Gmat and R2 deadline

Sorry that you bombed your GMAT.

Most schools will take extra week or so to get your "application complete." This is especially so this year because of application volume surge.

On the application, you can put the date of your "future" GMAT date and in the additional/optional comment section of the application - you can mention it.

However, 2 week might be a little stretch, not to mention you HAVE TO put a score on your application. (You can't predict your score)

Also, my MGMAT instructor (Standford Undergrad, HBS MBA) told me that MBA programs never check your actual GMAT score until you decide to enroll into their program.

so what should i do..i can report my lousy 640 and I m pretty sure they will ding me..if i can just ask em to review my latest gmat which i will be taking 3 weeks from the deadline..

i cant retake the gmat any earlier..i just took it today!

How committed are you to go to school this year?

Also, do you think you can increase to a 700+ score in a month while writing quality apps? Seems like a lot to me...

I say you apply with current GMAT score to your target schools and focus on essays. If you don't get in, you have a ton of time to practice and increase your score before you re-apply next year.

zoinnk..I have finished all my essays, excpet for Stanford..

finsihed all of the essays to Harvard, Wharton, Kellogg, Columbia...

i dont know what i can do to up my score..i mean i score 700+ on all my practice cats..

Not to diminish your hopes, but I think it's highly unrealistic to expect schools to allow you to submit your GMAT scores late, especially 3 weeks late. I'm not discouraging you to ask, but I would expect you to get a negative answer.

Another option is to apply to other schools that have lower GMAT ranges as backups...Don't know if that's something to which you'd be open.

yup adding NYU..to the LIST..i am also an NYU alum so i hope that would be some brownie points

you guys all think its better for me to R3 instead of R2?

In any other year, I think R3 might be a good option, but I bet applying R3 this year will be like getting waitlisted regardless of the strength of your application due to the sheer number of applicants.

You really have 2 options.

Option 1) Take the risk and take your GMAT on the scheduled date that you've mentioned. However, you have no guarantee of scoring higher than what you've scored today. Also, if you don't put the actual GMAT score on your application (since you won't have your future score by the deadline), the school will definitely pull GMAT database before you take your next exam.

Option 2) Scoring 640 sucks. However, you already finished your essays. I am assuming rest of app packages are done as well. Forget round 2. Aim for round 3. Yes, your chances of getting into school like Stanford, Columbia, Kellogg etc dramatically gets reduced. However, why apply with uncertainties and get dinged from that disadvantage? If I were you, I would get rid of any uncertainties or mistakes on your app package and aim for R3.

The schools that you mentioned are top top schools. I understand that that's your goal. But life throws you curveballs sometimes.

Add couple more schools in Round 3 that's more of a safety....Otherwise, you might have to reapply next year. But if you want to go to school in Fall 09, I would add schools like Cornell, Yale, Duke, and Indiana in to the mix.

Everything happens for a reason. You can't change your GMAT score or anything else that's in the past. You have to move on.

You have a decision to make. You will have to change some of your original plans. You will have to give up few things that you've planned and add new things into the mix.

Either way, Gclub members are here to help you along the way.

if you're open to adding other 'safer' schools, what about darden and duke? I think duke esp is huge on nonprofit...

Yale is also huge on nonprofit...

debating..AC.. also have to look at the ROI aspect of it.

really dont have a clue..at this point..i have other factors that go in my favor.. work experience is good, fortune-10 company..was part of their leadership development program..did rotations across various orgs. good non-profit experience..

so yeah..i am debating if R3 would be any better..than just going with what i have right now..

something to keep in mind -- some schools have loan forgiveness if you go into non-profit.

R3 would be practically impossible and not worth the risk for you. I would go ahead and apply R2. Address the GMAT score in your optional essay. Even if you don't get accepted anywhere (not saying you won't), you may get waitlisted somewhere, especially if the rest of your profile is as good as you say it is. Then you can update the school with your new, higher GMAT score. Worst case, you have to reapply next year. If that happens, apply to the same programs in R1 (ED for Columbia) and it will show that you are very committed to their program and the MBA in general.

well good thing is columbia RD ends somewhere in march, i intend to apply to Columbia by end of january, after i have retaken my gmat. Kellogg and NYU are now on my reach list..H/S/W are probably out of my reach..hurts when dreams come crashing down..