NEW HERE? LEARN MORE
closeclose
Last visit was: 24 Apr 2024, 19:34 It is currently 24 Apr 2024, 19:34
Decision Tracker
My Rewards
New posts
New comers' posts

Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel

Bombed the GMAT

SORT BY:
Date
Kudos
avatar
SCBooth
Manager
Manager
Joined: 21 Nov 2009
Posts: 70
Own Kudos [?]: 9 [0]
Given Kudos: 1
Location: United States
Schools: Cnsrtm-Goizueta '16 (D) Cnsrtm-Ross '16 (D) Cnsrtm-Stern '16 (D) Cnsrtm-Johnson '16 (WL) Cnsrtm-McCombs '16 (WL)
Send PM
Bombed the GMAT [#permalink] New post   19 Dec 2009, 17:16
I've lurked around the boards for the better part of 5 months. First off, I would like to thank everyone for posting their stories as well as their tips.

I recently sat for the GMAT for a second time. My first time I scored a 620. I don't have the breakdown on hand, but my verbal was in the low 80th percentiles (81 maybe), and my Quant was in the low to mid 50's percentile, and an AWA score of 6.0. My second outing was atrocious, I scored a 570. I do not want to make excuses, but they tested a fire alarm, and it totally messed me up during the quant section. I should have canceled the score. I know that my performances are not representative of my intellect. On GMAT prep I scored as high as a 690 with a slight imbalance on the verbal side. I put a great deal of time and effort into this GMAT exercise, and am quite frustrated. I went straight into studying for the GMAT after I sat for the CFA Level I. I am pretty sure that I am burnt out, but definitely have it in me to get my desired score.

My question now is what do I do? Do I submit the 620 and essays and hope for the best? Will schools accept GMAT that are taken after the deadline (assuming that I sit again). Wait for round 3?

I suppose that some more information is needed in order to evaluate my chances.

25 M
4 years work experience as a risk analyst (prime brokerage)
Sub 3.0 GPA at a good NYC private university
Division 1 Football Player
Staff Writer for the student run newspaper
African American (not sure how this factors in)
Bilingual-English and French

Prior to my debacle, I targeted; Columbia, Wharton (hail mary), Booth( another hail mary), NYU (consortium), Yale (Consortium), and Darden (Consortium). Although, I suppose any MBA program is a hail mary now.

My goal is to transition from the brokerage side into IB.

Any feedback (positive or negative) is well appreciated..
User avatar
lagomez
VP
VP
Joined: 05 Mar 2008
Posts: 1226
Own Kudos [?]: 518 [0]
Given Kudos: 31
Send PM
Re: Bombed the GMAT [#permalink] New post   19 Dec 2009, 17:35
SCBooth wrote:
I've lurked around the boards for the better part of 5 months. First off, I would like to thank everyone for posting their stories as well as their tips.

I recently sat for the GMAT for a second time. My first time I scored a 620. I don't have the breakdown on hand, but my verbal was in the low 80th percentiles (81 maybe), and my Quant was in the low to mid 50's percentile, and an AWA score of 6.0. My second outing was atrocious, I scored a 570. I do not want to make excuses, but they tested a fire alarm, and it totally messed me up during the quant section. I should have canceled the score. I know that my performances are not representative of my intellect. On GMAT prep I scored as high as a 690 with a slight imbalance on the verbal side. I put a great deal of time and effort into this GMAT exercise, and am quite frustrated. I went straight into studying for the GMAT after I sat for the CFA Level I. I am pretty sure that I am burnt out, but definitely have it in me to get my desired score.

My question now is what do I do? Do I submit the 620 and essays and hope for the best? Will schools accept GMAT that are taken after the deadline (assuming that I sit again). Wait for round 3?

I suppose that some more information is needed in order to evaluate my chances.

25 M
4 years work experience as a risk analyst (prime brokerage)
Sub 3.0 GPA at a good NYC private university
Division 1 Football Player
Staff Writer for the student run newspaper
African American (not sure how this factors in)
Bilingual-English and French

Prior to my debacle, I targeted; Columbia, Wharton (hail mary), Booth( another hail mary), NYU (consortium), Yale (Consortium), and Darden (Consortium). Although, I suppose any MBA program is a hail mary now.

My goal is to transition from the brokerage side into IB.

Any feedback (positive or negative) is well appreciated..


You are only 25..you lose nothing (other than money) by applying. All else fails study harder for the GMAT, retake and reapply
avatar
JZino
Intern
Intern
Joined: 29 Nov 2009
Posts: 9
Own Kudos [?]: [0]
Given Kudos: 2
Send PM
Re: Bombed the GMAT [#permalink] New post   20 Dec 2009, 04:14
SC,

The first thing you should do is try to get some solid numbers regarding the requirements for African-American admittance. I know relatively little about business school admission tendencies, but I attended law school and teach the LSAT and, as a result, I needed to familiarize myself with how different demographic groups were viewed by admissions committees.

