Clear Admit launched its MBA LiveWire feature in December 2014, giving applicants unique real-time insight into how their peers are faring in the admissions process at 33 leading MBA programs around the world. Perhaps most fun, LiveWire lets people share the good news when they are accepted to their target school. It also gives those still waiting to hear a heads up that decisions are rolling out. But more than that, seeing the self-reported GMAT scores and GPAs of other applicants also enables those who follow LiveWire to benchmark their own credentials against their peers.
Now, with almost eight months of collected data, LiveWire also provides a means of analyzing prior admissions cycles. In fact, we have just undertaken the first analysis of LiveWire responses, and the scatterplot here showcases what we’ve found.
Before getting into what it all means, we should note that there is some restriction of range here—i.e. there aren’t very many people reporting GMAT scores below 650—which probably indicates some response bias. In other words, applicants who scored well on the GMAT or had strong GPAs may be more inclined to share their numbers publically (albeit anonymously).
With that limitation in mind, the responses we received are interesting in that GPA and GMAT alone do not seem to predict admissions results.
“On the one hand, the data tell us that if you have a 3.0 GPA or less and a 650 or less on the GMAT, you are pretty much out of luck at the top schools,” says Clear Admit Co-Founder Eliot Ingram. “This confirms what we have known to be true.”
“But it also reveals that having a 700+ GMAT and a 3.5+ GPA doesn’t ensure that you will get in either,” he adds.
In short, bad numbers can keep you out, but good numbers by no means guarantee acceptance.
“This is actually good news for our readers,” Ingram points out. “It means that ultimate admissions decisions have more to do with other factors within the application process—essays, interviews, the overall message applicants communicate about their candidacy,” he continues. “All of which is still very much in their control.”
Expanded LiveWire Features for Upcoming Round 1
Because LiveWire launched well into Round 1 last year, most of our findings to date apply to the second and subsequent rounds. This year, in time to capture upcoming Round 1 data, we have expanded LiveWire’s capabilities, which should yield even greater analytic insight.
Beginning this week, we have enabled applicants to share more of their admissions journey, including indicating where they have applied, as well as where they have chosen to enroll.
LiveWire Participants Can Score Special Discounts on Clear Admit Products
An additional new field within LiveWire now invites any applicants who so chose to share their email addresses. While entirely optional, sharing this information will enable us to follow up with special promotional offers tailored to your target schools. (Share that you’ve been invited to interview at Chicago Booth, for example, and you could receive a discount on the Clear Admit Chicago Booth Interview Guide.)
If you do elect to share your email address, rest assured that this information will not appear in the LiveWire feed—your submissions will still appear entirely anonymous to other LiveWire followers.
While decisions for the 2014-2015 admissions cycle continue to trickle in, LiveWire is poised to really pick up again now as we head into the 2015-2016 cycle. Remember, your window into real-time admissions results is only a click away. Don’t miss this opportunity to keep your finger on the pulse. Of course, the more people who contribute, the better sense everyone gets of the overall admissions cycle. So don’t just watch other people’s results roll in—share your own as well!
