750 GMAT - sufficient for merit based aid?
Hey folks -
I fully expect to get labelled a pretentious douche for posting this question - apologies in advance and I’ll try not to belabor my words.
I will be applying to M7 this fall. I scored a 750 on GMAT. I know this is more than good enough for admissions consideration. What I’m concerned about are scholarships. Would a higher score significantly increase chances of merit-based aid at any of these schools?
I don’t want to re-take this but would hate to leave money on the table. Unless it’s Harvard I’m strongly opposed to paying sticker tuition. I think my time would be better used to pivot immediately to other elements of my application… hopefully those of you with experience here will agree.
Note that the rest of my profile is strong:
UG Engineering GPA (T25 school): 3.5
MS Engineering (T25 - completed while fully employed): ~4.0
7 years work experience @ blue chip company at time of 2019 matriculation – mix of project management and business development (P&L accountability for multi-million $ budgets; leading 10-30+ person teams; lead lots of interactions with present day customers and potential future customers)
Very strong references
Years of community involvement in leadership roles
Experience running my own business on the side for the past 3 years - high profitability
Goal: Management consulting for a few years and then likely transition back to my industry in more senior leadership role… continue to grow my business on the side
Male. Not a URM nor do I have any “sob stories”.
Hey @QuantKing45
Thanks for posting. Before getting into the particulars of your candidacy, I'll share some details on where we typically see scholarship money allocated... 1. Great stats. I had a guy with a 760 and 3.9 who got a 50% ride at an MBA business schools">M7. Note that he applied to all the schools in the MBA business schools">M7 except for Kellogg and this one program was the only program to offer him money. 2. URM and LGBT. 3. Candidates with significant non-profit experience who had low salaries before b-school. 4. Candidates from emerging economies where compensation is quite low and it's clear that the candidate doesn't come from money. 5. Military applicants.
That's not to say that all these groups get money. It's just that when we do see money allocated, it's likely that the candidate falls into one of these buckets.
So, this brings us back to you. 750/3.5 is a good combo. At the MBA business schools">M7 level, it's not unheard of though. So if money is what you are after, I'd recommend going further down the list into the Top 15. Then, for those applications, make sure you really show fit and that you have networked with the program and really want to be there.
Hope that helps a bit. Krista
Thanks Krista, this is helpful!
Hi, Krista. Thanks for the thorough response! So it sounds like stats 'could' make a difference in some cases but probably not worth stressing out for a few extra points on the gmat over. Out of curiosity, which school offered the half ride?
Unfortunately I don't have a helpful response for you. I do have a question though...
Could you tell me what (or what you think) your score was when you started studying and a little about the time you put in and how you studied?
Studied for 2 months, about 100 hours total. After a month ish I got a 740 on a practice test.
Median GMAT at a number of these schools is now 740. As a non-URM male, a 750 won't hurt you but it certainly won't put you towards the top of the class.
It's definitely possible. I had a higher GPA (non-quant easy major though) and slightly higher GMAT, ORM and very little community involvement received ~90% merit at an MBA business schools">M7. Your profile appears better than mine. Did apply to 6/7 MBA business schools">M7 but only had one legit interview invite (plus Kellogg), so the process is more much more random than I imagined.
Scholarships are even harder to predict than acceptances. My stats were slightly higher than yours (3.7/760) and I got 60% scholarship at Booth. Anecdotally, Booth appears to aggressively use scholarship money to win over talent. Your profile looks great to me, I think you would definitely be in the running. Goodluck!
Let's caveat this whole discussion with a bite of reality
There are two methodologies to awarding scholarships:
Non-formula scholarships are used for a school to try to sway those applicants that they want to see represented by their program - whether an individual rock star, or to beef up a URM group, or to keep the military pipeline going, it all comes down to them carving the class with dollars. It's not typically as simple as being "good enough" for a merit scholarship. I had a 770 GMAT and did not receive a scholarship.
Just realize they don't put two candidates side by side for scholarships and say "which one has earned it more"? They instead ask "who do we more want to lock down for this class" which may not correlate to who has worked harder, etc. They also do some guessing as to what they're up against (at least after initial scholarships go out) in order to sway people, which comes down to what pockets they want to fill as much as the individual candidates.
As an aside, "formula based" programs have pockets of money they use outside the formula system as well. And needs based in general is kind of a joke for an MBA program.
going from a 750 to 760/770 will likely have little impact on your ability to get scholarship money. with your profile, i think significant scholarship at MBA business schools">M7 is unlikely but you should be able to get scholarships from T15 schools if that's something you're considering. if you get into multiple MBA business schools">M7, you may be able to leverage your admissions with schools to get scholarship money. i did this with a 740/3.75 and received 1/3 scholarship to one MBA business schools">M7 and 1/8 to another but also had a bit of a non-traditional background.
Do you have a chance at a scholarship now? Yes. Is it likely, hard to say for all the reasons that other posters have already provided. Will a 20 more points on the GMAT make a difference at the elite schools, I doubt it.
I agree with those who said that if you look out side the MBA business schools">M7, your chances of scholarship money go up, given your current stats.
I agree with you that your time would be better spent focusing no won other elements of your application. Indeed a retake at this point given your 750, could cause some to believe that are over-emphasizing the GMAT to the detriment of other application elements.
Best, Linda
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