(Or GRE.) Here’s the deal: Standardized tests support the meritocracy. They are biased. It’s true for all of them, the college entrance exams up through the GMAT and GRE for grad school. Last year saw the combination of the pandemic which closed down testing centers, and the long-overdue awareness in this country of racism that […]
Continue reading...($) Low GMAT Round 2 application tactics: Remediation
If you’re applying to business school with a subpar GMAT or GRE score, either a low total score or a significantly low subscore especially if it’s on the quant side, then in addition to the preamble talk we gave you yesterday about school strategy, there are in fact steps you can take to improve your […]
Continue reading...($) “My GMAT (or GRE) score is not what I wanted. What do I do now, since Rd 2 is happening?”
We totally understand the stress and frustration that can go along with a GMAT or GRE result that wasn’t at the level you expected. You’ve probably tested multiple times, and you also took multiple practice exams, and thought you were going to be fine. Yet still, for whatever reason, that score has not soared to […]
Continue reading...The shame of a low GMAT score
We want to talk about something here today that we’re guilty of contributing to — inadvertently, yes, but we’ve done it. It’s the shame that many BSers feel about their performance on the MBA admissions test. We see this in the opposite manifestation: When someone has done well on the GMAT, they’re quick to volunteer […]
Continue reading...($) “If I’m really really really really really excited about a school do you think they will let me in???”
This question coming of course from a Brave Supplicant with a really low GMAT. And the answer is…. actually, yes! Or at least, maybe! Depending on the school, and particularly if you’re trying in Round 1. In Round 2, it’s much less common for even the friendliest most culture-driven schools to be quite so accommodating. […]
Continue reading...($) Explaining a low GMAT or GRE score in your MBA apps
You know your GMAT (or GRE) score is low. You’ve debated whether to take the test again, but it’s August. You’re getting stressed about deadlines coming. What if you just write the optional essay about your low score? Shouldn’t that be sufficient? You can tell the adcom that you’ll take the test again if they […]
Continue reading...($) If you don’t think you can do better on the GMAT
When talking about what score is “good enough” for getting into a top MBA program, we said this: If your score is somewhere in between a 700 and a 770 and if you think you can score higher on the GMAT… then we strongly encourage you to suck it up and make it happen. If...
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You made it! Now do this. (Reality Check Dub)
We often offer a rah-rah post right around this time like the one from last week, directed to all those BSers who are coming off the crush of deadlines and the rush of the holiday, and they sit back and look around and wonder what to do with themselves. We usually say, “Get a hobby.” […]
Continue reading...($) Low GMAT? Low GPA? Please don’t say these things in your essays.
First of all, if your GMAT is low, then we don’t recommend writing an optional essay about it at all. The optional essay is meant to explain, and thereby neutralize, issues and weaknesses in your app. If your GMAT is low, there is no amount of explaining that will neutralize it. The only thing that […]
Continue reading...($) All schools do a “holistic review.” But…
So we just spent 1,000 words yesterday telling you that the schools look at everything. And they do. In every chat, webinar, and info session, you’ll hear admissions directors of top MBA programs tell you that they do a “holistic review” of their candidates, that they don’t weight any particular component of the profile, that...
While much of the blahg is available completely for free, the content here is reserved for members with full blahg access only ($9.95/month for six months, cancel anytime). Please login to view this content or purchase a membership.