Beat The GMAT a GMAT & MBA community

All you have to do is look at the inspiration stories. Here is one http://www.beatthegmat.com/how-i-went-from-580-q42-v27-to-710-q48-v40-t57648.html A lot of people are in the same place. I've heard of one guy going from 470 to 760 so its possible.

Thank you so much! I just joined this forum today, so I really had no idea. If anyone has any tips, please let me know. I was devastated when I saw my horrible score.

1) It was a diagnostic
2) You didn't study

The best advice is to take a course. If your work schedule prevents you from taking an online or classroom course the same time every week, try an online on demand course.

If you go that route, I advise you create a schedule and STICK TO IT. With an on demand course it's too easy to stretch out and procrastinate. If you're serious about B-school, buckle down for a few months. As someone who took the test 3 times, I know it's a painful test, so best to get it right the first time.

Don't be discouraged by a low diagnostic score, it tells you little about your potential. I studied for weeks before trying to take a practice exam, and my practice tests ended up with scores of 540, 550, and 610. I wasn't happy, and was very nervous going in to the real thing. Then, upon setting my eyes on the screen after sitting for the real thing, I saw a 710.

Do not put so much emphasis on a diagnostic test, it is merely to tell you where you need to improve. Taking a class may be your best option, and then studying those areas in which your performance was weakest after a few more practice tests.

I think it's pretty common to have no clue on your diagnostic, especially if you've never really taken a standardized test before.

Everyone else has made good points about finding a study plan and sticking to it, but I think one thing to really consider is your own learning habits. This will require you to be honest with yourself (a common theme in the entire B-School process!), but how do you learn best? Are you able to force yourself to study on your own? Do you need weekly motivation (AKA a class every week with homework), or do you need even more than that, meaning 1-on-1 attention (a tutor). For me, I had studied a couple times partially for the GMAT without every actually following through, so I knew I needed a little extra motivation. As a consultant myself, I didn't have time to do an in-person class, but signed up for the Manhattan GMAT "Live Online" class, which met one a week at 8pm, online. This provided me with weekly checkpoints to make sure that I was keeping up with the work (they put you on the spot a lot with how to answer problems that were supposed to be done in the HW), but more importantly for me, was a $1k expense out of my own pocket that I did not plan to waste by not taking the exam.

As I mentioned in my debrief, by about halfway through the nine week class, I had outpaced it and found that I probably could have used the three hours better on my own, but I still consider the money and time well spent for the class. Further, you get free office hours once per week (which I should have used a lot more), which is a 30 minute session with a MGMAT instructor to go over any questions you might have. Really valuable stuff.

I would do a little bit of searching within yourself to figure out what you need to really get rolling. Everyone wants to go to Harvard, but that alone isn't always motivation enough. Set small goals every night, every week, and every month, and try your best to stick to them. Also, try for about a 3 month timeline. Any longer than that and you won't be forced to study efficiently!

Check out my debrief for how I studied and some other tips I have. As I mentioned, I'm an MC myself, so we probably have some similar situations that you can leverage.

Good luck