jmdma808 wrote:
Im new around here and just wanted to share my experience becuase I'm still pretty stoked.
I started studying for the gmat back in June. Having not taken a math course pretty much since highschool, i completely forgot just about everything. I didnt know how to add/subtract/divide/multiply fractions, i didnt know exponents, radicals, i didnt know the area equations for triangles, circles, i didnt really know anything. I had forgotten it all. So I bought the Kaplan book and the gmac book and just sort of studied on my own for a while and didnt feel like it was helping me as much as it should. I signed up for the Kaplan classroom sessions and began studying with them in September. My first practice test was a 500 and then a 460. My scores began to steadily improve and topped out at 590, which was my highest score going into this past gmat exam.
The first time i took the actual gmat i felt like i did sooooooooooo good! Needless to say i was devastated when i received a score of 460. I studied so incredibly hard leading up to the first exam. I work a full time job as a commercial banker, sometimes 12 hours a day and as soon as i would get home i would study for the rest of the night until i went to bed and all weekend. I literally had no social life for about 6 months. It is extremely difficult to study for this test when you work full time.
After i got the 460 i went straight home and signed up to retake the test at the earliest possible date which happened to be about five weeks later. I told myself screw it, im changing my plan because all that studying didnt work for me last time. I didnt really study at all after i took the first exam. I just went to a couple more classroom sessions with kaplan, watched tv, played video games, slept in the day of the test and didnt really think too much about the gmat. I took it with the attitude that i already felt like i knew the material i just had a bad test last time, but i had no idea i would get a 680 on this one. I scored in the 95th percentile for verbal and the 61st percentile for quant. Previously, i have never scored above the 70th percentile for verbal (even the 70th was high for me) and never above the 50th percentile for math (the last test i scored in the 16th percentile). So i have no idea what happened, the stars just aligned. I did pray a lot before the test and while im sure many of you are not religious this seems nothing short of a miracle to me.
I know everybody around here thinks you need to score in the 700's to get into a top B-school, but mark my words, i'm going to get into a top 5, i guarantee it. I have a high gpa, awesome work experience, great references, im gonna write a killer essay and i have faith that its gonna happen. I will post when i get into a top 5 and i will show you guys its not all about a 700+ gmat score.
Anyway, i am very happy and wanted to share my story and i hope that it helps some people and if just a few get inspiration from it then that is all i can hope for. IT IS POSSIBLE TO GO FROM A 460 TO A 680! if i can do it than so can you. Dont get discouraged, just have faith and determination and you can do it!
thats unbelievable! very inspirational... congrats on a great score!