How Do Grad Schools Weigh GMAT Scores?
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What Is the GMAT?
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The graduate management admission test, or GMAT, is a standardized test designed to gauge a student's potential for success in a business graduate program. The test is approximately 4 hours long (including two 10-minute breaks) and tests three general areas of aptitude: verbal skills, quantitative skills and writing skills. Both the verbal and quantitative sections consist only of multiple choice questions, while the writing section is composed of two essays, an analysis of an argument and an issue. A numerical score between 200 and 800 is given for the test, which is based only on the multiple choice sections. Similar to the GRE (graduate record exam--another type of grad school test), the GMAT multiple choice sections are taken on a computer, which will increase or decrease the difficultly of questions according to correct or incorrect responses.
Importance of the GMAT in School Acceptance
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Every graduate institution is different in its acceptance criteria and the weight given to each portion of a student's application package. In general, the GMAT score is weighted very heavily when considering an application, and is often considered the single most important part of getting into a given business school. Most schools have a certain band of GMAT scores in which they will accept students, and have an unpublished cutoff, below which, they will likely not accept or even consider any applicants. The reason for the extreme importance placed upon the GMAT is two fold: first the test does a fairly good job of indicating which students will perform well in their first year of business school; and second, schools are ranked amongst each other, in part, based upon the GMAT scores of their student body.
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Factors That Can Help Overcome a Below Average GMAT Score
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A strong GMAT score will help a business school applicant gain consideration, and probably help considerably with getting into middle or lower ranked schools, but it by no means guarantees admission. Several other factors, such as GPA, work experience, extracurricular activities, essays, personal statements, recommendation letters and social background play an important role in the admissions process. An applicant may be able to overcome a relatively low GMAT score if they are strong in these other areas, especially students that come from an underrepresented group or who do not speak English as their first language.
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