GMAT taken in December, don't see it getting into top School ANYMORE!!

Question

Hi, I trained for a month for the GMAT and took it the 21st of December. 430 was the result even though I had reached a 500 in some practice test before.
I see the MBA as the one and only chance at getting back into the business race. I was working in private banking shortly, then transferred to treasury analysis. This was becoming very boring after a year. I tried to get into consulting from there, but basically everyone told me to get an mba if you don't want your career to end in a boring way. 
I have really prepared the best possible way and like I said I also saw some improvements while preparing. It would really be a dream for me to get into a business career and believe me in terms or determination and discipline there isn't a whole lot out there that would compete with me - I just need to feel that I can belong to a good business school and then take it from there. 
Really don't know if I can improve my score by taking the test again - out of desperation I have still applied to Darden and Harvard. I think this shows that I want it badly. I basically also found out that there would be financing options once getting accepted into a top program ( that was another huge concern until now, half the time I was preparing for the GMAT I thought it was a waste of time because I could never afford the program anyways) Prodigy Finance has loans for international students and with an acceptance letter anything is possible!!!

It comes down to this in my life. I want it badly (but don't know if I can bring up the energy and improve the GMAT again) and options are very limited for my life if I don't get into a good MBA program. Anybody out there, any suggestions coming from you guys would be very helpful. One advantage I would maybe have in this situation is I am currently living in DC, enrolled in a boring sports management program at Georgetown. Maybe I have a better shot at improving my score since I'm in the US and I feel overall much better here than in Switzerland where I used to live.

As a last resort I would have to teach tennis to kids for the rest of my life and that would be sad. Please guys, any suggestions are so much appreciated because I am trying everything to improve my situation. Thanks a lot in advance. Michele

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Michele,

Since you posted this message in another Forum on this site, I've pasted over my response from there:

From what you've described, I don't think that you've put in the necessary time and effort to achieve these goals yet. It also sounds like you rushed into this process without properly assessing all of the 'steps' that it would take to properly accomplish your goals.

To start, many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so your GMAT score is not surprising given that you spent just 1 month on your studies. There's also some question as to how you studied, but we'll come back to that in a moment.

Top Schools, such as Harvard, are remarkably competitive - so beyond having a strong GMAT score, you need a strong OVERALL profile AND you need to 'market yourself' properly to each Program. Given all of the work that goes into putting together proper applications, you'll likely need months and months of lead-time. This is meant to say that if you're truly serious about all of this, then you should be looking to apply in the Fall, 2016 - you'll need a good 'chunk' of this year to put all of these pieces together.

The immediate issue is your GMAT score - everything else hinges on that performance, so we have to start there.

1) What materials did you use during your studies?
2) What were the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores on your Official GMAT?
3) How much time can you study during a typical week?

Remember that the GMAT is a predictable, standardized Test, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

fasfiidy · Answer

Hi Rich thanks for the reply. I think you already replied to another post of mine way back in August 2015. I was already practicing and basically calling out for help. At least I made some small step getting into Sports Management at Georgetown but that's not gonna help my career.
Score report: V21 Q28

The study material I used were: OG Materials: GMAT review 10th Edition, Verbal review and Quantitative review.
Some of the Kaplan materials but don't remember exactly all of them because my old laptop burned out and data was saved there

I also took several Prep tests and scored at least 520 on the official GMAT test prep.

If I make up my mind I could definitely just invest all the time I have from now on into the preparation for the GMAT. Would you have a clear time schedule or do you have courses that you would like to sell :-)

I also took several Prep tests and scored at least 520 on the official GMAT test prep. If I make up my mind I could definitely just invest all the time I have from now on into the preparation for the GMAT. Would you have a clear time schedule or do you have courses that you would like to sell :-)

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Michele,

I couldn't find any old posts of yours from last year. Were you posting under a different account?

With the Schools that you named, you'll almost certainly need to score in the high 600s or 700s to be competitive, so you'll have to make some BIG improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. Since your prior studies weren't able to get you to that score level, you'll likely have to invest in some new resources (and likely a GMAT Course of some type - either Guided Self-Study or instructor-led). Using this 430 as a gauge, you'll also likely need to spend at least another 3 months on the overall study process.

