Brief Introduction:
In Feb 2013, I realized that I needed to do an MBA, part-time. I am an engineer by background. English is not my mother tongue. With little to no preparation, I took a GMAT diagnostic test(online, don't remember the source) and scored a 650. Feeling good about myself, I gave myself a 2 month window to prepare and had scheduled my real GMAT exam in April 2013.
I knew that I will be admitted into a part-time program in any top school with a GMAT score in excess of 650 (and I thought I was almost there already without any preparation). With no scholarship opportunities available for part-time programs, I had little motivation to improve my GMAT score significantly. So, I hardly prepared those 2 months (except skimming through the OG and signing up for the 60 day Quant and verbal question of the day in this forum). On test day I scored a 690 (Q49, V34/35). I was relieved that the GMAT was out of the way for me.
Later, I will just add that, I was able to get admitted into all the part-time programs that I was targeting (Tepper & Katz basically, I am a Pittsburgh local). However, I came across a couple of other distance MBA programs from 2 of the top 20 schools that also apparently provide fellowships/scholarships and are very competitive.
I am sure I will get an admit in both of them with my current GMAT score and profile. However, I feel like I need a 730+ to get the scholarships/fellowships being offered. I NOW feel, I may have missed a trick here, by not preparing seriously for my GMAT in the first place
I know, with a little preparation, I will definitely be able to improve my current score. And so I decided that I would give GMAT another go in 2 months time (End of Oct 2013). So, here I am blogging for help from the experts on the retake strategy plan that would be appropriate for me. I a prepared to invest about 2 hours a day for the next 2 months.
My mock test history from my previous GMAT is essentially pretty naked. Although a week before I gave my actual GMAT exam, I took the 2 official mock tests, that were provided when I signed up for GMAT exam, and scored a 700 & 690 respectively. I found the actual GMAT test standard to be very close to those mock tests. Also, on the actual test day, I remember that I did not have enough time to answer the last 3-4 questions in the verbal section.
Any strategy help will be deeply appreciated.
Thank you.
-Sreeram
