The Application Process

I am in the thick of my GMAT preparation and I was wondering if I could get your opinion on my situation. I began the studying process a little over two months ago and it is safe to say I greatly underestimated the time commitment to getting my desired GMAT score (640-700). I am currently getting 540-560 on my practice tests and am scheduled to take it this Saturday (12/5). Although things have been clicking more over the last few days, I do not feel I am ready. My initial thought when scheduling this date was to take the test and if I did well, I would still have a month to get my essays and recommendations together (although I am realizing this may take longer) for the Round 3 deadline (Jan 8) to my preferred business school for the program beginning Fall 2016. I am going to reschedule my test but wanted your opinion on when you thought I should reschedule it. I can push it back two weeks, leaving me just over two weeks to get my application in, or can push it back further for more prep time. Do you think there is any possible way to get my essays and recommendations together in two weeks? Is it even worth applying round 3 with a rushed application? Or should I push it back further and really be ready for the test and have more time for my rec's and essays and focus on applying for Summer 2017 or Fall 2017?

Any insight would be very helpful!

Hi,
It sounds a bit rushed to me. Writing the essays and application can take much more time that you think. But if you have the next few weeks off entirely and can dedicate it to study and the application then it is do-able.
You could always push the gmat date to closer to the application deadline and slowly plug away at the application/essays. You could have everything ready to go and then write the test a few days before the deadline, and if it's not the score you want, then obviously save it for the next round or class.

Really it depends on how much study time you have so realistically, I'm not sure you can bump up your score to 540 up to 700s in just a couple weeks. Often admissions committees can also tell when apps are rushed. Writing your essays requires a lot of introspection, writing, re-writes, review etc so it's difficult to rush this process.
Ideally it would be nice to not feel so rushed, particularly with the studying so I would strongly advise considering postponing for a bit. Like I said, it very much depends on your schedule as well and how 'free' you are right now.

Best,