Curious what people think is the most important part of your application for admission. I know consultants will say that its your essays or things you can tweak after the fact (Obviously this gives them clients), but what do you think it is? GMAT, work experience accomplishments, brand name of company, undergrad GPA, undergrad major, Extracurriculars, etc...
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The most important thing they look for is that you can represent the school well and they are comfortable putting you in front of recruiters. So what does that mean? It means you have to be generally smart (GMAT is weighted much heavier than GPA, and school brand does matter), very social (work, extracurricular, general communication, interviewing skills, and clear goals), and fit with the school's culture and values.
Essay is so overrated
I think the GMAT/GRE scores and GPA. Also, all schools are rated on the number of students placed, so how good will the student be in front of the interviewers.
In that respect the essay might help if you have a great story which creates a wow!
Mix of work experiences and brand. There are a lot more instances of people with subpar GMAT/undergrad and stellar experiences getting in to top schools than there are people with bad experience and a 790 getting.
Prove this using something other than anecdotal evidence. I don't buy it. Agreed on the second portion but that is because you describe two distinct and rather rare cases. In the gray area that defines a much higher % of cases, stats likely the primary factor used to filter candidates. I'll be the first to admit that surveys of adcoms can be unreliable, but they have strongly indicated that this is the case, which is actually in contrast to the lip service that one would expect.
If GMAT and gpa were the most important the averages at the very top could be much higher. This isn't law school where scores are the primary factor. They definitely can limit a candidate if your not within an acceptable range because it's like table stakes to be even considered.
From article on P&Q, its a bit old but I'm sure it still applies. "The 2012 survey found that 49% of admissions officers said that a weak score on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) or the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is the biggest application killer. A low undergraduate GPA placed second at 31%, while the lack of relevant work experience followed at just 18%. Asked which is the most important factor in the MBA admissions process, only 2% of the officers said recommendation letters and a mere 1% cited essays."
Thanks for the quotation. This is the article that I was referring to.
heres full link to article if anyone cares to read it - http://poetsandquants.com/2013/08/07/those-pesky-gpa-gmat-averages/
Being different somehow or doing something cool that makes the second year student who is reading your application actually interested in you after reading five hundred other apps laden with seemingly cookie cutter life paths and experiences
GMAT - number 1. Once you clear that barrier, you are put in a bucket full of really good people and they start filtering with the rest of your application.
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