JD/MBA / MBA Admissions GPA versus GMAT

[lebroniousjames]

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[imchuckbass58]

I guess this goes for both JD/MBA and regular MBA admissions, but is anyone familiar with how MBA programs weight undergrad GPA versus GMAT (and now GRE, I guess). Also, do they weight the math section more heavily than than the verbal, or just your overall score?

I know that work experience plays a (much) more predominant role in MBA admissions, but just on numbers alone how does say a 650 (36 V, 43 Quant) and 3.86 stand up against the inverse along the lines of 700+ and say 3.3ish?

Appreciate any input

Depends on the MBA program.

As a general rule, GPA and GMAT are thresholds. Past a certain point they don't really matter (i.e., the difference between a 730 and a 780 is immaterial). Below a certain point they hurt you, but can be made up for by other factors (i.e., work experience).

For top 10 or so programs (harvard, stanford, wharton, MIT, columbia, kellogg, tuck, etc.) you probably need at least a 700 and a 3.3 absent other strong compensating factors.

Seems like you know this, but just to emphasize, work experience, interviews, recs, and essays play a much bigger factor in MBA admissions. Top programs are happy to (and often do) reject 3.8+ 750+ candidates if their essays such or they bomb the interview, and are willing to reach below their 25th percentiles for a compelling story.

[imchuckbass58]

Oh, and to answer your actual question, between the two, GMAT is probably more important. B-schools realize GPAs aren't always comparable (and aren't as slavishly tied to US News rankings), and most candidates are several years out of undergrad.

Of the stats you mentioned, the latter candidate is stronger, all else equal.

Split between quant and verbal is very resume dependent. That is, if you had a heavily quant job, they won't scrutinize the math score too hard. But if you're coming from a soft background (i.e., law), they probably will put more weight on it. Similarly, schools scrutinize the verbal scores of non-native speakers more closely.

[lebroniousjames]

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[1988AndX]

imchuckbass58 got it right on in my opinion.