Calling all US Military Fall 2017 Applicants!

I think my question is... why apply now if you're not ready? There is no Top 50 school with a GMAT average that low. I've read dozens of success stories of foreign applicants who barely speak English boosting their verbal scores from the teens to 35+. If you could pull off a Q45 V35, you're looking at around a 660 GMAT, which would definitely put you in the running at your targeted range (and probably some Top 20 schools that are more GMAT friendly). If you boost it to 700+, I have seen cases of military applicants getting into Top 10 schools with your GPA (or huge scholarships to schools in your range).

Is your timeline tied to your contract date? If so, my recommendation would be to do some serious networking to get a decent civilian gig for a year with 40-50 hour weeks to give you more study time. I bet if you heard some of the stories of the dudes on this thread you'd be surprised at how hard we've worked at this. I'm sure the majority of us totally put our lives on hold this year, especially the married applicants. I studied 300 hours for the GMAT while working 80+ hour weeks as one example. It's doable man. My recommendation would be to save your application money and not apply with your current stats. Just look at the ROI numbers sometime - you're better off holding off in order to apply to a better school. Feel free to PM me anytime - all of us want to see you succeed.