"Tens of thousands of prospective MBA students will be feverishly working over the next few weeks to meet the round one application deadlines for some of the world’s most prestigious and highly selective business schools.
What will happen to those applications once they land at the schools? How will candidates be assessed? How often do those assessments line up with the more positive descriptions of the admissions process described on school websites?" …
Although I read & respect Poets & Quants website, this article is overly simplistic & not very helpful. The title of the article is somewhat misleading. Essentially the article states that positive interactions in person with admissions reps can overcome a weak GMAT score. The MBA schools obseved were Boston University, University of Toronto & Spain’s top MBA school. BU–ranked by US News at #41-- typically accepts about 35% of all applicants.
The most selective MBA programs in the US focus on one’s work history, employability, GMAT score & undergraduate GPA. Having a nice chat with an admissions officer from a most selective MBA program is unlikely to be enough to overcome a significant weakness in one’s application.
I hate these articles which mislead people about the “what counts” factors. We see all these threads from HS kids wondering if a degree in “business” from random directional college will get them into HBS because it will help them do better on the GMAT. Ugh.
Right on, Publisher.