GMAT score for PE recruiting
Will my mid-600’s GMAT score keep me in the mix during PE recruitment (MM/UMM)? My ACT was quite bad so I’d prefer to show this instead.
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Not to be a dick but just being honest might want to get that score to at least something starting with a 7 tbh
Yah, unless you're +700 I honestly would leave it off the resume entirely.
thoughts on listing a flat 700 with a 3.3 from a UVA/UCLA? non business major - think Econ or science with relative grade deflation
Look, it doesn't show well, to be honest.
how did you take the gmat while being an IB analyst? doesn't pe recruiting start very early anyway?
Lots of people take it their senior year of undergrad.
Can listing a GMAT score on resume get you dinged at firms that support direct promotion (don't want associates to leave for b school)?
Don't list it if it isn't 700+
To clarify, I don’t mean for resume use. I would only show the score if a PE firm asks for a standardized test score (gmat/act/sat/etc). Just curious if it will seriously ding me in that case.
They are not going to ask for it, so it doesn't matter. Hedge funds might be more likely to ask. If they do.. a score below 700 is trash. Honestly, anything below 750 is below average.
Thank you for being honest ab this. But I’ve heard that many PE firms ask candidates for a standardized test score and use it as another metric for narrowing down the group. Are you saying this often isn’t the case?
I'm not sure they do, as most people wouldn't have done their GMAT in undergrad. Things may have changed lately. They'll look at GPAs though. Still, to answer your question, if they do ask for a score and your best one is a mid-600 GMAT, you're probably out if they use that as a way to assess candidates.
would you say this is the case for lmm pe? Like a 730-750 is below average?
...
No clue.
But I have a rock bottom low GPA score and still made it to the buy side :-)
They will not ask for GMAT, but they may very plausibly ask for SAT. Is your SAT better than your GMAT? If so, provide that instead (only if asked, unless your score is impressively good). Otherwise, on your GMAT, I’d suggest staying silent.
A lot of folks in this thread making declarative statements about what PE firms will/will not do. The answer is that it depends on the PE firm. One of the PE firms that I have worked at would always ask for standardized test scores as well as GPA. The firm actually wanted people to go to business school, so they would specifically ask for GMAT scores (it was a positive if you’ve taken it) and use that to assess a candidate. That said, a score below 700 would be very unusual and be a red flag if the candidate also possessed below-average academics. A score in the low 700s “checked the box” and a score of 750+ would be viewed favorably. This was just one of many, many criteria used to assess candidates and wasn’t weighted very heavily.
My advice to you based on what you’ve shared is to not proactive bring up the fact that you’ve taken the GMAT. I know you said that your ACT was quite bad, but if you share your GMAT score it might inspire a recruiter to then ask you for SAT/ACT. With two below-average scores, you run the risk that they view this as a trend and reject you. Better off remaining silent on the GMAT and letting them assume you haven’t taken it yet.
Thanks CompBanker. I'm curious, how heavily did your firm weigh ACT/SAT in the interview process, assuming no GMAT (compared to GPA and other factors)? For reference, my ACT is a lowly 26 and I'm worried about it being an issue during recruitment. However, my UG GPA was quite good (3.9+).
600s GMAT is worse than a 26 ...
Can't you technically take the ACT/SAT even though you're not in HS?
While you cannot compare directly because of the backgrounds of those that take ACT vs GMAT, your ACT and GMAT are both pretty similar from a percentile standpoint. My logic is to not mention the GMAT, and just provide the ACT if they ask. This way, you are able to articulate that the score is from high school and you believe it is not indicative of current abilities. I feel that there's the chance that they view your mid 600s as relatively indicative of your current ability since the score is recent, so you would have to sell this as a starting point of your GMAT prep or something along those lines. When I say indicative of your current abilities, I am referring to the fact that you were able to achieve a solid under gpa / internships etc.
Not trying to like weird flex here or anything but I have my 740 on my resume and give that over my 2120 SAT (because I can’t remember the exact M/R/W breakdown) and my 34 ACT as I believe since I just took it that it’ll look pretty favorably on my resume. Is this a bad strategy for firms that ask just for one score? Obvi if a firm asks for any/all I’ll give all three but is my preference for the GMAT misguided?
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