How to Overcome a Low GMAT Score

If you’re trying to figure out how to overcome a low GMAT score, here’s the reassuring part: a disappointing result is rarely the end of your MBA plans. There are four practical ways to address a low GMAT score: switch to the GRE or Executive Assessment, reexamine your target programs and career goals, consider part-time or Executive MBA programs, or explore alternatives to an MBA. We’ll walk through each option below.

First, it’s worth asking what is considered a low GMAT score in the first place. There’s no universal number. A low GMAT score is simply one that falls well below the median for the programs you’re targeting, so a score that’s competitive for one school may be low for another.

So, you got a bad score on the GMAT. What should you do now?

In this article, we’ll talk about how to overcome a low GMAT score. Before we start, here’s a refresher on how the GMAT’s scoring system works, if you need one.

It would be nice to think that there’s a standard, predictable trajectory for improving your GMAT score. Wouldn’t it be great to take a practice test, calculate the number of points needed to achieve your target score, create a study plan that specifies the exact number of weeks you’ll need to improve, and then achieve your score in that amount of time and dance off into the MBA sunset?

Sadly, life doesn’t always work like that. You probably already know that you’ll encounter obstacles during your MBA journey, but if you’re like most people, you expect to find a way to overcome them. After all, you’re a hard worker, and maybe even a perfectionist. Historically, you’ve been able to achieve anything you set your mind to.

When it comes to the GMAT, maybe that means studying longer and harder. Maybe you can purchase a test prep program that worked for someone else in your life, or maybe you’ll hire a really great GMAT tutor.

But what if you do all of that and still fall short of your target GMAT score? What can you do if your GMAT score is stubbornly low and you’re giving up hope of ever improving it?

If the GMAT has punched you in the head repeatedly, it can be easy to lose sight of your ultimate goal: advancing your career through an MBA. The silly GMAT is just a means to that end. So, with that in mind, here are four things you should do if you get a low GMAT score and you’re beginning to lose hope: switch to the GRE or Executive Assessment, reexamine your target MBA programs and career goals, look at part-time or Executive MBA programs, and explore alternatives to an MBA.

1. Switch to the GRE or Executive Assessment

This is the easiest and most obvious adjustment. Pretty much every top MBA program now accepts the GRE, so if the GMAT isn’t the exam for you, maybe the GRE will prove to be a better fit for your skill set. If it is, that’s great.

Better still, MBA programs tend to be a little more flexible in the way they interpret GRE scores. For instance, if you’re applying to a top-10 MBA program with a 595 GMAT score, your odds of admission probably aren’t great.

But what if you apply with a Q160/V160 on the GRE instead? That result isn’t far from the mean GRE scores at top MBA programs, but according to an (admittedly dodgy) conversion from GRE to GMAT, a 320 on the GRE is roughly equivalent to a 595 on the GMAT. You’ll want to take those How to Convert GRE Score to GMAT Score charts with an enormous grain of salt, but for many test-takers, the GRE definitely offers a much cleaner, quicker path to a reasonably competitive score for MBA admissions.

A growing number of full-time MBA programs also accept the Executive Assessment (EA), an exam produced by the same organization that administers the GMAT. The EA features almost exactly the same questions as the GMAT, but it is shorter and less time-pressured. The only downside is that the EA was designed primarily for Executive MBA (EMBA) programs, and many full-time programs don’t accept it yet. To see if your target schools accept this exam, please see GMAC’s list of Schools that Accept the EA.

For more information about which exam to pick, check out this video on how to choose between the GMAT, GRE, and EA.

2. Re-Examine Your Target MBA Programs and Career Goals

When you started your GMAT journey, maybe you were fixated exclusively on Harvard and Stanford, or a similarly short list of elite MBA programs.

If that’s the case, it might be worth examining why your list was so short. Are these schools really the only route to accomplishing your career goals? Or were you just drawn to their prestigious names and high rankings?

Plenty of schools outside the top 15, or even outside the top 30, have amazing programs with extensive alumni networks and outstanding career outcomes. If anything, the graduates of lower-ranked MBA programs we’ve met might actually be happier than the Harvard and Stanford graduates, mostly because they invested the time to find a program that’s a great fit for their personal needs.

When we work with our clients, we often encourage them to start with a list of companies they’d love to work for after completing their graduate studies. Then we ask them to do some research and find out exactly where those companies recruit. 

Over and over again, our applicants are surprised by the results: their target employers consistently recruit graduates from a broad range of MBA programs, and very, very few great employers are obsessed with just Stanford and Harvard. 

So stay focused on your long-term goals: if you can achieve your career aspirations through an MBA program that demands a lower GMAT score, then maybe your current score is just fine, even if it isn’t quite the score of your dreams. For a closer look at that idea, see: How Low GMAT Scores Might Help Your MBA Application.

3. Consider Part-Time and Executive MBA Programs

Similarly, there are plenty of outstanding part-time and Executive MBA programs that can build your career just as effectively as full-time programs. Unfortunately, we find that many applicants automatically dismiss these programs without a second thought.

But if you’re struggling with the GMAT, the good news is that part-time and Executive MBA programs tend to be far less GMAT-obsessed than their full-time counterparts, so you might be able to gain admission to a top-tier program with a less-than-elite GMAT score. As a bonus, these programs give you the opportunity to maintain your salary while earning your MBA, and we find that a surprising number of our part-time MBA and EMBA students ultimately love studying with peers who are still actively engaged in the workplace.

Of course, you might have reasons why you strongly prefer a traditional, full-time MBA program. But if you haven’t at least considered an alternative, you might want to ask yourself why.

4. Explore Alternatives to an MBA

The MBA is an incredibly popular degree, and we find that many students pursue it simply because they have so many friends and co-workers who have completed one. But oddly enough, many of those same students would be better served by a different graduate degree entirely.

For example, maybe you’re 100% certain that you want to work as a data scientist, a marketing executive, or a real estate developer. If that’s the case, do you really want to spend two years earning a general degree in business administration instead of concentrating on the specific areas that interest you most?

Some of the happiest applicants we’ve worked with ultimately chose a specialized master’s or PhD program, even though they were initially focused exclusively on an MBA. And of course, specialized master’s and PhD programs generally require far lower GMAT or GRE scores than you might need for an elite, full-time MBA program, and many don’t require a standardized test score at all.

The most important takeaway: Keep an open mind, and don’t give up on your career goals. Time and again, we’ve found that whenever our students are truly determined to achieve their long-term goals, they land on their feet in a graduate program that’s an excellent fit for them personally, regardless of their GMAT scores.