I took my first GMAT in February, with about a month of prep-work which was far from what I needed but I wanted to get an idea of how much more studying I needed to do.
I first decided to get the Princeton Review online prep course (GMAT Online- the self-guided one). Of the two complete GMAT practice tests I took, I achieved scores of 560 (36V 31Q) and 570 (36V 33Q) and on the individual quant practice section I scored a 37. So through these PR practice tests my verbal was consistent but my quant ranged from 31 to 37. I took my GMAT in February and got a 550 (36V [surprise, surprise] and 30Q). Obviously there is a ton of room for improvement. My dream school is University of Washington and I'm going to give myself until R1 next year to improve my score. The GMAT score I'm looking for is 650+. My GPA is strong, as is my extra-curricular activity and (I feel, although short) my employment history.
Age: 24
GPA: 3.5
Relevant Employment History(almost four years including internships): Marketing internship at a large frozen snack food company, supervisor at large food/event service provider for sporting events, worked with a best-selling author/business consultant (assisted in developing/conducting interviews and compiling data for a recently published book on customer experience, worked as a project manager with this company), worked in a call center for a mutual fund company where my position was outsourced to another company, was asked to go to that company with a promotion, stayed at that company for a short period of time and I am currently working as a supervisor at Starbucks. I recently received an offer to go back to the mutual fund company I was previously employed with in an analyst role, so I am no longer a supervisor at Starbucks.
In addition to that, during my time at college I was approved to receive course credit for completing an independent research project on the business concept of third places and customer loyalty and created a 20 page paper supported by survey data from over 200 participants.
My goal schools are- UW, University of Illinois, UNC, UF-Gainesville, BC and BU.
I'd like to get your thoughts on whether this background is strong enough for a lacking GMAT score. I'm realistic and know that I probably won't hit 700 on my next go around with the GMAT but I'm wondering if something around a 620-640 might be enough to get me into the above schools. UW is my goal school.
-Ryan
I first decided to get the Princeton Review online prep course (GMAT Online- the self-guided one). Of the two complete GMAT practice tests I took, I achieved scores of 560 (36V 31Q) and 570 (36V 33Q) and on the individual quant practice section I scored a 37. So through these PR practice tests my verbal was consistent but my quant ranged from 31 to 37. I took my GMAT in February and got a 550 (36V [surprise, surprise] and 30Q). Obviously there is a ton of room for improvement. My dream school is University of Washington and I'm going to give myself until R1 next year to improve my score. The GMAT score I'm looking for is 650+. My GPA is strong, as is my extra-curricular activity and (I feel, although short) my employment history.
Age: 24
GPA: 3.5
Relevant Employment History(almost four years including internships): Marketing internship at a large frozen snack food company, supervisor at large food/event service provider for sporting events, worked with a best-selling author/business consultant (assisted in developing/conducting interviews and compiling data for a recently published book on customer experience, worked as a project manager with this company), worked in a call center for a mutual fund company where my position was outsourced to another company, was asked to go to that company with a promotion, stayed at that company for a short period of time and I am currently working as a supervisor at Starbucks. I recently received an offer to go back to the mutual fund company I was previously employed with in an analyst role, so I am no longer a supervisor at Starbucks.
In addition to that, during my time at college I was approved to receive course credit for completing an independent research project on the business concept of third places and customer loyalty and created a 20 page paper supported by survey data from over 200 participants.
My goal schools are- UW, University of Illinois, UNC, UF-Gainesville, BC and BU.
I'd like to get your thoughts on whether this background is strong enough for a lacking GMAT score. I'm realistic and know that I probably won't hit 700 on my next go around with the GMAT but I'm wondering if something around a 620-640 might be enough to get me into the above schools. UW is my goal school.
-Ryan
Last edited by RyanJW on Tue Jul 24, 2012 12:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
