GMAT is one of the major hurdles to overcome in pursuing admission to an MBA progrram. No wonder then that a big deal of attention is paid by every applicant to scoring high on this test. I’ll talk a bit about this as now is high season for GMAT taking, because of the second, and some first round application deadlines in many business schools.
Pretty much every business school explicitely states that GMAT score is only one of the prerequisits and is evaluated together with other components of the applicant’s complete application package. Nevetheless it is probably the single most important component which can make it or break it for a particular applicant. At the very least this is how it is perceived by probably every single MBA aspirant.
Before we get into specifics of part-time MBA, here is the general overview of the role of GMAT for full-time MBA as those are most often perceived as quintessentia lMBA program.
The high GMAT score is pretty much expected for the applicants to the top 10 MBA programs, like Harvard, Wharton, Stanford and the likes. ‘High’ here usually means breaking the 700 barrier. Since the top tier school are extremely selective, 700 and up score does not guarantee you admission, because well more than a half of eventually admitted will have that 700+. Once you have that score, selection really begins based on all other characteristics that are construed based on : essays, recommendations, work experience, undegraduate GPA, interviews. That’s why the 700+ GMAT score would not get you into the top tier school by itself, but scoring below that mark will most definetly decrease you chance of admittance significantly.
The best way to evaluate what GMAT score is common for admitted MBA students is to look at a particular Business School’s profile. You can readily find those at Businessweek’s rankings of Business Schools. There are two things you need to look at in regards to GMAT score in the school’s profile:
- Median/Mean (quite close numbers, that’s why I don’t really differentiate them. Median, obviously, more indicative)
- Middle 80% range GMAT scores
Checking out these numbers will give quite clear understanding if you stand a chance with your given score.
With Business Schools lower on the ranking ladder the expected GMAT score is respectively lower. Roughly the schools in the 11-20 ranking range have slightly lower median score and middle range. Most of them still have the median at or near the 700 score.
With the schools in the 21-30 rank the picture changes quite noticeably. The typical median score is below 700, around 680, and the lower rank of middle 80% range is around 610.
The reason we talk only about top 30 Business Schools is that this is the maximum number of schools ranked in Businessweek’s Top Business Schools ranking - arguably the most recognized, feared and revered, even if sometimes slanted, ranking of the US MBA programs.
To learn more about average GMAT scores for top part-time MBA programs in Washington, DC area, go to my another post here
