Took my GMAT today.....340!!......I feel like an idiot!!!

I bought the GMAT flashcard book published by Kaplan. I studied those for about 6 months. Then I got serious to my time frame of when I wanted to go to graduate school and around April I realized that I needed to take the GMAT by the end of July. I took it July 1st. I took a review class that was taught at Cleveland State every Saturday in June from 9am-5pm. I would come home and work on the GMAT prep from MBA.com. On the practice tests they had I received a 600 and and 630. I didn't think that was too bad. So I took the week before the test off. Reviewed the night before. Then went in a bombed it...............

How do colleges use this test??....the college I want to go is a state school. It is the University of Akron. I have been in my field for 16 years. I want to take the Master's of Taxation.

But Man, do I feel stupid. I think anyone that has never sat for that has NO IDEA!!!....my husband can not understand why I feel so beat up.

If you were taking practice exams and scoring 610 to 630's you are already quite prepared to Akron - you just need to keep your studies up for one more month and then retake.

If the school told you "not to worry" about it, why not call them and find out more about why they said that?

FYI - average GMAT scores at akron

https://www.businessweek.com/bschools/05 ... /akron.htm

Thanks Rhyme. I have a call into the advisor. We will see.

Did you take full length practice exams? Or did you skip the essays? Did you take the GMATPrep exams as practice? How many exams?

I took the GMAT PREP full length exams. I didn't skip the essays. I took them too. I downloaded these from the MBA.com website.

Okay....talked to the advisor. I have until August 3rd to bring my score up from 340 to 490-540. What kind is a good guide? I work full time. I am taking a class right now that is Monday and Wednesday in the evenings. Please help.

August 3rd..hmm..short time span. Here is my suggestion (mind you, I haven't taken GMAT yet and for all you know, I may be a dud too, so don't take my advice as gospel (or bhagavad gita if I go by my faith ;) ). But I'm doing OK in practice tests, so it can't be all that bad)

-Get MGMAT books, quick. And do an intense period of 2 week study only on areas where you think you're really bad. Focus on basics in math.

-Do OG completely - everything, and take the 5-6 paper ETS tests along with GMATprep (again)

Since you don't have a lot of time - barely a month in fact, this should be enough. The focus is - don't jump into tests right away and depress yourself. First learn the theory for the 2 weeks and then start hitting all tests and review them.

Good luck! I do hope you'll cross that 500.

I would second this -

Get the MGMAT books ASAP. Start with those. There are 7 of them, you will have to try and do 2 a week, plus OG problems. You will have to dedicate your weekends to make the August date. Don't despair. I did the same thing - 5 weeks, 8 hours saturday, 8 hours sunday, plus 1-2 hours a day during the week.

Be prepared for it to be a signficant amount of work. Try to find a study partner if you can. It helps keep you motivated. Try craigslist.org if your city is listed.

If you are taking the exam in August, I would suggest you do 1 full length practice exam a week, 2 if you can manage it.

Don't give up. Try to analyze what went wrong. Were you nervous? Do you feel you perfermed normally? Were you suprised by any questions? Did you feel unprepared for any questions? What are your section scores? For preparation of the next test I would try to focus on OG.

Good luck!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY TO EVERYONE!!


Thanks for the help I am going to go to amazon and order the books. I don't want to sound stupid but what is the OG? I know of the parts as verbal, quantative. Can someone explain?

I too at first when i going this forum was not sure what OG meant either. I had to ask others, so don't feel bad about it... I would say it is a GMAT lingo??!! OG = Officicial Guide (the GMAT prep book that GMAC sells)
there is a 10th edition and an 11th edition.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/097657 ... e&n=283155

that is funny.....I would have never guessed it. I live around a borders I will see if they have it...if not I will order it. Thanks so much....now off to studying......

understand you. First exam was 460 - I was just disappointed - I had ~700 at KAPLAN CAT tests:(( I have retaken and got... ~390:((( But I think it was my mistake as I had not took a time-out and was over-stressed and exhosted.... I have re-taken and got 500. At the moment I am preparing for re-taking....

I thought 500 was terrible after seeing this site, but considering my prep I think I got what was coming. GMAT for dummies is definately a dumb way to study.