When it comes to law school, being an African American is a massive plus. A famous legal case challenging affirmative action in law school admissions, Grutter v. Bollinger, introduced numbers that the average GPA and LSAT of African American admittants to the University of Michigan law school was .5 and 12 points lower, respectively, than that of white addmitants. For an average student, .5 GPA points and 12 LSAT points is the difference between getting into Harvard and not getting into any of the top 25 law schools.

I don't want to rile up internet trolls, but, like I tell my students, it is essential you recognize your particular admission situation.

This is all a roundabout way of saying that 620 may be sufficient for some top business schools. Please be sure to ask people intimately familiar with the admission situation about your profile. US News and World Report is probably an invalid indicator for you.

Best of luck.
avatar
bhy
Intern
Intern
Joined: 21 Dec 2009
Posts: 26
Own Kudos [?]: 6 [0]
Given Kudos: 1
Location: Washington DC
Schools:Fuqua Class 2012
 Q48  V42
Send PM
Re: Bombed the GMAT [#permalink] New post   28 Dec 2009, 20:39
retake the GMAT...with such a low quant score and the whole football/jock sterotype, you are going to need to make sure they know that you aren't going to fail out b/c of the math...especially with the schools you are shooting for. I studied for over a year for the GMAT. I prob studied too long, but that is what I had to do to get a score for top programs.

Good Luck
User avatar
B
vannbj
Senior Manager
Senior Manager
Joined: 18 Sep 2009
Status:Yeah well whatever.
Posts: 252
Own Kudos [?]: 246 [0]
Given Kudos: 17
Location: United States
GMAT 1: 660 Q42 V39
GMAT 2: 730 Q48 V42
GPA: 3.49
WE:Analyst (Insurance)
Send PM
Re: Bombed the GMAT [#permalink] New post   01 Jul 2010, 12:28
SC Booth,

Where'd you end up? As another AA male I was in a somewhat similar situation. I got a 660 with the 83rd percentile overall after getting 680 and 690 on practice tests. But as I hear, there are usually less than 100 blacks in the whole country who score better than a 700 on the actual exam in a given year. And I don't know everyone's score but I've met two people at HBS who didn't cross the 700 mark. Given that the average was a 425 for blacks and 100 points is roughly a standard deviation on the GMAT, you're essentially two standard deviations above the mean. You have at least a chance at several top schools.

BHY, what football stereotype are you talking about? If he's done well on the CFA then he can do the B-school math. Nothing in b-school is as tricky as the GMAT math.
User avatar
B
YourDreamTheater
Manager
Manager
Joined: 22 Oct 2009
Posts: 223
Own Kudos [?]: 211 [0]
Given Kudos: 1
GMAT 1: 760 Q49 V44
GPA: 3.88
Send PM
Re: Bombed the GMAT [#permalink] New post   03 Jul 2010, 09:39
The comparison between advantages you get as an African American at law school vs business school in admissions don't add up. The boost is much more obvious and important in law school admissions... There are simply too many other factors in a business school application.

OP - what did you end up doing?

Posted from my mobile device
User avatar
B
vannbj
Senior Manager
Senior Manager
Joined: 18 Sep 2009
Status:Yeah well whatever.
Posts: 252
Own Kudos [?]: 246 [0]
Given Kudos: 17
Location: United States
GMAT 1: 660 Q42 V39
GMAT 2: 730 Q48 V42
GPA: 3.49
WE:Analyst (Insurance)
Send PM
Re: Bombed the GMAT [#permalink] New post   04 Jul 2010, 15:46
Your Dream Theater,

Are you sure about that? There's a pretty big advantage even at the top schools. Have you ever heard of the Consortium fellowships? Several blacks get full rides to a number of top schools. Honestly, I think the boost for blacks targeting MBA programs is greater than that for law schools. Could you expound on what you mean?
User avatar
sanlitun
Manager
Manager
Joined: 21 Mar 2010
Posts: 181
Own Kudos [?]: 30 [0]
Given Kudos: 32
Location: Beijing
Schools:Ross
 Q50  V45
GPA: 2.7
Send PM
Re: Bombed the GMAT [#permalink] New post   04 Jul 2010, 22:46
It is shocking that the GMAT centre tested the fire alarm during the test. It would have put most people out of sync with their natural flow of answering the exam.
User avatar
L
bb
Founder
Founder
Joined: 04 Dec 2002
Posts: 37301
Own Kudos [?]: 72871 [0]
Given Kudos: 18857
Location: United States (WA)
GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V42
GPA: 3
Send PM
GMAT ToolKit User CAT Tests Forum Quiz Mode
Re: Bombed the GMAT [#permalink] New post   04 Jul 2010, 23:03
Expert Reply
Wow - testing a fire alarm system is definitely not cool. You can reach out to GMAC and if anything, try to get a free retake - they often provide a gmat voucher/coupon for you to do that.

Also, take a look at this thread: should-i-retake-gmat-thread-retaking-gmat-strategies-83339.html

Based on your stats/practice tests, you should have done better. Not everyone improves the second time, but very few slide 50 points. I would include that argument with a note to GMAC for a free retake.

