I don't think there will be any difference in your acceptance rate with respect to a 740 vs 760.

The GMAT is important, but the 740 is definitely good enough to get accepted into any MBA program in the country.

Focus on the other aspects of the application process. I am sure you already know what other factors are important in the admissions process.

Can you support that? I at least laid out quite a bit of logic behind my speculation.

raising your score would obviously not be a negative thing. it has to be your opportunity cost; would you have to study a ton rather than focusing on strengthening your resume in other areas?

My short answer is no, I have not seen much evidence of this. From most of what I have read, an MBA is not necessary, while being more beneficial in more of a research or risk analytics role while less in an S&T role.

Despite this, I still want to pursue an MBA to 1.) ease the career transition 2.) develop a strong network 3.) create a stronger candidacy for other career paths and future exit opportunities if applicable. Honestly I am not ruling out other fields besides IM, although I will be sure to not point this out in my application.

And I think I would focus on investment management, finance, or analytical finance, depending on the school and the specific courses in each major.

I'm pretty confident I can do better. Plus I'm a poker pro so my schedule is superflexible.

Other than writing better essays, I don't think there is really any way to strengthen my resume at this point over the next few months. Yeah, launching the webventure would be good, but I'm somewhat dependent on my partner for that.

The schools use the GMAT score to quickly qualify a potential student. They are also aware that it is a silly standardized test, and the vast majority of it is not applicable in a real world business setting.

It tests intellectual aptitude to an extent, but high scores are also obtained by test takers who use a "formula" and take prep courses.

A 740 is a very good score, and it shows you clearly have the intellectual capacity to excel in business school. The admissions committee is not going to look at your score, and then see a score of 760 from another candidate and think they are more capable than you.

The GMAT score is also somewhat political. The schools publish data about entrance class scores etc. As long as your score is within their range of scores you are fine.

Each MBA program tries to find a well rounded and capable class. They look at many things....essays, work experience, undergraduate study, leadership potential, future aspirations with the MBA degree, etc.

For all intents and purposes a 740=760

With all that said, if you think you can do better, and don't mind spending the time studying and paying for the test....then go ahead and take it again.

Some schools only take your highest score. Other schools average your GMAT scores.

I hear this said quite a bit, but it's almost always being spoken by admissions officers who have a vested interest in getting as many applications as possible from people that they will summarily reject so that they can report good numbers to USNews.

What % of the time do you believe you will score better than a 740 the next time you take the GMAT?

If you do score better than a 740 on the next time you take the GMAT, how much do you think it increases your % of getting accepted into an MBA program?

I realize you can't quantify an answer to the above questions, the point is to prove the parlay might not be worth the time, effort, and $.

My guess would be that 80% of the time I will do better. As I already said, I think out of applications to the top 10 schools, it will change the result in two applications.

So yeah, I definitely think it is worth it.

I believe you said 2/10 applications

.8 x .2 = .16

ok.

not sure why you asked the question if you already know the answer.

gl.

also, your 80% is pretty lol. as you already stated, 740 is 97th percentile.

I realize that we will never make this bet, but if I could I would bet a large % of my net worth that 4/5 times you do not score a 750 or higher.

well if you want to take on some variance i'd be willing to bet on whether i score 750 or higher. if you gave me the right odds, i might even take a 770 or higher bet.


also, why are you posting in this thread if you only want to troll?

not trolling, was trying to help with your decision. the problem is that you asked for advice on a subject in which you had already determined what you plan to do regardless of the advice.

I think you are capable of scoring a 770 or higher. The difficulty is doing it 4/5 times.

As you know the GMAT is not scored like a normal test. It is an adaptive test, and the better you do on the initial questions during each section greatly impacts your score.

So if you were to make a carless mistake, get confused by one of the unscored experimental questions, or spend an inordinate amount of time on a couple of questions you will have a difficult time obtaining a 770.

I expect this to happen at least once in hypothetical 5 test scenario. Therefore, the other 4 times you would need to avoid one of those scenarios and still score above the 97th percentile.

FWIW, I took the GMAT one time and scored a 710. I briefly looked over a Princeton Review workbook, but didn't take any practice tests.

If you're already in IBD, specifically a 2 year investment banking program either in M&A or coverage (80-100 hour weeks, getting **** on all the time) you should not need an MBA to get a hedge fund job. Pretty much all the HFs and PE shops hire directly out of the pool of those 2 year classes for their junior analyst spots. This would be for fundamental based investing opportunities with a track to become a senior analyst or PM and not "traders." (You'll make alot more money on this track anyway) Take a look on any of the major IM recruiter sites and look at the job requirements for analyst spots and you'll see that most of them hire straight out of the IB programs.

