choose the right examples and highlight the right qualities. I think this was where I went wrong last yr. I was competitive at most schools I applied to last yr. But I didnt invest as much time doing a deep-dive into my experiences as I should have. I feel its better to spend more time doing that, than fretting over a "low" score.
But, all else being more or less same, the adcom would definitely prefer an applicant with higher GMAT and acads, as s/he is more likely to perform well in class. And thats only fair. Thats why its important to bring out the different and interesting aspects of your work and personal life.
Inspite of having been dinged from my top choice schools last yr; inspite of just getting a ding from a top choice school this yr, I still say GMAT is not the reason, or at least not the only reason for the reject. I have utmost faith in the admissions process. Even if I get dinged at all the schools, I will still not accuse the schools of rejecting my app due to GMAT. If at all thats the reason given, it just means I didnt do a good job of highlighting the more important facts of my app, forcing them to look at my GMAT to distinguish me from others. Would urge others also to not fall into this trap of thinking that GMAT is the be all and end all of this process.
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Whoa - never knew i was THIS famous ;)
Anyway - i support ur clauses on GMAT being only a part of the complete profile of an applicant that gets evaluated in the admission process.
Perhaps u might add more to ur argument by pointing to the fact that u got an interview invite from Wharton and i got dinged without an interview :)
Posted by
Iday |
3:12 PM
Yeah, I've always said the GMAT is not the only indicator for admission. I've scored a 760 on the GMAT and am still nervous that I might get dinged from Columbia.
Posted by
atypical HBS |
3:40 PM
Like they say --- a bad score can keep you out, but a good score won't get you in. Oh the madness of it all.
Posted by
asiangal |
4:13 PM
My score is 740 and i got a ding too...
I think my weakpoint was that I basically have no community service and not much extra currics that count in the mba way. oh, well, coulumbia is moving to a new site anyway, which is not fun at all when u r in school... (sigh!) sour grapes :(
Posted by
the being |
4:21 PM
Totally concur w/ your comments, and I think Asiangal put it best!
Posted by
rungee582 |
5:38 PM
Very valid points amigo. Admins work to create a class from the pools of application. A little bit of this, bit of that. Applicants forget to show their work-maturity and leadership. Additional characteristic that Admins seek for.
Posted by
-tvu |
11:11 PM
Well If GMAT would have been the sole criteria for admissions then I would have atleast received an interview call from Wharton. My Profile - 780 (Q-50,V-47), IIT Delhi B.Tech, 4 years experience in Credit Card Analytics.
Posted by
Anonymous |
12:44 PM
@iday: Common man! Dont be so hard on yourself :( You still have a lot of other schools to hear back from.
@guymba: thanks for visiting! Best of luck for Columbia :)
@asiangal/rungee: "a bad score can keep you out, but a good score won't get you in" - Absolutely!
@Sudha - Thank you too for visiting. "a bad score can keep you out, but a good score won't get you in" - Ha ha ha... That project is not likely to finish in the near future. They have a time of line of 5 to 25 yrs or somthing like that... :)
@TVU - Very true! And nobody would know it better than, what with your inside view of it n all :)
@Vishal - Sorry to hear about W. I am sure with your kind of a profile, you will make it to a top schoool of your choice. :)
Posted by
Anonymous |
2:11 PM
just catching up on blog-reading. def agree w/ everyone above...I mean, look at school's averages. I bet harvard could have a 750+ GMAT average if they really only cared about that one score. hard not to fall into the trap though ... thanks for bringing it up :)
Posted by
MBA babe |
12:18 PM
Totally agreed man. I have a GMAT score of above 750, and got DWI from insead last night...there's certainly much more to an application than GMAT scores.
Posted by
MBAstarter |
8:45 AM
You lost Mr U? What's happening with your Hass ??
Posted by
Inblue |
12:16 PM
itsbeen more than a month dude! no updates??
Posted by
the being |
11:42 AM
Check this one..Useful:GMAT - http://gmat-mba.blogspot.com
Posted by
Anonymous |
11:18 AM
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