<p>I'm going to start studying for the GMAT once my latest project at work settles down, but until then I'm wondering to what degree one's SAT score (old-school 1600 SAT, of course ;)) had any correlation with their GMAT score.</p>
<p>What I'm really saying is I'd love for my 1580 SAT to translate to a 790 GMAT...one can dream :)</p>
<p>I don't think it's a direct translation, since the people you are competing against are college graduates instead of high school graduates.
I got 1510/1600 on SAT (took it twice), I scored 700/800 on the GMAT (took it once). Scores aren't weighted as heavily for b-school as for undergrad. Breaking the 700 on the GMAT is good enough for any school. The rest is up to your essay, recommendations, and work experience. Plenty of people get rejected from elite schools, not just H/S/W, with 99 percentile scores like 760, but plenty of people get accepted to elite schools with good scores like 680+.
The bottom line is that a high GMAT score won't get you in a good school, but it will keep you out. If you get above 700+, you should be good to go.</p>
<p>that's interesting. why does a very high score on the gmat keep one out from admissions? does it come off as being too 'book-wormish' to admission officers?</p>
<p>
[quote]
What I'm really saying is I'd love for my 1580 SAT to translate to a 790 GMAT...one can dream
[/quote]
</p>
<p>There are other more extensive threads on this topic, but that is generally how I've seen it work with some anomolies.</p>
<p>
[quote]
why does a very high score on the gmat keep one out from admissions? does it come off as being too 'book-wormish' to admission officers?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It doesn't keep you out. It just shows that the MBA schools don't consider GMAT as important as work experience and essays. Like liu says, once you show a solid level of intelligence, other factors are going to determine your chances at admissions. If a high GMAT is your best attribute, that is unlikely to be enough to get accepted by a top school.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for the input...gotta get around to that practice GMAT...</p>
<p>The GMAT is roughly as easy as the SAT in its content. I had a 1550 on the SAT and back in October got a 780 on the GMAT, in neither case with much studying.</p>
<p>My recommended study plan for the GMAT is to do a book's worth of practice tests, and then spend $25 on 800score.com's tests. i'm not some sort of agent for them, i used them and they were the best damn prep I could've possibly gotten. Myself and two friends all took those practice tests there, which were much harder than the real thing, and walked in on test day and each got 780s. Your mileage may vary but those tests were fantastic preparation - especially with the detailed explanations of each question, and the computer-adaptive format.</p>
<p>Wow, 780 is pretty stellar. I wish my SAT has translated that well. The quant on GMAT owned me, even though I got a 790 on SAT math (80 on PSAT).</p>