Kumbaya wrote:
On gradjournal, it seems the only person that got into any of my first choices schools is you, in at UPenn with a 780
Then again, NYU rejected three people, 2 with above 750, and a third with GRE scores, which I'm not sure how to translate to an equivalent GMAT score. I'm hoping more people upload their profiles for a more complete picture...
but remember, that my same application was rejected by kellogg, haravard and even MIT - and i'm pretty sure these programs accepted some 730+- to their programs. i'm also sure that if i asked other students in mydepartment (i won't though...) - i'd find that wharton accepted someone at around 700-730 GMAT.
each program admits so few people, and there are only a handful of top programs, and gradjournal's statistics is still not established rnough to draw conclusions.
but i think the statistics will never be really established ad meaningful - after the initial screening, i think they don't look again on your gmat - and all decisions are made on an individual case basis, with gmat playing a minor role if at all.
also - i would suggest looking on the calendar. you have about 3-4 months. geting your gmat better will take you around 1-2 months to complete - which leaves you only 2 months to work on your applications seriously. how many applications you are going to make? ho much research you want to invest in choosing the right school? you need time to contact profs (if you'd like) and recommenders. it takes time.
2 months to create 4-5 good applications is not enough in my view.
so it is a tradeoff... you can improve your gmat. but i may cost you by reducing the quality of the SOP etc.... the latter are way more important in the application.