For most MBA programs, your GMAT score accounts for about 20% of the admission decision. You can get into top MBA programs with a low GMAT score (as you can see here). Your GMAT score gives schools information about an applicant’s analytical abilities, a key admission driver. In order to gain admittance in spite of a low GMAT score, your application needs to highlight your analytical achievements.
The following are three main strategies for getting admitted to a top MBA program with a low GMAT score. Aringo specializes in helping prospects with low GMAT scores get into their top-choice programs.
Strategy 1: Frame your intellectual abilities with other objective measures
Use your main essays to highlight recent achievements which show your abilities. Examples include: being selected to train colleagues based on your mastery of a subject, obtaining a professional certification in your field, gaining acceptance to a competitive firm, excelling in other exams such as the Bar Exam, MCAT, LSAT or GRE, obtaining merit-based scholarships, receiving academic nominations or awards, IQ score and even high school rank.
Strategy 2: Frame your academic experience as more rigorous than that of your peer group
In your main essays, highlight (in a positive way) hardships or complexities that you experienced in your academic career that set you apart from your peers.
For example: above average extracurricular work, working 20+ hours a week while obtaining your degree, starting a business venture while in school, serving in the military during school or graduating early.
Make sure to highlight these experiences in a positive light, explaining how they helped you grow.
Strategy 3: Take action before submitting your application
There are several options for actions you can take to emphasize your intelligence before submitting your application:
1. Complete and excel in a business-related course, preferably one that requires quantitative skills, at a prestigious institution before applying.
2. Apply to schools which have few applicants with your background or which place less emphasis on GMAT scores.
3. Retake the GMAT, but only if you think you can either improve your score significantly (by 30-40 points), cross over the 700 mark, or achieve a higher test score well before applications are due so you won't be distracted from the rest of the admissions process.
Watch this video to learn how to get into top MBA programs with a low GMAT score: https://www.aringo.com/low_gmat.htm