620 for the schools you outlined is a bit weak (though not impossible).

Final question, what materials did you use for your prep?
avatar
SCBooth
Manager
Manager
Joined: 21 Nov 2009
Posts: 70
Own Kudos [?]: 9 [0]
Given Kudos: 1
Location: United States
Schools: Cnsrtm-Goizueta '16 (D) Cnsrtm-Ross '16 (D) Cnsrtm-Stern '16 (D) Cnsrtm-Johnson '16 (WL) Cnsrtm-McCombs '16 (WL)
Send PM
Re: Bombed the GMAT [#permalink] New post   10 Jan 2011, 13:44
Sorry for my extremely late response, but I'll provide the updates. I applied to those schools; and, I was not admitted to any of them. I contacted GMAC about the alarm issue; however, they told me that I should have canceled the test. They didn't offer a retake.

I took the test again and scored a 660 (Q:44, V:38). So I still have the same hurdle this time around. I re-applied to; Wharton, Stern, CBS, and Booth. I'm hoping that my essays are strong enough, and that being a re-applicant helps As far as materials- I used the OG and the Manhattan GMAT series.
User avatar
B
vannbj
Senior Manager
Senior Manager
Joined: 18 Sep 2009
Status:Yeah well whatever.
Posts: 252
Own Kudos [?]: 246 [0]
Given Kudos: 17
Location: United States
GMAT 1: 660 Q42 V39
GMAT 2: 730 Q48 V42
GPA: 3.49
WE:Analyst (Insurance)
Send PM
Re: Bombed the GMAT [#permalink] New post   10 Jan 2011, 14:01
SCBooth wrote:
Sorry for my extremely late response, but I'll provide the updates. I applied to those schools; and, I was not admitted to any of them. I contacted GMAC about the alarm issue; however, they told me that I should have canceled the test. They didn't offer a retake.

I took the test again and scored a 660 (Q:44, V:38). So I still have the same hurdle this time around. I re-applied to; Wharton, Stern, CBS, and Booth. I'm hoping that my essays are strong enough, and that being a re-applicant helps As far as materials- I used the OG and the Manhattan GMAT series.


Maybe you should have applied to Darden and Cornell too.
avatar
SCBooth
Manager
Manager
Joined: 21 Nov 2009
Posts: 70
Own Kudos [?]: 9 [0]
Given Kudos: 1
Location: United States
Schools: Cnsrtm-Goizueta '16 (D) Cnsrtm-Ross '16 (D) Cnsrtm-Stern '16 (D) Cnsrtm-Johnson '16 (WL) Cnsrtm-McCombs '16 (WL)
Send PM
Re: Bombed the GMAT [#permalink] New post   10 Jan 2011, 14:07
vannbj wrote:
SCBooth wrote:
Sorry for my extremely late response, but I'll provide the updates. I applied to those schools; and, I was not admitted to any of them. I contacted GMAC about the alarm issue; however, they told me that I should have canceled the test. They didn't offer a retake.

I took the test again and scored a 660 (Q:44, V:38). So I still have the same hurdle this time around. I re-applied to; Wharton, Stern, CBS, and Booth. I'm hoping that my essays are strong enough, and that being a re-applicant helps As far as materials- I used the OG and the Manhattan GMAT series.


Maybe you should have applied to Darden and Cornell too.


I was considering Cornell and Darden, but I didn't have the time to create strong apps. I considered Duke as well, but the time constraints were too great.
User avatar
lagomez
VP
VP
Joined: 05 Mar 2008
Posts: 1226
Own Kudos [?]: 518 [0]
Given Kudos: 31
Send PM
Re: Bombed the GMAT [#permalink] New post   10 Jan 2011, 15:01
SCBooth wrote:
vannbj wrote:
SCBooth wrote:
Sorry for my extremely late response, but I'll provide the updates. I applied to those schools; and, I was not admitted to any of them. I contacted GMAC about the alarm issue; however, they told me that I should have canceled the test. They didn't offer a retake.

I took the test again and scored a 660 (Q:44, V:38). So I still have the same hurdle this time around. I re-applied to; Wharton, Stern, CBS, and Booth. I'm hoping that my essays are strong enough, and that being a re-applicant helps As far as materials- I used the OG and the Manhattan GMAT series.


Maybe you should have applied to Darden and Cornell too.


I was considering Cornell and Darden, but I didn't have the time to create strong apps. I considered Duke as well, but the time constraints were too great.


The problem could be your goals. First, breaking into IB is tough. Second, it's even harder with a GMAT below 700. It's possible adcoms feel that your goals are not achievable.

Additionally, you will need solid leadership experience. I'm not saying you don't have that, I'm going by what you wrote.
GMAT Club Bot
gmatclubot
Re: Bombed the GMAT [#permalink]
10 Jan 2011, 15:01

Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group | Emoji artwork provided by EmojiOne
Main navigation
GMAT Resources
Partners
MBA Resources
www.gmac.com|www.mba.com | | GMAT Club Rules | Terms and Conditions