680(Q48/V35)- End of a dream

Question

Hi , I took the exam today and was bitterly dissapointed with the result. I was aiming for 700 and above and was pretty confident of acing the exam after all the hard work that had gone over a period of 2 and a half months. And the irony is that Verbal , which I had worked so hard and felt confident about let me down. Quant was not as easy as OG and I finished just in nick of time. 1 Comb and Probability question. Both fairly simple. Verbal was easier than OG. SC was though not as easy as it is in the OG But am still to understand how I managed a paltry 35. Anyway at the end of it all I was totally exhausted , more by the fact that the 680 I got doesnt reflect properly my ability and I sincerly feel that I could have done better.
Anyway it seems my dreams to attend a top league B school have come crashing inspite of my impressive GPA and consulting experience. It seems I would have to be contend withmy current job. Anyway A word of thanks for BB, stolyar and ther other chaps who have made this site such a wonderful experience for all MBA aspirants. 

Best of luck to everyone !

srathi · Answer

Well ! What ever your personal target and aspirations 690 is not bad at al l for 1st attempt.Why do'nt you try once more next month.Recently my friend got 640 in August and now he has reported a score of 760 ...and he is going for another attempt !!!.Most of us raise our hands just when we are going to succeed but the winners just keep on going.

I would like to have your scores ...in fact anything above 650+ is fine for me.

...So just try once more.....In fact I am sure all the other gmat busters would have the same op.

srathi · Answer

Well ! What ever your personal target and aspirations 690 is not bad at al l for 1st attempt.Why do'nt you try once more next month.Recently my friend got 640 in August and now he has reported a score of 760 ...and he is going for another attempt !!!.Most of us raise our hands just when we are going to succeed but the winners just keep on going.

I would like to have your scores ...in fact anything above 650+ is fine for me.

...So just try once more.....In fact I am sure all the other gmat busters would have the same op.

ngulati · Answer

well thanks for that encouraging words. I havent been feeling too gr8 since I gave the test not because of my 680 but due to the fact that my hard work dint pay off which I specifically aimed at gettin g a high score in verbal. Just want to ask u folks if with this score I can get into a good B school in the US? I have an enginnering degree with a gpa of 4.0 and 3 yeard of consulting experience spanning accross countries like Singapore and Australia. Bono , BB, stolylar .. Any suggestions folks. I am not too keen to take the exazm again. Its an absolute drain of resources, mental fianancial everything.... I have sent my scores to UT at austin Darden , Ohio amd Michigan state university. Just one piece of advice for u guys. Please spend the most time of the first 10-15 questions even if means foregoing the last few questions. They mean a hell of a lot.
cheers
neeraj

bluefox420 · Answer

Neeraj,

Please do not be disheartened by your 680 score. I know people with a lower score than yours who have got into the top 5 b-schools, conversely, I also know people with near perfect GMAT scores who haven't. 

Put a lot of thought and effort into your application package, esp. your essays and keep your fingers crossed !

bono · Answer

ngulati

As I always say in this case: now you know your strong and weak points. Your Q is great, so in the next month or two do focus on verbal!

If you spent this time preparing for Q and V in the proportion of 1/9 you have all the chances increase your percentile to at least 49 and 38 respectively.

Do you know what score it is? It is 720!!! :-D

IMHO, it's worth to try :wink:

What do you think?

IMHO, it's worth to try :wink:

What do you think?

vivek_dj · Answer

Neeraj,
You would have not got the score you wanted but by any means 680 is not a score which would not take you into a top 10 B-School.As suggested by everyone ...even I think you should have a hit one more time.Come up with a great essay and some terrific reco's and you are good to join any good b-school.If you have sent ur score to Ohio State Univ then your score is good enuf.Cant' say the same about Darden and UT at austin but Michigan State University should be a good try with good essays and reco's.So just go for it...!
Even I am an engineering graduate ...just wanted to know how you calculated ur GPA (in case u did ur engg from India)

Ramble On,
Vivek.

hota · Answer

Don't worry about it too much...

The first time I took the GMAT I got a 660 and was very disappointed.

However, I still got in to Chicago with that score and a 3.2 undergrad GPA. I didn't matriculate though because we decided that my wife's b-school opportunity was too good to turn down. I moved with her and decided to try my chances again.

I had a conversation with an admissions officer the other day and found out that GMAT really isn't that important if you have decent undergrad grades. A 670 is more than enough to show that you can handle the work.

hota · Answer

Oh, another thing to cheer you up...

Remember that you're going to be competing with other international students, not american students. Do you think those folks have great verbal scores? Most likely not.

It sounds like you have exactly what the top b-schools are looking for: technical background, international work experience & ability to work with people.

If you write good essays and have great interviews, I have see no reason why you would not get into a top b-school.

I wouldn't take the exam again. I'd focus on your applications.

wonder_gmat · Answer

Dude,

You're have a better than good chance to get into a good school. I'll tell you about my example because seems like we're in the same boat by shortage in verbal. My background: graduated last year, major in computer science at a pretty good school, have had about 1 year of work experience. BUT I'm still going to give it another shot because I realized that I didn't focus enough on preparing for verbal the first time, in fact I couldn't focuse even on quant preperation. Now I'm studying verbal and guess what I'm getting only 3-4 wrong out of every 50 questions in OG. You may be in the same situation, after all this verbal is a no brainer but as I called it "like a nagging girlfriend". It goes on and on and on until you get bored with it and start tuning out. So I guess you have to build your tolerance for that and give it another shot. Despite the holes in my application (i.e. lack of experience, age), I'm going to apply because I have a lot to show them to not regret giving me a place in their entering class. So do you! If you want to take the exam, fine. If not, fine too; just make an @$$ kicking application package that will show them that you just may have had a bad day when you took GMAT, or a stupid black cat crossed your way (haha... isn't it considered a bad luck in India?!?), but whatever the point is you have other four factors to impress the hell out of them. GMAT is just one of five major factors, and your GMAT is not bad at all. So give it a shot and you have my  subhechha  just like everyone else's here!

ngulati · Answer

Thanks everyone with ur inputs. It really has brought some life into my sagging morale. Regarding giving a shot again am not too keen with the idea as I really concentrated hard on the verbal all this 2 months and my scores of 45 46 41 45 in PR are testimony that I did improve barring a bad day at office on the D day. Rather I would concentrate on the application and see how it goes. Anyway I wanted to tell that my Verbal score in the diagnostic Powerprep(I took it first up when I started) was 36. I dont see how after working 2 months on verbal my verbal got worse. Anyway thats history .. Probably I wasnt good enuf on the day and thats what matters. Thanks once again for ur feedback and anything anyone wants to know I would be glad to answer.

cheers
neeraj

bluefox420 · Answer

Check out the articles on https://www.accepted.com/mba. There is a wealth of information on selecting B-schools and designing your application.

680(Q48/V35)- End of a dream

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