Help! Need to take the GMAT again in a month

Question

Hello,

I am waitlisted at my top choice school and they basically told me that I need to re-take the GMAT. Does anyone have any advice on how to prepare for this? I'm scheduled to take it again on April 16th. I've taken the test 3 times but haven't looked at the test since Dec. I have the OG book and just bought the Kaplan 800 book. Any advice on study schedule, strategy, etc would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!

sundarman · Answer

Go through the OG completely once. Make your notes as you go along. Especially with Sentence correction and problem areas. If you wish, you could also select 15 to 20 questions from each section and time it. Once you have completed the OG, you could take a practice test on either Kaplan or Powerprepp test 1. Check how you are doing and based on that go back and revise your notes and note down your weak points. 

If you do not mind me asking which school were you waitlisted on? 
Good luck

Thanks

tan4479 · Answer

I'm waitlisted at Columbia. I spoke with my waitlist manager yesterday and he basically said that my GMAT was the only weakness in my application. So I am scheduled to take it again in April and need to basically cram for the next 30 days. I've dedicated this week to just go over basics and am taking a practice test on Sunday. I also bought the Kaplan 800 book as welll. 

Will the OG and Kaplan 800 book suffice? I've already taken a class.

Hjort · Answer

Hi,

What has been your highest score so far and what was the V/Q split?

tan4479 · Answer

580. I got a 41Q/28V. I was and am still surprised at my verbal. I don't come from a math background. I was a poli sci major in college. I think my problem might me that I've spent years perfecting the art of skimming and now I can't do that on the test.

Hjort · Answer

Have you tried LSAT reading passages for practice?

tan4479 · Answer

No I haven't tried that. Is there any prep book that you would recommend?

jackson24nj · Answer

have you been through the OG? if so do you understand why you got certain questions wrong? this is critical for success. Id get the error log from here and get cracking on the verbal section and mark down anything I got wrong, was unsure of or slow on and redo those once per week. If you are particularly bad in a certain aspect (SC for example) Id go over the ones you got right as well. Be sure you are timing yourself when doing problems.

texaspunk · Answer

HeyTan: what percentile is a 41Q
Thanks

tan4479 · Answer

Thanks everyone of the advice. I think I really need to go thru the verbal very slowly. I was looking at my past scores and the verbal has pretty much remained the same. Need to up that score. Will go thru the OG book and not SKIM!

vikky267 · Answer

hi,
i am planning to give my GMAT again.It gives me a sigh of relief that with 580 you got waitlisted in columbia.i have applied to columbia with 590 my quant was 47 (81%), so u think i have a considerable chance of getting thru Columbia?
thanks
vivek

tan4479 · Answer

Hello

I'm not sure about your chances with Columbia. For my application I knew that I wasn't the typical applicant so I knew that would help. I'm not from finance so I was hoping that they wouldn't expect me to get an 800. I also know another girl who got a reconsider later from Columbia on a 530. She wasn't the typical applicant and I know that if she raised her score, she would have been in (her score dropped). So it depends on the rest of your application. My theory is that top schools can do what they like and if they like the rest of your application they will consider you. I think that schools that are still climbing in the rankings are much more concerned with data points. I belive the lowest GMAT score of last years incoming class at Stanford was a 540. Hope that helps.

vikky267 · Answer

hi,
it's really astonishing that with a 540 a person got through stanford.A piece of advice increase your quant score because while i was having a conversatiobn with a admission director of kellog's he told me that while evaluating GMAT score more stress is given on Quant score and if quant score is near the 80% percentile, it's considered quite good by the adcom.hope this helps

Winds81 · Answer

Hi tan4479,
can you tell me how was your application unique? did you make it to Columbia? do you think it (unique app)will apply to me, as I have been told to take gmat again. see below my profile details. 
I am a 25 year old female from India and applying to US business schools in 2012. I have a GMAT of 640 (Q:45 / V:34 / AWA:4). I have worked for 4 years as a marketing executive in India in the hospitality industry. I have worked for two different hotel groups 1) 1 yr at a large single hotel located in the commercial center in the capital city of India 2) ~3 yrs at a large multi-national and multi-brand hotel chain, with responsibility for nationwide (India) marketing. I had hit a ceiling at my company and without an MBA they were not willing to promote me further or give me additional responsibilities. So I quit and for last 2 months, I have been working as a full-time volunteer for an NGO for differently-abled and underprivileged children. By the time I join a business school (hopefully), I would have worked at this NGO for almost 1 year. I am passionate about dance and was part of a professional dance group for 5 years (alongside my college and job). Both at college and as part of this dance group, I have performed at multiple shows with audiences of 1,000+ people and won many awards. I have an undergraduate degree in English (Hons.) where I studied English. I was very active in my college’s dance and literary society. Indian colleges do not have a GPA system. I would consider myself a firm mid-tier performer academically. I am very keen on continuing a career in marketing.

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