For all you applicants out there…
The GMAT is an important factor in whether a business school will admit you into its program. However, while you should strive to achieve a high GMAT score, it is not the end of the world if you don’t score above a 700. Nor is it the end of the world if your score falls below the average GMAT score of the number one school on your list. As long as your score lies within the middle 80% range of accepted GMAT scores you should be able to receive an acceptance letter.
But I scored 20 points below the school’s average.
It doesn’t matter. You can still get into your number one school, as long as your GMAT falls within a school’s middle 80% range, by writing killer personal essays. These essays are your best opportunity to balance the statistics in your application (GMAT, GPA, Transcripts) by bringing your life experience and personality to light. The best way to infuse your essays with personality is to write them in a conversational tone. You don’t like to read white papers and neither do adcom officers. Avoid using big, bloated words and industry jargon and focus on telling your story and telling it well.
What is your story?
Your story should showcase your unique selling point, the one quality that elevates your application above all the other numbskulls whom you are competing against. For career changers, your unique selling point is your work experience if it cuts against the grain of those of other applicants, like if you were a court stenographer or a museum curator. These off the wall career fields aren’t a hindrance to your application as long as you can convey a story that proves your experience adds value to the program.
What if I worked in Finance, like everyone else.
If your work experience comes from a typical business school feeder industry, such as finance or engineering, you might have to dig a little deeper to find your unique selling point. Perhaps your unique selling point isn’t what you’ve accomplished in your field but rather the actions you took to achieve your success. If you are given an option to write an essay that discusses either a work or personal accomplishment, chose the personal accomplishment. It might be harder to write because personal accomplishments aren’t as easy to quantify as work accomplishments, but I guarantee you it’s a story no one else is telling.
By finding your unique selling point and conveying it in an engaging and conversational style, you should be able to ace the application phase and score an interview. Good luck!
