low gmat

Will a 650 GMAT get me Admitted to Stanford GSB?

Will a 650 GMAT get me Admitted to Stanford GSB?

Stanford Graduate School of Business is considered by many to be the best business school in the world, and swaps the ranking of #1 with HBS or Wharton on any given day.  With over 8,000 applicants per year and only about 1/10th of that number in the student body, it’s daunting to imagine them saying yes.  If you happen to have a good-but-not-great GMAT score, you may struggle with your odds of admission at all.  But is it even worth applying if you have a 650 or lower?

The Optional Essay — When to use it, and when to lose it.

The Optional Essay — When to use it, and when to lose it.

Many schools have become extremely restrictive on how many essays they allow you to submit. 

The crushing numbers of applicants has forced schools to streamline the evaluation process and they simply do not have the staff or time to read 1000 word essays from everyone. Of course, whether you're applying there or not, you likely know that Harvard, as an extreme example, actually has no required essays as part of their application! They allow you to submit one essay if you like, but it's not technically a requirement for consideration as an MBA applicant. While we don't recommend you submit to HBS without leveraging the essay, this approach from schools highlights the fact that every word does indeed count.