Why Business School Admission is like Getting Six-Pack Abs.

By Alex Chu
Founder of MBA Apply (www.mbaapply.com)

As an admissions consultant, what I do in a nutshell is to coach people on their
applications – the essays, resume, recommendation letters, application forms, interviews,
and just about any issue under the sun that pertains to business school: career goals,
business school life, and whether even to bother applying to school at all.

In many respects, what I do for business school applicants is analogous to what a
personal trainer does for fitness clients.

One of the most common queries I get from prospective clients is this:

“I have a GMAT that is much lower than the averages for my target schools. Can you
help me overcome that?”

The quick answer is, no. Is there a chance you can get in DESPITE a lower GMAT?
Absolutely. But that doesn’t involve “essay magic.” It’s luck and highly unusual
circumstances (you’re sleeping with the adcom, you have the President of the United
States backing you, your parents have a building in the school named after them, and so
forth).

Believing that somehow a low GMAT can be easily mitigated by an exceptionally
executed application assumes that there are enough of your fellow applicants who
will have crappy applications. The thing is, regardless of GMAT score, just about all
applicants will be putting in their best effort. A lot of applicants with GMAT scores
that are average or above average are going to be putting in great applications. Gone
are the days where the majority of applicants were submitting in crappy essays. With
all the resources and knowledge out there that are just a few Google searches away,
most applicants have the savvy and know how to put together specific, clear, organized
and polished essays. And yes, quite a number of these folks who have average to above
average GMATs are also getting help – from consultants, MBA alums, colleagues, and
other people who are giving them feedback on their applications.

So any consultant who claims that they can somehow pull the wool over an adcom’s
eyes and get them to admit you in spite of a low GMAT is akin to those TV infomercials
selling abdominal machines with the promise of six-pack abs.

To claim that using their abdominal exercise contraptions can give you six-pack abs isn’t
outright lying, but it’s misrepresentation. Yes, you can get six-pack abs with exercise
(crunches, sit ups and any form or combination of abdominal exercises). But all the
exercise in the world won’t give you those six-pack abs if your diet and genetics aren’t
already putting you in a position to make those exercises effective.

And that’s what the GMAT is – it’s like diet and genetics. All the “essay magic” in the
world won’t really help to fundamentally change your chances if your GMAT is out of
range.

So this may seem like I am working against my own interests – I mean, as an admissions
consultant, I should be telling you that “hey, if you sign with me, I can help you
overcome your GMAT score!”

But that would again be akin to a personal trainer telling you that your diet and genes
are not important – so long as you follow his/her patented “transcendental metaphysical
crunch!” method, you will get ripped in just 45 days or less. Would you trust someone
who is more focused on sales than on giving you honest advice that serves your best
interest? In other words, are you looking for a sales person, or an advisor? There’s that
old saying that if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is (or they are giving you
a sales pitch).

In other words, I can certainly help make sure you’re doing the best you can on the
applications so as to maximize your chances – but you’ll still be a stretch if your GMAT
isn’t competitive, plain and simple.

I know that the GMAT is a pain in the ass. I hated it myself. I have a greater aversion to
sitting still figuring out multiple choice questions than the average person. But it’s one of
those necessary evils. And if you have tried all you can, taken it multiple times and still
cannot hit the ranges of your target schools, then it’s something you have to simply man
up and live with. This doesn’t mean you should just give up and not apply at all – but
that if you do apply with a significantly lower than average GMAT score, just have some
realistic expectations of where you stand. That may be hard to hear, but it is the truth.

Before embarking on the actual applications, you need to do whatever it takes to score
within range for the schools you’re targeting.

The irony is, those who care least about the GMAT are those who probably need to boost
their score, and those who obsess over their GMAT probably need to relax and focus on
the applications.

In short, here’s the rule of thumb:

You need to be within 20 points of your target school’s incoming GMAT average, and
ideally at the average or more. That’s it. A much higher than average score will not help,
but a score that is 20 points or more below the average will be a significant handicap.

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