Most GMAT Companies offer some type of free materials (practice problems, Trial Accounts, videos, etc.) that you can use to 'test out' a product before you buy it. We have a variety of those resources at out website (www.empowergmat.com). I suggest that you take advantage of all of them then choose the one that best matches your personality, timeline and budget.

If you have any additional question, then just let me know.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

WayneHam · Answer

I honestly can't tell if this is a troll thread or not. It sounds like you haven't performed the background preliminary search for mba schools that people typically do before even studying for the GMAT. You mention repeatedly how motivated and determined you are and how badly you want it but something doesn't add up based on your test score. You need to research the schools and figure out what is required to be a competitive applicant and then use your determination and motivation to meet those requirements and then proceed to the application stage. In your practice tests you need to be getting almost all of the questions right before writing the real gmat. Good luck and stay motivated!

absauce · Answer

i laughed when she said she applied to harvard and darden

fasfiidy · Answer

You know  absauce , it might be better to leave your comments inside your brain. If you haven't figured it out yet this is a serious situation for me and yes you might laugh at me for applying with such low scores. But even worse is your comment. Have some respect!!!!!!!!!!!!!

fasfiidy · Answer

you know in a country like USA they predict everything is possible at all times. They say people even get accepted into harvard with as low scores as 500s. You know, maybe they just want to collect application fees, maybe they think they wanna interview the candidate because he has an overall interesting profile. I really don't know what to think of these business schools, since what you read out there ranges from left to right through the whole spectrum. 
Since one thing is for sure, business schools in the USA are cash cows(you never know exactly what to believe and where you stand until you might actually receive an interview call from one of them), I simply would like to understand whether it's even worth it doing an MBA because costs are so freakin insane. 
But yeah a comment like the one from absauce definitely seems more ignorant than informative since this is supposed to be a discussion and supportive forum and not so much a destructive thing. Thanks for listening!!!!

Silviax · Answer

Yes I thought the comment was a little "rude" too ... that's something one can think to themselves about someone but probably shouldn't post in a forum where people are seeking answers and support. I probably would have never applied to a top school with a score as low as yours, but sometimes people just need to go for things just to do them even if the chances of getting what you want are low. I, for example, play the lottery almost every week although the chances of hitting the jackpot are ridiculously low. I don't think anyone would laugh about that (unless I spent my whole pay check on it) because lots of people do it ... hoping for that minimal chance to work in their favor. So don't let absauce's comment bother you. It was just a thoughtless comment ... :roll:

About your GMAT experience/prep .... honestly??? One month of preparation time is NOTHING like others here have told you. Not even if you studied full time for the entire month which I think is a bad strategy anyway to spend 40 hours or more a week studying. You need more time and maybe enroll in an online course. There are a couple of inexpensive courses out there which are pretty decent. Plus many take the GMAT more than once. You could have just had a bad day. I took it once with only self preparation and scored a 560. I was thrilled about my score because my practice exams had indicated an even much lower score. I know everyone else here would have thrown themselves in front of a train or under a bus with such a low score but I was really happy back then because the score was good enough for what I needed it for. (to get into the business school of my choice which of course was NOT a top ten school) So what? I don't need a 800 score for my ego ... I just need a score that is good enough for what I have planned. So yes, if you want to get into Harvard.... you most likely need a score higher than the one you got. Don't give up yet and keep studying!

Soarer001 · Answer

Quite a strange post, I agree with comments above.

GMAT is tough, but I'm sure any educated person in the world can hit 600s.

What would I do:

1) Math. Identify your weak areas, what do you know, what you don't know. Then just study it, the math in GMAT is simple, it's all about timing and logic. If you just do know nothing in math, then you need to take a private course on math (not necessarily with expensive tutors from Manhattan or Kaplan), but just with a whatever tutor who can explain you the basics

2) Verbal. Really, I just don't understand how on earth it is possible score below V30 for a native speaker. Just try to understand what are your weak areas and master it. Verbal is piece of a cake if you speak decent english.

3) General advise. Saying "how badly you want it" will not get you to any school and seems more like a joke or trolling. There is clear plan. Identify your weak areas --> Master it --> Pass GMAT --> Welcome to MBA. No other ways are possible.

Good luck.

absauce · Answer

i wouldnt take what i say to heart 
i legitimately thought you were trolling and im sure  WayneHam  thought the same

but now that i know you are serious all the best with your application as for advice the rest of the posters have provided great ones

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GMAT taken in December, don't see it getting into top School ANYMORE!!

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