Help! Deadlines Are Approaching and I Don’t Have the GMAT Score I Want!
In the past month, Ive spoken to more than a few students who were aiming for round 1 deadlines but hadnt yet gotten the GMAT scores they thought they needed for their schools. If youre in this boat, too, lets talk about your various options.
Do I really need that goal score?
Some of the students were looking for a higher goal score than they necessarily neededsay, 20 to 30 points higher than the average for a particular school. A better measure is the middle 80% range of scores.
For instance, a school might post an average score of 700, but a middle 80% range of 650 to 740. In other words, they accepted people scoring 670, 660, 650 (and even lower, for a small number of students). You dont necessarily have to beat the average. You do, though, have to be within a range that they will generally consider, and the middle-80% range of scores gives you a good idea of what that is. (Of course, you also have to have some great things in the rest of your application. Thats true regardless of what GMAT score you get.)
Am I applying to an appropriate range of schools?
Its great to have ambitious goals, but if you apply only to reach schools (or schools that are hard to get into), then you may find yourself not going to business school next year. Make sure that youve got some mid-range (for you) schools in the mix.
Should you also include safety schools (programs that youre almost guaranteed to get into)? It depends. Do you want to go to b-school no matter what? Or would you rather not go or wait a year and apply again if you dont get into a certain group of schools? If the former, then include at least one safety school in your mix.
Do I really have to apply round 1?
All other things being equal, sure, its great to have your application submitted during the first round. However, that assumes that you can put together the best application package in time. If the GMATor any other part of your applicationisnt quite coming together, then its better to wait for second round. There isnt that much of an advantage to applying during the first round.
Most of the students with whom Ive spoken recently have gone this route. Really, its the best choice when you realize that any part of your application just wont be what you want it to be in time for the very early first round deadlines. Far better to put together a great package that you feel confident will give you your best shot.
Heres what you do NOT want to do: stick with the original plan to hit a first round deadline, cram like crazy, wipe your brain out, and crash on test day. Now, you dont have the score you want, youre burned out, you've lost motivation and confidence, and you still have to take the test again (and postpone your application) anyway.
Thats all great. But how do I get a better score?
Okay, we can talk about this, too. :) In general, youre going to need to figure out what is holding you back from getting to your desired scoring level. Then, youre going to need to figure out what changes you need to make in order to fix those problems and lift your performance.
Heres what I tell people on our forums (feel free to ask for advice yourselfmake sure to give me all of the information I discuss below!).
First, read this article on Executive Reasoning. Is this how you have been approaching the test? If not, what have you been doing differently and what do you need to change in order to approach the test in the way described in the article? (Here's more on developing this business mindset.)
Next, you need to master the 1st level of the GMAT: math formulas and rules, grammar rules, and the main strategies for solving the different kinds of question types (PS, DS, SC, CR, RC). What holes do you have in your foundation?
You can find this out by analyzing your most recent Manhattan Prep practice test (Im specifying our companys tests for a reason: we give you certain data that youll need to do the necessary analysis). How many questions did you miss that are rated well below the scoring level that youre trying to hit? For instance, if youre trying to score 650 to 700, how many sub-600 questions did you miss? Were they careless mistakes? Or do you really have a hole in your foundation? Either way, fix the problem!
In order to hit a high score on this test, you also need to master the 2nd Level of the GMAT. Read all about it at that link and think about what you need to do differently in order to be studying in that way.
Pause and think about all of the above. Then, get ready for an in-depth analysis of your two most recent Manhattan Prep CATs. Use this two-part article to dig deep and figure out what you should put in your Bucket 2 (youll understand when you read the article!).
From there, I strongly recommend that you talk to your teacher or tutor (if you have one) or come visit us on the forums to get advice tailored to your specific strengths and weaknesses.
(Note: a little tough love! On the forums, we will not do all of this analysis for you. You will have to do everything described in this section and tell us what you think before we tell you whether we agree and advise you further. If you are paying for a tutor, you can have him/her do all of this for youbut I strongly recommend that you take a crack at coming up with your own analysis, too. Youll get better faster if you actually know how to analyze your own work.)
Lets do this!
All right, pick a path and get cracking! Good luck, happy studying, and try not to stress too much!