Ask Stacy Blackman

GMAT Score: 500
AWA: 6.0

I don't know off hand but the Verbal was pretty decent (80th percentile) while the math was god-awful.

My GPA is currently: 3.85

I'm a graduating student but I've worked at my father's business for five years (full-time summer) and part-time during the week. Additionally, I've worked as an IT help-desk personal for a CO-OP during the summer.

My main focus is just to get into a decent school with a good technology base too it (I want to be a database admin at one point). At this point, I've narrowed it down to this:

Little Chance:

McGill
Arizona State University

Decent Shot:

University of Pittsburgh-Katz
Illinois Institute of Technology
University of Illinois

Failsafe:

Fordham
NJIT
Pace University
Fordham University

Does this look realistic or do you have any recommendations for other schools/schools to focus on?

Hi Iyeck,

It's worth taking the GMAT again. I would suggest either taking a class to refresh your math skills or taking a prep class like Manhattan GMAT.

As a graduating senior, your academic credentials should be very strong to gain admission. It actually sounds like your GMAT may have been a fluke (given your GPA). I wouldn't want you to sell yourself short. Especially this early in your career, it's worth taking the time and spending the effort to get into the best school you can.

Good luck!

Amy

Amy Ulrich wrote:Hi Iyeck,

It's worth taking the GMAT again. I would suggest either taking a class to refresh your math skills or taking a prep class like Manhattan GMAT.

As a graduating senior, your academic credentials should be very strong to gain admission. It actually sounds like your GMAT may have been a fluke (given your GPA). I wouldn't want you to sell yourself short. Especially this early in your career, it's worth taking the time and spending the effort to get into the best school you can.

Good luck!

Amy

Nah, GMAT was not a fluke (I took the manhattan GMAT prep class btw) and I did self-study everyday for a long time. I personally feel sometimes studying a certain amount or studying at all for these are pointless depending on the person. On every prep test and aptitude test for that matter in life math has always dragged me down and I'm ok with that so I know if I took it again it would be either worse or 550 which is better than nothing but hey. I'm also not trying to be crass (this is the internet so bear with me) but I tend to find people with lower GPA actually seem to do better naturally on those types of tests. Thus, I believe GPA shows mainly how much you can study-or lack thereof- in order to achieve a certain grade.

Aside from that I honestly want to know, regardless of potential or not, will I have a shot at getting into any of those schools? Are there schools on those list which I should eliminate?