Please note that in this post, the scores we discuss are for the classic GMAT, not the new GMAT Focus.
You have a 720 GMAT score and a 3.75 GPA. You have made solid career progress and procured glowing recommendations. You have been actively volunteering in your community for years. You worked hard on your application and landed an interview at your target school, where you felt you did well. But you still did not get in.
You must have done something terribly wrong in your interview or unwittingly made a mess of your essays, right? Not necessarily. We once spoke with the admissions director at a top MBA program who explained that his school does not give feedback to rejected candidates because doing so is simply a waste of the candidate’s and admissions staff’s time. The admissions director told us that the school would need to nitpick to give candidates something to work on and to fill the time during these hypothetical feedback sessions. He explained that nine times out of ten, the feedback offered to weaker candidates would be patently obvious and that countless strong applicants had done nothing wrong at all. In fact, most candidates create their best applications, but space in the class is simply limited.
Although this may not be comforting if you were rejected, you may just have been the victim of a competitive process during a competitive year. We suggest that you honestly assess your candidacy and simply stay the course as you continue applying. Spending significant time revamping your applications may be a waste of time and a losing strategy. Patience may prove beneficial in the long term.