Though it is a popular belief that the MBA admissions are decided based on a number of aspects such as GMAT score, work experience, academic record, recommendation letters, SOPs, and interview performance. It is also an open secret that your GMAT score will have the greatest and most immediate impact on the admission officers than any of other aspects of your MBA application.
GMAT is often the most popular indicator used by admission officers of the B-schools to determine the aptitude levels of the applicants and whether he/she can be a good fit in the given B-school. Not only the colleges but also the companies sought after for candidates passing out of b-schools which accept students with high GMAT score.
Hence, in a way a good GMAT score would set you on a path of a great career too.
What would be a good GMAT score?
There is no standard cut off that B-schools layout in regard to GMAT score. A good GMAT score is different for different b-schools. Some of the best B-schools of USA such as Stanford and MIT Sloan accept students with an average GMAT score of 737 and 722 respectively. Whereas, European Business schools such as INSEAD and IE (Spain) have an average GMAT score of 712 and 670 respectively.
Generally, most B-schools accept a GMAT score which is between 650 to 750. Hence, you should be targeting a score above 650 and not less than that to get into good Business schools around the world.
A score of 700 and above would be a safe one for candidates to target, in order to have a competitive chance in most of the B-schools around the world.
Is GMAT the ultimate deciding factor in MBA admissions?
Well! the correct answer for that question would be, It Depends! Though GMAT score is a very important factor in deciding your admission fate, it need not be the only and ultimate deciding factor in your MBA admissions. B-school admission departments do give exception to candidates with glorious profiles and distinct work experience or backgrounds. However, don’t expect too much leverage in the score department because GMAT score is very crucial to get shortlisted for the other admission rounds.
Candidates would get leverage in GMAT score in case of outstanding academic or professional track record. You could also get an exception from very high GMAT scores in case you belong to a minority background.
However, just belonging to a minority community will not ensure you a seat in the B-school, you would need to have good credentials and a decent GMAT score to have your chances. Do some research about what communities are considered Minority to know more about your chances at your desired B-school.
How to get your target GMAT score?
Firstly, you need to research about the average accepting GMAT score of the colleges you are interested in. Always set a target which is higher than the average accepting score of the colleges, just to be safe.
Once you set your target GMAT score, you need to start working towards getting that score and plan your preparation for the quant and verbal sections as the section score is also very crucial.
All the Best for your GMAT preparation!