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May 2108:30 AM PDT
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Are you applying to business school but feeling overwhelmed by where to actually apply? Applying to the wrong MBA programs is the #1 mistake that costs candidates time, money, and their acceptance letters.
May 2110:00 AM EDT
-10:30 AM EDT
Most candidates submit a resume built for a recruiter. Admissions committees are reading for something else entirely. This session covers what adcoms actually evaluate, where strong candidates lose ground before a single essay is written, and why...
May 2110:00 AM EDT
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Make the most of your break with the most realistic GMAT™ prep. Take up to $700 off select products.
May 2208:30 AM PDT
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Get the inside scoop on what makes Emory’s Goizueta Business School great and how you can present a strong MBA application. Explore the difference between our One-Year MBA and Two-Year MBA programs, talk to our admissions team, and meet students.- May 22
08:30 AM PDT
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For many Indian MBA applicants, the default dream has long been a top US MBA. But as career goals, visa considerations, timelines, and global mobility priorities evolve, more candidates are seriously considering MBA programs in Europe. 
May 2203:00 PM EDT
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The old MBA recruiting playbook is dead. Here’s how top admits are getting ahead this summer.
May 2308:00 PM PDT
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Inquire for a free profile evaluation and guarantee statement for possible admits and scholarships!
May 2611:00 AM EDT
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This week, Columbia Business School announced the 2025-2026 application deadlines and essay questions. Check out Personal MBA Coach's quick tips video to help you navigate the CBS application!
May 2707:30 PM EDT
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Learn how to choose the right recommenders and strengthen your MBA candidacy in this live AMA with Stratus experts.
May 2910:00 AM PDT
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Download the MBA Launchpad App, for FREE access to the largest MBA database - Data backed read on your profile - Identify gaps before you apply - Build a balanced school list - Track your deadlines - Mock interviews - Extensive content library- Jun 10
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Register for the GMAT Club Virtual MBA Spotlight Fair – the world’s premier event for serious MBA candidates. This is your chance to hear directly from Admissions Directors at nearly every Top 30 MBA program..
26 Apr 2012, 13:04
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Just ruminating over a laughable point that adcoms will admit people with terrible gpas from mediocre schools so long as they have high gmat scores. So someone can goof off for 4 years, study 3 months to take a standardized test (which is entirely learnable), and get in to a top school. I guess they are really looking for a specific "type" of person lol. Where I come from, standardized test scores are entirely dismissed (i.e., not even submitted to graduate programs) because the actual substantive work, along with academic track record, that is produced by the person is entirely more relevant than a test score. Just making an observation, forgive my pedantry to those I offend 
Maybe it's just the field of business that requires this type of thinking? "Who cares about academic pedigree, we have the GMAT, durrrrrrrr"
Maybe it's just the field of business that requires this type of thinking? "Who cares about academic pedigree, we have the GMAT, durrrrrrrr"
26 Apr 2012, 13:21
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Just to play devil's advocate here, what about engineers that have very challenging GPA curves which result in grade deflation compared to a person doing a communication degree from a school with no curve and the average GPA being a 3.8. And even if you were graded on a curve, were you surrounded by Harvard students or Junior college student. Plus, graduate degrees have very steep grade inflation too, usually without any curve. So someone with a masters before applying to Bschool will most likely have a solid masters GPA.
GPA's aren't comparable from school to school from degree to degree or from country to country. So to me, the great equalizer, and only way to compare EVERYONE on an equal playing field, is the GMAT. This is why Adcoms take it seriously. If you did well in school you should do well on the GMAT right? I think a better argument is, does the GMAT really reflect who will be a good Business Student?
GMAT, GPA, and profile all together get someone into a school. Not the GMAT along. Harvard, Stanford, Wharton have all cited rejecting 800 scorers, and I cant tell you how many 770s I've seen rejected from every top school they've applied to. So don't get caught up in the GMAT aspect. If you didn't get into the school you wanted b/c of a low GMAT, then fix it, and strenthen the rest of your application while you are at it. There is no formula for getting into Bschool.
GPA's aren't comparable from school to school from degree to degree or from country to country. So to me, the great equalizer, and only way to compare EVERYONE on an equal playing field, is the GMAT. This is why Adcoms take it seriously. If you did well in school you should do well on the GMAT right? I think a better argument is, does the GMAT really reflect who will be a good Business Student?
GMAT, GPA, and profile all together get someone into a school. Not the GMAT along. Harvard, Stanford, Wharton have all cited rejecting 800 scorers, and I cant tell you how many 770s I've seen rejected from every top school they've applied to. So don't get caught up in the GMAT aspect. If you didn't get into the school you wanted b/c of a low GMAT, then fix it, and strenthen the rest of your application while you are at it. There is no formula for getting into Bschool.
novanative
Joined: 16 Aug 2011
Last visit: 14 Apr 2013
Posts: 378
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 50
Status:schools I listed were for the evening programs, not FT
Location: United States (VA)
Schools: McDonough '14 (WL) Smith (A)
GMAT 1: 640 Q43 V34
GMAT 2: 660 Q43 V38
GPA: 3.1
WE:Research (Other)
26 Apr 2012, 13:31
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pacostacos
I think grades do matter especially at the top schools. The test is learnable, but the median score is a 540, nowhere close to the medians at top schools and I'd imagine most people with a 540 or worse did try hard and study for that score.
Work experience also trumps GPA and that's what most MBA students have.
The only graduate schools where grades will matter almost as much if not as much as the standardized tests are law schools and medical schools. You're not getting into Yale Law School, even after the current law school app drop with all A's and four B's in your college transcript and an LSAT score of 171, even though these still amount to extraordinary stats. You're not getting into any decent medical school with a sub 3.5 college GPA in the vast majority of circumstances, even if you have a good MCAT barring other extraordinary variables. But for these schools, post-college work experience doesn't matter at all, or is considered "icing on the cake" rather than the "meat and potatoes" which is what business school generally wants and requires.
So maybe some of us didn't have the best grades in college, but we did great things in our companies after graduation. I think we deserve a shot to go to top schools as well.
Lastly with college rep. With college, many if not most of us didn't have complete control over where we went to college, because federal student loan limits have strict limits and parents don't want to pay any more than they have to. I certainly was in this position and many others here probably are too. You can't just look at guy from school X vs. school Y and automatically write off the guy from school X because his school is not as prestigious as school Y.
