Q&A – Writing Applications Before Having a GMAT

Question:

 
I am appearing or rather going to appear for GMAT in a month or so, just wanted to know if I should take the​​ risk of applying to B schools right now or just skip this year’s admission process altogether? I have a rather average CV and my aim for GMAT is 650, my country of choice is Singapore and around in the asia region. So to sum it up, should I take the plunge or not? Thanks.
 

Answer: 

HELL TO THE NO. It’s very difficult to build up momentum for an application you might not be qualified to submit. For this reason, I do not work with applicants who have not yet sorted their GRE/GMAT. 

Also, this will give you more time to strive for 700+. To maximize ROI for this whole process it’s best to go in with good stats and aim for top schools. 

Take the GMAT so many times that you are sure there IS NOT ONE MORE POINT LEFT IN YOU. 
Leave nothing on the table. If you want to stay in Singapore, INSEAD is the best school and you want 700+

Regardless of your GMAT score, you will need to do a quality job on your applications. 
This requires researching yourself, your goals and your schools to do a good job on this. 
It takes time. You cant slap some crap together the night before here and make any headway believe me. 

This is a long journey – and you want to do your absolute best at every stage to get a good chance of achieving an acceptance. 

​​INSEAD is a huge application in particular – give yourself 2 months to complete it and more if you work a lot of hours or plan to submit a lot of other apps in R2.