When to Stop Studying for the GMAT and Start Working on Your MBA Application

For most MBA candidates, the decision to keep retaking the GMAT or the GRE comes down to a benchmark that doesn’t account for the variable that matters most: how your score reads against your specific background.

The standardized test (GMAT/GRE) is not the starting line. It’s a threshold variable and whether your score clears that threshold depends on factors most candidates aren’t evaluating when they decide to retake. While they’re optimizing a number that already clears the floor, other candidates are building the parts of their application that actually require time.

Sia Admissions Founder Susan Berishaj will break down how admissions committees actually use the GMAT/GRE, why the benchmark isn’t a fixed number, and what candidates are getting wrong about the sequencing of their application strategy.

What this session surfaces:

• Why a higher score from the wrong profile doesn’t solve the problem the candidate thinks it solves and what’s actually being signaled to admissions committees in the meantime
• The reason score benchmarks are background-dependent, and why the standard advice about “competitive scores” obscures the variable that matters most for your specific candidacy
• What candidates who defer application work while retaking are actually giving up and why the timeline pressure isn’t where most people think it is

This is a live session with Q&A. Bring your specific situation.

Not sure whether your score is working for or against your profile? Request a written profile evaluation. Ready to talk through your full candidacy? Book a strategy consultation. Learn about the Sia Method.