Fact vs Fiction - What Adcoms Say vs What They Do

I don't think those are myths, per se, but rather partial truths where people are taking things out of context or just choosing to ignore things at their own discretion.

For example, most schools do say they will take the highest score, but most also say that you should take it no more than three times. I know UCLA, for example, specifically says that if you take it more than twice, they will "look at all scores" or something like that. You can't just take one part of a comment and ignore the rest. If you take the GMAT two or three times, most schools will look at just the highest score.

As far as Stanford, I'll say that I've never heard an Adcom or any source with authority say anything like that. In fact, it won't take much digging to find out that very few people get into Stanford with GMATs below 650. You'll find that people who make it are underrepresented minorities, affiliated with big donors and/or have truly amazing, unique and relevant accomplishments. Otherwise, you know what the average scores are, and common sense and a little basic math will tell you that they can't really admit very many people with scores well below their average and still maintain their average; that's why it's the average, 'cuz there'd be a different average if all the below average scores were common and all the currently average scores would then be well above average. Git it?

For a school like Stanford, with what, a 720 average GMAT, for each person admitted with a 650 they will have to admit someone with a 790 (multiple 750+s, etc.) to maintain their average. Stanford probably gets enough quality applications with high scores that they can afford to give the GMAT less weight if they choose, but other school need to consider the impact of a 640 or even 600, and consider whether they can convince enough 770+ scorers to balance and maintain their averages.

I've gotta say I've never heard of #2 either. Some people say 30 is too old, but I have heard (in application consultant blogs) that 32 is the drop dead age. After that, you're an outlier and will have a much tougher go. It's not impossible (I made it), but I think you've got to be a lot more convincing. Again, you can't just take some random comment from some random person (like your boss) out of context and assume that it is 1) correct and 2) applies to all schools. Is there a right age? No, but somewhere between 3-7 years experience will put you squarely in the mix, but again it varies by school.

For #3, I think that is true. I have in fact heard many adcoms say this, and I do in fact believe it to be true. It's much better to have a recommendation who knows your work well than some random alumni. Now, it's even better to get a recommendation from an alum that knows your work well, and it's even more gooder to get a recommendation from an alum who is a huge donor and knows your work well, and it would be great it the huge donor was your dad. But, a recommendation from someone who knows your work well is the first step. It would be great if the person writing the recommendation is familiar with what MBA schools look for, and even better if they write very well (pretty uncommon actually). But, I'll say this one is not a myth.