GMAT Score + Chances of Admission

Question

I took the test after about 2 months prep and a Kaplan class and got a 680. I was satisfied but still a little disappointed with where I hoped to end up (700+). Particularly, I did not answer the last question in quant which I feel really lowered by score for this crucial range that I am in for a top 5 school. 

My breakdown was:

Quant - Scaled score of 44, Percentile 73
Verbal - Scaled score of 39, Percentile 88
Overall - 680, 89th Percentile

My choices of school in order are Stanford, Wharton, Harvard, Columbia, Cal - Berkely. 

1. Does this score allow me to be on equal footing with those applying to top 5 schools?

In regards to other AdCom areas of interest (essays, GPA/Undergrad, work exp, and recs):

I went to University of Texas - Austin for their Business Honors Program. Final GPA of 3.74 with major GPA of 3.90 (Finance). Did real estate investment banking for 1 year for large bank and was tapped to jumpstart an opportunistic investment arm focused on real estate for a local group for past year as Director of Acquisitions. 

I am most worried that 2 yrs work experience is not enough (though it will be 3 by the time of arrival) for these schools with 5 years average.

Other qualities: valedictorian (1 of 452 in HS), should have solid recs from current bosses, not overly involved outside of work with resume-building stats. Play lots of sports, involved in church, not big roles though. 

I'd really appreciate everyone's ideas for my chances. Thanks.

Adil · Answer

Your results are not stellar, but still satisfactory. So you can get in, in case your essays and other parts of application package are really strong. My advice is to focus on essays.

Adil · Answer

Harvard, Stanford and Columbia love young applicants

pelihu · Answer

Those schools may love young applicants, but I think people tend to overestimate how many are actually admitted.

At Stanford, less than 3% of the incoming class has less than 1 year of work experience (according to businessweek). That means 10 people per year. At Columbia it's also less than 3%, but since it's a larger school that's about 15 people per year. BW does not give this stat for Harvard.

Frankly, the 10 people at Stanford and 15 people at Columbia that are admitted with <1 year of experience are not the types that score 680 on the GMAT. The types that gain these seats can score 750+ with zero effort - in addition to being stellar in every other aspect of their applications.

That last part is just my opinion but the numbers are facts.

lepium · Answer

Hiya, I've got a few friends over at Wharton who scored 660 - 680 and another friend who got into Columbia with a 650 (early decision), although she was a dame and that might have helped. She also got 650 twice but managed to score higher in Q once and higher in V the other time, so that may have counted somehow, as well.

However, all of them had meaningful experiences, and more importantly, where able to convey them greatly in their essays. Even when years of experience do not count directly, the "depth" of experiences does count. Outstanding individuals may achieve great experiences in a short period of time (and that's the young 'uns getting accepted). Yet, most of us (the "just great" bunch) will need to build those experiences over a longer period. 

My suggestion, get someone to look into your profile and assess your chances. You may wish to wait an extra year not only to improve your chances but also to make the most of your education. Or if you have decent chances maybe move your GMAT a little bit upwards?

Hope it helps and for the record what I wrote are biased opinions based on other people's experiences and nothing more.

Cheers. L.

ScottyBear · Answer

If you only took the real GMAT once and scored a 680, I think that is good enough for the top 10 elite schools. Be sure to put down your 3 years post bachelors work experience and undergraduate experience and internship in your application.

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