Your GMAT score and undergraduate GPA are crucial components of your application when applying to an MBA program. These numbers often indicate your academic ability and potential for success in graduate business studies. The introduction of the GMAT Focus Edition, with its new scoring mechanism, presents a fresh perspective for admissions committees as they evaluate candidates’ business school readiness. It might also present challenges to rankings, such as those produced by U.S. News & World Report, because they will be comparing apples and oranges when considering GMAT scores and the GMAT Focus Edition scores over the next five years – the number of years the original test remains valid.
If you don’t obtain the exam score you want, or your grades are on the weak side, all is not lost. You can be proactive in mitigating the situation, and you need to remember that these stats represent only one component of a holistic process that also considers your work experience, leadership, essays, recommendations, extracurriculars, community service, goals, and value proposition.
I have six recommendations to consider if you are applying or reapplying with weak stats.
1. Request an assessment.
You can obtain a realistic assessment of your candidacy from an admissions officer or an admissions consultant. This assessment should indicate which schools would be a stretch for you, which match your qualifications, and which would be considered your “safety” programs. You might be surprised to learn the number of C-level executives and successful entrepreneurs who attended “safety” schools.
2. Cast a wide net.
Note that the larger a school’s class is, the more easily that school’s admissions director can hide lower-statistic candidates. Look at the Forbes list of wealthiest individuals, and aside from the overproportion of dropouts (note: I believe that education opens doors and do not condone dropping out of school, even if you are Bill Gates or Marc Zuckerberg), you will see a lot of billionaires who attended schools that many prospective students don’t have on their radar.
3. Be proactive.
If your grades tanked, take classes — and do well in them — to mitigate any concerns the admissions committee might have about your academic abilities before you apply. If your test scores tanked, obtain whatever tutoring you need to raise them (tutors have helped my clients increase their scores dramatically in just a few hours of intense study).
4. Show your interest.
Get to know students and alumni who can go to bat for you.
5. Stand out.
One-trick ponies don’t make for exciting reading. It’s up to you to get the admissions committee interested in sharing a five-course meal with you, rather than speeding through a cup of coffee.
6. Make a compelling case for acceptance.
Show your fit with your target school’s culture, strengths, and values. Reveal leadership, contribution, impact, innovation, and a track record that will cause the admissions readers to say, “Wow!”
As an admissions director, I was more likely to invite the applicant who submitted an engaging, well-written application for an interview – regardless of their stats – than the candidate with high stats and a ho-hum application. If an applicant could engage me in the interview and show themselves to be well-spoken and witty, I would recommend them for admission over someone who had higher numbers but who offered only one dimension. Many ultimately became successful businesspeople – and some of our most prestigious alumni.
By Natalie Grinblatt, a former admissions dean/director at three top business schools. Natalie has reviewed more than 70,000 applications, interviewed more than 2,500 candidates, and trained nearly 700 admissions directors and alumni volunteers to select outstanding candidates for admission. Her clients gain admission to top programs, including those at Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, MIT, Cornell, Columbia, Berkeley, Chicago, Northwestern, and NYU. Natalie holds an MBA from Michigan Ross. Want Natalie to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!
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