What the tests mean for your application
then recommendations, essays and extracurriculars are used to decide between two academically equivalent students.
The same is true for the GMAT or GRE at top MBA programmes — a high GMAT score is needed to get an applicant over the fence, so that their other data points will be considered.
As the Poets and Quants web blog reports: “last year’s survey by Kaplan Test Prep of business school admissions officers at 265 MBA programmes across the US — including 17 of the top 25 — showed that a low GMAT or GRE score is the single biggest reason why business schools ding MBA applicants.” This is true despite MBA admissions officers saying that they look at everything and you should apply even if your GMAT score is below their published average.
Why do they say this? Because it is true — they admit students with lower GMAT scores, but very few. Those who are admitted, have other factors in their application to make up for it — they have done military service in Afghanistan, they were on the Olympic sailing team or they are the scion of an influential business family. If the rest of your profile is average, your scores need to be above average to get a second look.
Competitive undergraduate as well as MBA programmes claim that the quality of applicants is so good that they could fill their incoming class two or three times over. The good news is that most Indian applicants have a lot of experience taking tests and the GMAT, GRE, SAT, ACT are an easy box to tick off. Demonstrating above average extracurriculars, recommendations and essays might be a bigger challenge than a competitive test score. Presenting the best complete package is your best bet, but still no guarantee.