Top score in GMAT no guarantee for entry into top B-school: Experts

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 27

Experts from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), owner and administrator of the GMAT exam, and top business schools of the country have cautioned students against being taken in by the general impression that a top score in the GMAT exam guarantees them entry into a top business school in India or abroad.

These views were expressed by experts at an MBA seminar organised yesterday by Jamboree, a leading centre for training in GMAT, GRE, SAT, IELTS, TOEFL and admission services.

“There’s much more to admission in a top business school than just the GMAT score. Your persona needs to excite the interviewers,” said Prof Suresh G Lalwani, chairperson, PGPM, SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai.

“The process starts from putting your heart and soul into the application itself. While your academic record needs to be impressive in any case, you need to be as naturally your true self as possible in the interview,” advised Balakrishna B, head, external affairs (programmes), post graduate diploma in management from IIM Bangalore.

“Your work experience, if any, also needs to be quantitatively and qualitatively good. The interviewers would be interested in knowing what value addition you would bring to your peer group in the course,” remarked Aditya Atreya, senior manager from Mohali campus of Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad.

Ajay Thiara, director, Jamboree, emphasised on the need for applicants to convince their interviewers that they had that “spark” in them to stand out from the crowd to succeed in the admission process.