Hi
I've taken the manhattan gmat course already. i've done all the practice problems possibly out there. I've done princeton, kaplan, OG, manhattan gmat, nova prep,....endless. however my score is stuck in the 500 range. my last gmat score is 580. i really want to go to the top 20 business schools. is it possible to get in even with this low gmat score. my undergrad gpa is 3.7....i don't know what to do??? please help!!! do you guys know anyone with a low gmat score but still got into the top 20 b-schools.
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- StaceyKoprince
- ManhattanGMAT Staff
- Posts: 9361
- Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:05 am
- Location: Montreal
Your undergrad GPA is good, so that helps a lot. I definitely know people who have gotten into top schools with lower scores. They usually have both good grades and something else that's really great about their application (work experience, most commonly, but sometimes volunteer / extracurricular type stuff).
You'll have to make a choice about where your time and effort is best spent - it may be important at this point to shift your energies to doing something amazing at work for the next 6 months, that sort of thing. You can also try to take an calculus or accounting class at a local college to demonstrate your intellectual abilities (if you do this, you MUST get an A). Some people just don't do well on standardized tests for whatever reason - but if you explain this and demonstrate in another way your ability to handle b-school classes, then schools will sometimes overlook a lower GMAT score.
If you decide you want to take the test again, you will have to change what you've been doing so far, because what you've been doing isn't working. I don't know what you have been doing, so it's hard for me to suggest what to change, but one thing that jumps out at me is your description of doing "all the practice problems possibly out there." The quantity of problems you do isn't the biggest factor in your improvement - the quality of your study is. If you aren't studying the right way, then studying in volume isn't going to help. (Even when studying the right way, massive volume is not that useful.)
How much time do you spend trying a problem for the first time vs. analyzing the problem after you've done it once? Those numbers should be about 2 min to try it for the first time and about 5-10 minutes (sometimes more!) to analyze after the fact. In other words, most of your time is spent on the analysis, NOT on doing the problem in the first place.
You'll have to make a choice about where your time and effort is best spent - it may be important at this point to shift your energies to doing something amazing at work for the next 6 months, that sort of thing. You can also try to take an calculus or accounting class at a local college to demonstrate your intellectual abilities (if you do this, you MUST get an A). Some people just don't do well on standardized tests for whatever reason - but if you explain this and demonstrate in another way your ability to handle b-school classes, then schools will sometimes overlook a lower GMAT score.
If you decide you want to take the test again, you will have to change what you've been doing so far, because what you've been doing isn't working. I don't know what you have been doing, so it's hard for me to suggest what to change, but one thing that jumps out at me is your description of doing "all the practice problems possibly out there." The quantity of problems you do isn't the biggest factor in your improvement - the quality of your study is. If you aren't studying the right way, then studying in volume isn't going to help. (Even when studying the right way, massive volume is not that useful.)
How much time do you spend trying a problem for the first time vs. analyzing the problem after you've done it once? Those numbers should be about 2 min to try it for the first time and about 5-10 minutes (sometimes more!) to analyze after the fact. In other words, most of your time is spent on the analysis, NOT on doing the problem in the first place.
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
2 posts Page 1 of 1