{"id":30705,"date":"2015-09-29T10:58:43","date_gmt":"2015-09-29T17:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/2015\/09\/test-score-or-gpa-whats-the-biggest-application-killer\/"},"modified":"2015-09-29T10:58:43","modified_gmt":"2015-09-29T17:58:43","slug":"test-score-or-gpa-whats-the-biggest-application-killer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/test-score-or-gpa-whats-the-biggest-application-killer\/","title":{"rendered":"Test Score or GPA: What\u2019s the Biggest Application Killer?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Is<\/a><\/p>\n

Wrap up your business school readiness journey by learning where to best focus your time.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Thanks for joining us these past four weeks on your journey toward <\/span>business school readiness<\/span><\/a>. As we wrap up our \u201cAre You Ready\u201d series, we hope you\u2019ve made good progress\u2014or even advanced to the next stage of readiness with the help of the free tips, stats, and tools you unlock when you <\/span>take our Readiness Quiz<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time, don\u2019t feel rushed. There is no <\/span>one-size-fits-all pace when it comes to business school readiness<\/span><\/a>. Just by thinking smart and planning out your timeline, you\u2019re doing yourself a favor that will pay off in the very near future. The more confidence and knowledge you build on the path to business school, the more it will show when you apply.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t been following along, rest assured, it\u2019s not too late to start. Find out what we\u2019ve been buzzing about over the past month\u2014and get a bunch of free digital tools out of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s one major takeaway, for example: 50 percent of admissions officers interviewed by Kaplan in 2014 cited <\/span>a low test score\u2014GMAT or GRE\u2014as the number-one application killer<\/span><\/a> when considering candidates\u2014meaning that the remaining half cited all other reasons combined.<\/span><\/p>\n

The next leading factor that caused an application to find its way into the circular file was a low GPA\u2014but even that came in a full 18 percentage points lower, with 32 percent of admissions officers quoting it as the biggest application killer. Minimal relevant work experience factored in at distant third with 9 percent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why is this important? Depending on what your area of study emphasizes (i.e., if you\u2019re going into a specialized business school program that places particular importance on work experience), knowing the biggest application killers can help you prioritize where you should focus your efforts in the application process.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sure, making your application essays sound just right or polishing your resume is important, and you certainly shouldn\u2019t neglect these. But if you\u2019re putting 95 percent of your time into such application requirements, you might want to reprioritize. Depending on your projected GMAT or GRE test score (which you can estimate by taking a free <\/span>GMAT<\/span><\/a> or <\/span>GRE<\/span><\/a> practice test), some\u2014if not most\u2014of those precious hours might be better spent studying for the exam, or taking a <\/span>GMAT<\/span><\/a> or <\/span>GRE<\/span><\/a> prep course. Just the same, if your GPA is hurting and you\u2019re still in undergrad, taking an extra academic course relevant to your prospective business school program might be the way to go.<\/span><\/p>\n

Everyone\u2019s situation is different, but we know that life doesn\u2019t stop when you\u2019re applying to business school, and those work, academic, and family obligations still take up space on your schedule. So if your time is at a premium, think of the best ways to divide it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Remember: there are always things you can do to get more ready for business school, and it\u2019s never too late to start\u2014or continue\u2014that journey. <\/span>Take our Readiness Quiz now<\/span><\/a> to unlock your digital goodie bag of free stats, downloadables, tips, timelines, and interactive tools\u2014all customized to your specific readiness stage. Then let us know in the comments how your path to business school is shaping up\u2014and thanks for sharing your journey with us.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Test Score or GPA: What\u2019s the Biggest Application Killer?<\/a> appeared first on Business School Insider<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wrap up your business school readiness journey by learning where to best focus your time. Thanks for joining us these past four weeks on your journey toward business school readiness.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"1","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,558,243,940],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gmat","category-kaplan-blog","category-blog","category-gmat-prep-gmat","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30705\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}