I just Beat The GMAT!

So, I hope this quick post can help others studying. I found many of the stories on this website frustrating, particularly those posts of people with 700+ and questioning whether to retake their exam. What I've learned in this process are two VERY SIMPLE facts - both of which apply to every day life

1) don't give up, put in the effort/time and be confident in yourself
2) shoot for the best schools, even if you doubt your scores

I'm a working professional in finance, 29 yrs old and have a very busy job (definitely not a 9-5). I took the GMAT after 2 weeks of studing in 2008. I naively thought that I'd do really well, being a finance/accounting professional and having great writing and verbal experience. Well I didn't. In fact, I was actually BELOW AVERAGE in quant and slightly above average in verbal - scored a 570. Not awful for 2 weeks studying but definitely knew it would limit my school options.

Then I realized that I needed a study plan. I put in about 3 months and tried to stick to 10-15 hours per week. It was tough to stick to set dates/times given my busy schedule, but I just made sure that if I missed a Tues night, I'd study Wed morning instead. Studied mostly quant since that was where the most improvement was needed. Refreshed on key topics in verbal within 2 weeks of the test.

Sooooo, I took the test in May and scored a 670, which was actually disappointing at first thought. Was 40Q 65%/41V 89%/6.0 AWA. I was getting in 690-720 range on practice exams so I was CRUSHED!!! I went home and thought, I've worked this hard so I'm still shooting for my top school goal of NYU for an MBA. I then focused on my application, essays, resume, etc, etc. I made a strong case with my essays to offset my lower-than-average GMAT and specifically quant score compared to NYU's average. I assumed I was a "bubble" applicant but didn't want to quit!

I applied and was ACCEPTED for the fall!! I was so excited to get into my top school and really appreciated the stories of hardwork, dedication and overcoming obstacles on this site. I hope this inspires others that maybe have to work a bit harder to get into their top school and get a great GMAT score. Just remember - these MBA programs, including top ones, want a DIVERSE STUDENT POPULATION, to provide better learning opportunities for all MBA students. They want different backgrounds, experiences, ethnicity, strengths/weaknesses - most importantly, they want passion and ambition for a program. Tell the admissions department why YOU BELONG for reasons other than your GMAT score. Sure, getting a GMAT well above their average will help (since lets face facts, they still have averages and rankings to attain), but at their GMAT average, you have a chance and if strong in other areas, you may actually be MORE VALUABLE to the program than the quant superstar that doesn't have a personality and passion. You can't teach those intangibles and MBA programs want those too!

I hope this helps people as they study and work toward a great MBA program. Don't sell yourself short - there will always be second tier schools that you can pursue if you don't hit the stars!

For anyone interested in benchmarking backgrounds, my specifics are below:

- CPA and certified fraud examiner in investment mgmt, asset mgmt, financial services focus
- worked with international CPA firm (big4) and recently in regional CPA firm, manager past 3 years
- small private undergrad 3k students, 3.75 gpa and minors in spanish/economics
- college division 3 soccer, president accounting association, college tutor finance, accounting, economics, english
- GMAT 670 40Q/41V/6AWA
- Strong extra curriculars post undergrad, active volunteerism
- founded not-for-profit for clothing donation/redistribution
- Board member local civic/advocacy group
- Board member undergrad alumni association

Excellent. Congrats.

Congratulations and thanks for the post. Best of luck for your future endeavors.

Congrajulations on your admission to NYU.

That's great. But I disagree with you, many people are aiming 700+ because their background is not as impressive as yours obviously. I am a perfect example, I only worked for 2 years at my business of retail and currency tradings, I have no international encounter, no extra curricular activities, graduated from a non recognized college, have a very good GPA of 3.70 but that's it....

So how do you expect me (or similar) to get into Top B schools? The GMAT and how well I do in the essays/interviews are the only factors that can help right now... If you didn't had those background, you'd wish you had a GMAT of 700+

Congrats again!

Hey beyondenim, I definitely understand and wish you the best in your studies. Shoot for a 700+ and go for the top ten if that's your goal! I'm not an admissions counselor, but the process made me realize how important other factors are to the application process - so build up those parts too over a year/two if needed. There are a lot of brilliant 24-25 year olds that can get a great 700+ GMAT score but what type of management experience can they apply to a top tier MBA program? I know top schools except those GMAT all-stars in some cases, but many people, including me, don't want an MBA program with only brilliant 24 year olds that scored 700+ GMATs to brag about it. It should be a broader experience than that so keep well rounded in mind as you start the application process and best of luck!