Well I agree with Victory_GMAT, money91111 and Leonard C, not in any particular order, though all of them have contrasting views.

The intention of Leonard was to highlight the fact that GMAT becomes a hygiene factor (not unimportant) for those who have unique or exectional profiles.

The intention of Money was to highlight the factual information concerning GMAT scores, and he truly did the analysis well and came out with proper conclusion that the GMAT makes a major difference to the profiles of everyone.

The intention of Victory was to highlight the importance of GMAT vs profile. Although he mentioned that he did not agree with Leonard, he totally complements the Leonard's intention. hahaha amazing to see how people wish to prove their point in onboard discussions.

Give yourself an applaud for this wonderful thread. You might actually be helping many aspirants with their psychological issues about the importance of the GMAT.

Regards,
goddy

@Goddy - thanks!

What GPA with a 640 thoughW

hmm i think all of you miss the gist of the GMAT in an application process.

Consider this scenario:You at Earth, have opened a school, where all intergalactic Aliens are encouraged to apply.Now, many Aliens from different planets have different levels of education; how will you make sure that they will succeed in studying the core curriculum you offer at Earth??.Well you will loan a particular 'Earth test' to a gate keeper that any Alien wishing to enter this Earth school will require to get about this score or around it to be considered...(and also couple it with their life histories to be judged by yourself.)

This is actually what GMAT does.Not only does it make the life of all adcoms much easier in differentiating applicants and independently gauging their background against one another, but also places a barrier, so no one without a required academic level, end up running back to their parents! (if unable to pass).

At levels of above 680-720-640...i probably believe the adcom members (some of them doing the same work over 20 years or so) get enough exp to differentiate b/w what std dev actually can happen over a 4 hr exam.so do not be surprised if you see 640 over a 720 or 640 over 780, at a top school....its pretty much a check in the lonng list to be 'inferred'- holistically speaking

This is how I understand the GMAT score fits into the larger picture.
A B school application can be broadly divided in 2 parts:
1. Applicant's Academic record(The numbers in the app such as:GPA/GMAT/Years of Exp etc-2)
2. Applicant's Individuality/Personality/Leadership ability etc.(covers Essays, Recommendation, Quality of professional Exp, Comm Service, etc-2).
GMAT is one of "THE" most important Academic component of the application. Plain n simple.
Moreover the relationship of 1 & 2 is mutually exclusive. i.e. excellent essays do not compensate for bad GPA or the inverse.
But a stellar GMAT can definitely compensate for a bad GPA.
But they do have an overall impact on the application for obvious reasons. What matters is the overall application/recall value/uniqueness.
Let me know if you guys concur?