Have I waited too long to take the GMAT? Advice please

Question

I've postponed my test date because I just haven't felt ready....I still have not taken the GMAT and am becoming concerned there's a real danger of missing application deadlines (can't let this happen).

Have I already waited too long? Where do I stand right now, in terms of the app cycle?

How much more time should I allow myself to prepare before I have to buck-up?

And how long after the GMAT does it take for the official results to be available to send to schools?

Thanks

Dreamy · Answer

GMAT scores are sent immediately after we take the test. Second round time lines around end of December. If you have already done the ground work for GMAT you can still try to pull it off by October end.

jb2010 · Answer

There are a few things you need to do to assess your situation. Once you have those details, you will know where you are, and if you post those details here, others can guide you as well.

1) what schools you want to apply to
2) What is the score you are looking for (if you know answer to first, you can do research to get answer to this)
3) What is your current practice CAT test score (I wouldn't worry about how long you have taken to reach to this score. Where you are today matters the most)
4) What study material you haven't completed yet. (This will help you know how far you can go just by completing that material)
5) What would you need to gain confidence to take GMAT.

Hope this helps.

lifeisshort · Answer

Question (1) and (2): There's zero hope of my being accepted into a top-tier school because of my abysmal GPA and my shallow work experience. I need the greatest GMAT score that I can possibly achieve to help offset these weaknesses and get myself into a decent MBA program...I'd say at least a 650?

(3) Highest scores thus far: Q20 V29
Strangely, verbal is the section I'm most comfortable with yet my score has been a consistent 29 from test to test...can't seem to get it to improve. Quantitative is murder and my progress here is painfully slow...even after all the work I've put into it. Still, I'm determined; but just worried there's not enough time now to get there...

(4) All mgmat guides are completed for Verbal and Quant, but haven't done every question in the Official Guides. Currently, I'm in the process of doing both official guides as well as re-reading some of the mgmat quant guides to shore those areas up. The essay portion is OK--to fully feel comfortable here I have to simply commit my two full templates to wrought memory, (almost there).

(5) Right now, I just have a lot of fear and anxiety about never reaching my needed score, missing my app deadline and/or not getting accepted anywhere halfway decent when it's all said and done. The pressure is on.

To feel confident, I need to be scoring within striking distance of my goal so I can safely predict my score on test day, otherwise I'll never feel comfortable. One thing I'm doing now is to take a full-length GMAT test at least once a day (or every-other day) until test day so my brain becomes acclimated--this makes taking each exam a little easier and less of a workout thus boosting my speed and confidence.

Keep the advice coming!

jb2010 · Answer

I feel taking a test every other day is an overkill in your situation. Your quant score tells that you need more of fundamentals right now and less of timing. My suggestion is to take some high school books from library and do some practice for a week or so (30-40 hours if possible). Before the practice, prepare a list of areas which you feel you are weak, and make sure you do enough problems to gain confidence. Also, when you do this practice, rather than worrying about time, make sure you can hit it right.

Also, in a large picture of life, one year is not going to make that much of difference (my opinion). If you want to compare, compare how you would score next month (for example), and how you would score next year. based on these two score, find where you can get admission this year, and where you can get admission next year. Once you do this much, determine what is the difference you will make by going to school this year vs. next year, and calculate this difference for 20 years. Remember, you have to practice whole year and have steady progress in order to realize the benefits.

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