arvean wrote:
Hi All,
I'm in process of studying for GMAT and preparing my applications for Fall of 2011. I'm already registered for the test on 09/04. Hopefully I'll get a score high enough to "qualify" for the schools of my choice (aiming for NYU, Columbia, Fordham). However it might be the case that I'll flunk the exam and we'll need to retake. My question is as following:
- Do I need to begin my application process before I'll take the GMAT (pay the fees, work on essays etc)? Preferably, I'd take the exam, see what my score is and then do/submit the application. I know that you have to give your school codes, but are they required along with application? How does a school look on a "gmat failure" if you weren't applying yet?
Hi Arv,
What round are you looking to apply? If you're thinking of applying R1, you're cutting it really close--it would be tough to push out well-crafted, coherent, unique essays for 3 schools in a month/month and a half. Working on applications AND studying for the GMAT would likely make you crazy, so maybe it's worth waiting to apply in R2 once you see how your GMAT score turns out. You don't need to pay anything for your applications before they are completed and you hit submit, and you don't even have to send your score the day of the test--you can, and they will see all of your GMAT scores even if you wait to send the score reports until later or you take the test again. It's free, however, to send them the day of the test, so if you are pretty sure you're going to be in the right target range for those schools (based on your last few practice tests) and you are pretty sure you're going to apply to those 3 schools, there's no reason not to send the scores along, unless it just makes you nervous.
I personally didn't send my scores the day of the GMAT--I wasn't sure when & where I was applying at that point, so I just didn't feel ready to commit to sending them yet. I started my R2 applications for 3 schools and my R1 for NYU whose R1 deadline was in Nov last year in September/October and spent a good long time working on all of them, submitting NYU in November and the other 3 the first two weeks in January. Don't underestimate how much time this will take you and how exhausted you'll be during/after the GMAT and during applications. It is a tiring process and requires a lot of concentration. Totally worth it though!
The one thing I *would* say you should get a jumpstart on, particularly if you're still thinking about R1 but even if you're still shooting for R2--line up your recommenders. Get their permission, talk to them about your career goals and try and the things you think you want to focus on in your application. Hopefully they will want to submit thoughts about you that supplement the content you'll cover in your app (not necessarily reiterate everything in your app)--giving them a lot of time to process it and also giving yourself a cushion in case they are procrastinators is KEY.
GOOD LUCK