GMAT & MBA Admissions Blog

The MBA applicant file was thick, with transcripts, recommendations, all sorts of testing metrics, alumni interview reports, essays, work portfolio, and even a video. The grades, numbers, work experience and personal narratives were superb. However at the bottom of the Director’s decision sheet clipped to the file folder were the letters NCR. In the decision column, the letter “Z” was scrawled, code for application rejected.

If you are applying to an MBA program, you probably already know that the business school admissions committees will look at a number of elements in your application, but also that not all components are made equal in this process. One of the most important factors when applying to business school is your score for the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT), which is a standardized exam developed specifically for business school applicants, intended to measure their capability in pursuing an MBA program in an objective way.

One of the great misconceptions about standardized exams such as the GMAT or the SAT is that they are tests of “Math” or “English.”

The business school admissions process has a lot of moving parts. Understanding the details in how your application is evaluated by an admissions office is key to finding success—especially when applying to top programs. To help ease your anxiety about the details of the applications, we have answered four common questions about the GMAT and MBA admissions more generally.

Many potential MBA applicants worry about their level of work experience. This is an important piece of your business school application, and it can play an important role in the admissions process.

While some prospective students have already been working for years by the time they choose to attend business school, others are either just out of college or only have 1-2 years of work experience. Business schools will almost certainly take into account your prior work history, considering both the amount and the type of experience you have.

American business school applicants are increasingly opting to go abroad for their MBAs, and with good reason - there are many advantages to overseas MBA programs. However, there are also drawbacks, and there are numerous factors you will need to consider before making this choice.