Regarding admission criteria

Ideally you want to at least hit a school's average & as Darden shows here in their class profile (https://www.darden.virginia.edu/mba/com ... s-profile/) their average is 713 so a 600 would be considered pretty low. (Note that the average age is 27 so it sounds like you are likely below that average as well if you only have two years of work experience. They generally prefer 4-5 years since that will allow you to contribute more to class discussions).

That said, GMAT is just one piece of the puzzle. Yes, it's critical to have a strong score but a strong score is not enough to get you in. You need to show the impact you've had in your career so far (what measurable results have you had on your org? How have you shown leadership & what was the result, etc), and it's also critical to articulate the impact you hope to have in your career post-MBA. What are your specific career goals & why? What do you hope to accomplish via your ST & LT roles & again WHY? Why is an MBA critical to allowing you to succeed in those goals?

So long story short, yes GMAT is important & you are going to want to try to hit or exceed their average, but it's just one piece of the puzzle.

Hi There,

I want to be blunt and direct as there's quite a bit of guidance out there that is wishy-washy or reiterates the "holistic view" of business schools. GMAT is a CRITICAL piece of your business school application. Darden is a top school and there are many many qualified applicants. Yes, top business schools look at you holistically, and they admit some sub 600 and quite a few 650-690 GMAT applicants, but do WHATEVER it takes to not be in that category. It's only going to hurt your confidence and may deter some, if not all, top schools from interviewing you.

It's true to say that the GMAT is not the end all be all, but if you put together an application with a score sub 700, it's just going to be THAT much harder to separate yourself in the crowd of talented applicants.

Get going on the GMAT as soon as possible if you haven't aced it already! Do whatever it takes to get 700+ and give yourself at least 1-1.5 months to put together drafts and redrafts of your essays and recommendations. I would give that advice to applicants applying to all top business schools.

Good luck!

Cameron