For consultants you may need to pursue an MBA to transition your career into investment management unless there is a specific sector based coverage opportunity, though even that may be tough.

Are you not applying at Rice U?

I don't think it would be profitable to discuss variance v EV in taking the GMAT with you. You proposed a bet; I indicated willingness to discuss particulars and you have declined to pursue it. I have reason to think that my EV is 750+ on the GMAT, so while I don't have much gamble in me, I'm usually willing to accept EV when people give it to me.

I laid out a pretty long explanation of why I think scoring higher will make a marginal impact. You replied, "I don't think there will be any difference in your acceptance rate with respect to a 740 vs 760." You provided zero support for your position or reasons why my logic might be mistaken. When asked to support your position, you have only provided what I call the "minimum acceptable score" theory. In my opinion, you haven't added anything to the discussion aside from registering your agreement with conventional wisdom.


FOCUS: Wooden, I tried to PM you but can't, I imagine because you don't have the minimum posts necessary.

Rice's MBA is fairly new and not that well ranked. I can't see a reason to go there over UTexas considering that it costs double.

Also, I already have the value of Rice's alumni network, so I lose the value of another alumni network by doing Rice MBA.

Fayvren, that's really helpful. I am in tech M&A and have sort of heard what you're telling me, but I guess HF jobs are just not as readily available as PE. PE is everywhere, unfortunately I'm extremely interested in the fundamental based L/S opps, and I just don't see it that much. Especially since I'm west-coast based, and at least in Northern California there's only Citadel and Farallon that are big names that I know of.

True.

How bad is the Bauer MBA from UH? My friend is starting there this August but scored only a 500 on the GMAT I think. He's a 32 year old architect though so I think that helped his case. I wrote him a letter of rec since we are both personal and professional friends and have been for 13 years.

How hard is it to get in a top school these days? I would think in this economy it's a double edged sword meaning tough to afford but also lots of downsized people looking for a leg up. I thought I had heard that overall there are less applicants but I could be wrong?

I got my MBA about 25 years ago from Michigan State so not exactly a top 10 type but usually ranks in the 20-25 range. It has proven to be pretty useless to me other than a door opener but it opened the door I wanted to go through so I can't complain.

Best of luck in your pursuit.

Hey everyone. It's great to hear that you're discussing Acton. I work there and I just wanted to say there's *no* need to be put off by the average 7 years of work experience (actually for the Class of 2011 it's closer to 6). Here's the deal:
-Acton will accept no more than 5 students per year who apply directly after undergrad
-For these students, there's an even greater emphasis on GPA and GMAT scores, history of leadership positions, community involvement, internships, after-school jobs, etc. Just show us how these things make up for your lack of work experience. (Check out the student profiles -- some of our featured alumni came right out of undergrad)
-We do have a lot of students with less than 7 years. Several have 3-4.
If you're interested in entrepreneurship, we'd love to hear more from you. If not, that's OK too. Hope you all have a great time at whatever school you choose -- they'll be lucky to have you.

thanks for participating. i'm pretty fascinated by Acton. if we ask you questions, will you be here to answer them?

How much should I study before taking the GMAT?

It’s great that you’re interested. I know that applying to business school can be stressful and full of uncertainty and you probably have a million questions -- especially for a program like ours that’s so different. Here’s the thing, though -- I’m probably not going to be much help answering questions on this forum. Either your question is specific to your needs and personal concerns, in which case talking to us directly would be better or you have general questions, which can be answered in way more detail on our website than I could provide in a short message. So here’s what I’d recommend:

If you haven’t already, take a look at our website. The videos are particularly informative and were designed to answer a lot of the questions people have about Acton (go to About Acton and click on the green play button.) Then, we have an easy method for you to learn more and get in touch:

1. Take our five-question quiz to find out what kind of entrepreneur you are. With the results, we’ll take you on a personalized virtual tour of Acton.
2. Explore and see what we have to offer.
3. Tell us about yourself and answer a few questions on the secure part of our site. That’s how to start the application process (tell us about you, visit class, and apply).

This whole process is explained in more detail here: http://www.actonmba.org/apply/isactonright/
If you have any questions along the way, we’re here to help. (Contact info is here).
Hope this helps! I look forward to meeting you someday soon!

I think you should reconsider. I've already filled out all the forms short of the formal application (with 3 minutes of thought, you could fairly easily figure out who I am). I still have questions, and while some of them are specific to me, I think everyone here could potentially learn from them.

Maybe you have concerns that your boss won't want you officially representing Acton in the face of tough questions, but I think we'd all benefit. If Acton is unique as it claims to be, I think you should dare to be different.