I just Beat The GMAT!

Looking for some help from those who know:

I just got a 730 - 47Q, 42V. 96th percentile. I got 760 on both on my GMATPrep exams, so I am slightly disappointed. Question is with regard to B-school admissions. I had a 3.76 GPA from a good undergrad school. Is that, with my 730, a good bet to get into the top schools? I appreciate the insight.

Jake

GMAT beated. You dun.

yea you definitely beat the gmat =). How did you prep?

Prep was relatively non-intense. My approach was to conquer all the concepts before attempting a CAT test, figuring that at that point all I'd have to work on was getting used to doing the test on a computer. I started with a book by Peterson's but quickly realized that it wasn't for me - I disagreed with most of the answers on Verbal. So I bought the Kaplan Verbal workbook and thought it was great - did all the exercises in it. I then bought the OG math workbook and spent lots of time learning and re-learning all the concepts - practiced the hardest Qs. Then I did as many written practice sections I had before tackling CATs. Did one from P-Review (730), one from Kaplan (660) and then decided to go for GMATPrep. I got a 760 on my first one and that was two weeks before the test - then I got a 760 on the second one a few days ago. I figured I was ready..as I said, I wish I had gotten the 760 but I'll take a 730.

Anyone have any insight into my Q with regards to my candidacy to the top couple schools?

jakesing wrote: Anyone have any insight into my Q with regards to my candidacy to the top couple schools?

Congrats on the 730! Despite your lack of satisfaction with the score, it's a very competent score. Most of the people reading/using this website would be thrilled to score a 730 on the GMAT. Well done!

Regarding your specific question, no one, but no one, here is going to tell you that 730 is not enough to get you into a Top 10--or even Top 3--school. Not a single school is going to exclude you purely because you scored 730 as opposed to scoring 760.

3.76 GPA + 730 GMAT score is very competitive. Now it's up to your work experience, extra curricular activities, references and your personal statement/essay. Not a single B-School has a GMAT median or mean average that's above 730. So no school is going to categorically exclude you.

Your question is really more: Am I guaranteed admission into a TOP school with a 730 and a GPA of 3.76? No, you're not guaranteed, but you wouldn't be guaranteed with a 760 + 3.76 GPA either. You do however have a very high probability of being accepted into a top school. All things being completely equal, a score of 760 will undoubtedly be considered better than 730, but your score is sufficiently high enough such that the adcoms will be taking other factors into account in deciding whether you are admitted or not to their school.

This is all to say that your 730 score is high enough so that no school is going to reject you simply for your GMAT score alone. Put another way, if you're rejected by a certain school for whatever reason, it most likely will not be because your GMAT was 730 as opposed to 760. They most likely would have rejected you for that same reason had you offered them a 760 score in your application.

Spend some time on your essay. Best of luck!

Absolutely agree with Alpha 800 above.

Ask most MBA students and they will most likely tell you that the essays and your motivations for going to business school matter more than your GMAT score. As long as you have a competitive score, which 730 certainly is, you can focus on making your essays as strong as possible.