Beat The GMAT a GMAT & MBA community

Contrary to Jon's suggestion, that is what I am hearing from current students of other schools as well. I think to rule out the demon and if you have time I would take it and cross the 700 barrier.

Once you are in school, I do not think you will have time and patience to retake GMAT.

Thanks for your reply!

I understand what you are saying. Do you still think its foolish to retake the GMAT even if it does not detract away from taking on leadership positions at school and networking (I am going to begin in Fall 2012)? I have just heard from pretty bad things about having below a 700 GMAT from consulting clubs at NYU, Cornell and UCLA. The only place where I was told that it does not matter as much was at Ross (though they explained it would be easier).

I heard the same thing! MC look for high GMAT score.

I have already written GMAT twice and scored 660 and 700. Writing it again now! Sucks!

I'll be apping this August. Hope getting a higher score helps in admission also!(writing it for the 3rd time)

This does not make sense...Can more Admission experts and MBA students and grads weigh in? How could solving 5 more problems correct on the GMAT better qualify you for a mgmt consulting gig!?!

Honestly man, I would love to be proven wrong but this is what I was told by current students at consulting clubs at the following schools (UCLA, Stern and Cornell). Ross said that a lower GMAT score could hurt my chances at more desirable locations, but I could network my past the scores. I was told that a 730+ 720+ GMAT score makes the recruitment process A LOT easier in terms of getting interviews only (once you get the interview, the case interview is what matters). If anyone with a sub 700 successfully got an offer at MBB from a top 10-14 school and can honestly say their gmat score was not a liability in the recruitment process, then I am all ears. However, if I am capable of studying for 3-4 weeks and breaking a 720+, then I would rather not have that regret when I am submitting my application for MBB. Also, It is clear I am not going top 5-7 school, so I want to make sure that my bases are covered.

I know it sounds stupid- but I am simply making my decision based on what MANY current students have told me. Please, prove me wrong with facts-

Hi Folks,

Are we talking about GMAT or any standardized test in general? Can GRE be used as a surrogate?

Thanks,
Garry

My question is: Do the consulting firms look at your best GMAT score or they take the average or they only look at the GMAT score you reported when you applied to the school???

What about healthcare consulting firms? What is their recruitment criteria? The ghost of GMAT still follows you around even there?

Thanks for the post.

I appreciate your advice, I am actually a big Fan of your Blog. Thanks for always sharing your experience.

I have reached out to members of different consulting clubs and the consensus was "retake if you want the best chance." I did not reach out to the career management centers, great tip. (I figured current consulting students would be the best source of information considering they are going through the recruitment process right now) Like you said, a high score will help but networking will help you even more. I guess for me, I would rather have the security knowing that my GMAT score is not the liability in recruiting so I can focus on networking solely.-- Make sense?

I actually got an admit to Berkley a few days back (I was in shock, as I thought it was for sure a rejection given that I did not feel a rapport with my alumni interview).! I will be reaching out to their consulting club to see what they have to say as well. I am very happy to have such great opportunities. Im most likely heading to California next year (GF will be moving to work at a PE shop in San Fran) and I would like to work for BCG out there- so Haas--here I come!

On a side note, Cornell is an AWESOME school- the people there have been pretty down to earth and genuine! I could see myself being long term friends with my classmates at Cornell (unlike Columbia and Stern). Wish the school had a better rep among the MBB recruitment crowd but oh well. Haas is prob. a better option for west coast aspirants and seems to have a Cornell/Tuck type friendly culture. Very excited!

Yes, MBB will look at your GMAT. They will NOT pull from your GMAC record, but will ask for it on your resume. It is important so you should try to take again this spring/summer to get above 700. It will greatly help your recruiting chances. I know because I worked in consulting for a few years and have a couple friends who are at MBB now. I've asked them.

Thanks for sharing this bud-- I am retaking! I would just prefer to work a little harder to bring up my score now than regret not getting first round interviews later.

The good thing about retaking, especially after an acceptance to Haas,is that the worst case scenario (I don't improve) is not that bad. Unlike the previous two times I took the test, I am not stressing or rushed so we will see how things turn out! Hoping for the best, but if it does not work out, then I am sure that other great opportunities will emerge for me

I have heard the same general 700 rule about recruiting for consulting. And possibly also for IB.
So that is the advice being thrown around out there, yes.
Let's say it applies for MBB.
I don't go to bed at night dreaming of working for MBB, what if I want to work for another firm, Deloitte, PWC, Accenture (just to name a few big names).
Does it matter then?

I think the best thing is to reach out to people within the consulting club at the school you are going to, or if not accepted yet the schools you want to go. You should get the best answer there that will be most recent based on students who have been hired there. However, it's not make or break, just like GMAT for MBA. People say yes you have to be at or around the average to have a shot at b-schoo, but I can attest that is not true. yes they look at it but it's only one of several things. All things being equal than yes higher score is better, but it won't make or break you.