Questions for MBA Programs

Question

Hi all, Thank you for reading this thread, as a new-ish member to GMATClub, I have found this forum extremely helpful throughout my GMAT preparation. Now that I have finally taken my GMAT (just today!

), I have a question regarding my GMAT score. Brief background of myself: 23 years Chinese male (just graduated from university). I will be going into one of the top 3 management consulting firms (MBB) soon so I decided to first get GMAT out of the way, since I haven't got a lot of stuff going on throughout this summer. I intend to apply for MBA 2-3 years down the road (seems to be common practice for consultants to go for MBA after starting 2-3 years in my local office), so here I am! Undergrad GPA: 3.56 (First Class Honour, double major in Business & Management, top 10% of class) Work experience: Will have 2-3 years of consulting experience by the time I apply, otherwise I have also worked in a global bank as an intern GMAT Score: 1st try - 650 Q47 V36 IR8 (Cancelled) 2nd try - 650 Q48 V34 IR5 (Cancelled) 3rd try - 710 Q49 V37 IR8 AWA waiting (Accepted) My target schools are HBS, Kellogg, Sloan, Stanford, Wharton. I have already looked into those schools and realised that most of the time, their average students have GMAT score of 730+ and I regret not taking GMAT seriously in my first two attempt with minimal practice (only got 620 in my GMATPrep but I went into the exam anyways). For my third try, I have been practicing for a month and my practice scores were between 700 - 720 (Q48-50 V38-40 IR8). So my question is whether I should retake the GMAT yet again to try and reach the upper bound of my practice scores and get 730. I understand that 710 is a good score but it doesn't even seem to matter when you compare it to the big names. Is it worth the time and money to try and get a 20 points increase in my GMAT score? Thank you so much in advance for your help, all comments are appreciated!

P.S. This is my first post, I hope I am posting it in the right place.

abhimahna · Answer

Hey ywp033402 , Welcome to GMATClub

Yes, you posted everything at the right place. Now, coming to your questions: My friend, being a Chinese male, you have already made your profile quite competitive for the top MBA programs you are looking for. (You belong to over represented demography) Having said that, I would say push your GMAT to a higher end(750 or more) to be able to stand out. Also, make sure you develop a great profile in the next two - three years so that you can make your profile stronger. You are starting this journey quite early but this is good for you because you have sufficient time to think about your goals and thus the story. All the best

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

Totally agree with above poster, I came here to say the same. Congrats on MBB and your progress but Chinese male you are competing against, eh...an ocean of overachievers! Killing it in life. As a Chinese male 710 is not in the ball park for H/S/W nor is 730 unfortunately ..shoot for 750+ but also develop your profile...community and leadership stuff is a must.

https://mbaprepcoach.com

ywp033402 · Answer

Hi abhimahna & MBAPrepCoach, Thank you so much for your replies, much appreciated!

However, just one quick additional question... How will the adcoms view a test-taker who has taken the test 4 times? On top of that, if I am not really confident that I can bring my score up to > 730 (I have been consistently getting 720 on my practices but never above it), is it probably best to leave it and focus on other parts of my application on my future and not risk getting a lower score than what I currently have? Thanks!

abhimahna · Answer

Hey ywp033402 , I think you have a lot of time to work on your gmat and shoot your score. If you think you aren’t improving, try to find out the reason for that rather than giving up. The error log article in my signature may be helpful to you. It is good that you are thinking of improving your profile (which is a MUST), you never know low gmat could help Bschools filter out applications when they have received tons of applications from your demographic area. All the best

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

ywp033402

GMAT that you currently have is just not going to get you in the ballpark with your profile group and I am afraid that is just the fact of the matter.

Your GMAT essentially qualifies you to be in the game it is necessary but not sufficient.

So you must absolutely focus on your profile as well but given the amount of competition you're facing against other Chinese consultants, with sky high GMAT scores you simply cannot afford to put that on the side.

Schools repeatedly say that they are not very forgiving about the GMAT because it is something that you can take multiple times. So you will want to take that as many times as you frankly need to.

If you feel that maybe it will be better to look at the GRE that's also a possibility.

I would recommend that you mix up your approach... if the strategies that you're currently using for the GMAT are not working just like anything else in life or business.. change your strategies!

Get involved with a group study program online or offline, get a tutor, address and a test-taking anxiety issues ETC.

You really do have to deal with this and I really don't think there's any way you can have a better profile as a way to avoid it.

The people you're competing against have an amazing GMAT score and an amazing profile.

I've worked with a consultant for BCG who had a 780 GMAT and was shut out of GSP and HBS R1 with no interview because his application was a mess. Once we fixes that he got into MIT and Wharton in the next round.

At the same time I have worked with people who have extremely lengthy community service and terrific work accomplishments but poor grades and/or test score they didn't get it either until they fixed those issues.

You need to address everything and the fortunate part is that you have taken the initiative to check into this earlier than later so that your investment in time and money can be spread out over a longer period.

Good luck! You can do it.

https://mbaprepcoach.com

ARINGO · Answer

Hi ywp033402, If you feel like you can score higher, then go for it! a higher score will improve your admission chances for sure. However, it is totally possible to get admitted into the top MBA programs with low/average GMAT score, as you can see here: https://aringo.com/aringo-top-mba-gmat-results/ Good luck!

MBADecoder · Answer

I'd evaluate this on three factors here - your current score (730 - not bad, not great), your target B-schools (all top-ranked, with horribly low admit rates) and the fact that you have 2-3 years atleast before you apply.

Take the GMAT man, if you have enough time to retake as well as spend your time doing wiser and more fun things in life. Maybe give yourself a cool off period if you are achieving the same scores applying quickly one after another attempt.

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