The Importance of GMAT

How much should I score? What’s the cutoff? What are my chances if I get <insert a score here> in GMAT? Am I doomed ? Or do I still have chance?

I get asked this question a lot. This is the place where I settle this once and for all. (Hopefully!)

GMAT is one of the several key inputs that the AdCom considers for your candidature. The one thing I always tell people to consider about GMAT score is —

“A good GMAT score won’t guarantee you an admit but a bad score will do a lot of irreparable damage.”

The one thing that people are looking for with regards to GMAT score is a number. 650? 700? 720?

It hurts me every time when I’m unable to provide one. I don’t blame you. You’ve been conditioned to clearing cutoffs. Tenth. Plus 2. Entrance Exams. It is but natural to consider GMAT as an entrance exam. This might just be your first affair with something that involves scores but not a cutoff.

To understand the role of GMAT, let’s take two examples. Financial guys are expected to be exceptional with numbers and consulting guys are expected to be good at interpreting and analyzing data. If the profile aims at a career in Financial Services post-MBA then a good Quant score supports the profile. If the aim is consulting, then a good IR and Quant supports the profile. I’m not saying that a bad Quant score will definitely shatter your dreams of making moolah in the financial world post-MBA.

What matters in the end is how aligned is the past and present with your future aspirations. And having a good GMAT score helps in aligning your profile.

If you have an experience, say an internship or a research project, that helps your profile (the past aspect), then an aligned GMAT score (the present aspect) will be like a cherry on the cake. And who doesn’t like cherries ?

If you need a bare minimum below which no candidate was seen clearing the stage then that score will be 600. This again doesn’t mean that a score below 600 will never qualify to the next stage. Its just something that didn’t happen during our time. That’s all.