Hi guys.
So I'd always planned to do an MBA later in life, however a possible opportunity came up so I started looking at schools and requirements. Last Sunday I'd never heard of the GMAT and took a practice test.
I Scored Q47 and V33 (it said 690, although I'd been rushing through the verbal as frankly I was getting bored and was hungry. Scored a 6 on the essay although I wouldn't trust that, and 8 on IR. This was pretty much all the preparation I did for the test that fell 4 days later.
So I took the test and scored Q45 and V38 (680). I was a bit annoyed I'd dropped down on the quantitative but I fell into the trap of spending 6-7 minutes on one question which just didn't make logical sense, causing me to have to accelerate the last 20 questions to be safe. The verbal I was happy with as generally my sentence correction is not excellent. I speak and write in an unusual (aka wrong) manner and so find it hard to differentiate between correct and nearly correct.
Test conditions were okay for the first half, however having to get up at 4am on top of my sleep apnoea to get to a test centre for 8.15am really took its toll. The maths I just couldn't THINK in out of tiredness, and by the time I got to the verbal I was just trying to finish ASAP.
So my questions are:
1) Can I actually improve from a 680 with work, what is realistic?
2) I've been looking at, like most, the top flight Harvard/MIT/LBS with 'backups' of Oxford and Cambridge. I've looked at the average GMATs and in 2008 they seemed to only be a slither over 700-710, but are now rocking 730s?! Is 680 unlikely to cut it any more [I know its not just the GMAT, but how MUCH is it going to disadvantage me]?
3) Will a stronger and vstrong IR help, or do people still primarily look at the headline score?
4) Does sitting the test again look bad, and how many times do candidates realistically sit the test?
5) Do you think the situational factors, if removed, would have a significant affect on my score if at all?
Thanks all
So I'd always planned to do an MBA later in life, however a possible opportunity came up so I started looking at schools and requirements. Last Sunday I'd never heard of the GMAT and took a practice test.
I Scored Q47 and V33 (it said 690, although I'd been rushing through the verbal as frankly I was getting bored and was hungry. Scored a 6 on the essay although I wouldn't trust that, and 8 on IR. This was pretty much all the preparation I did for the test that fell 4 days later.
So I took the test and scored Q45 and V38 (680). I was a bit annoyed I'd dropped down on the quantitative but I fell into the trap of spending 6-7 minutes on one question which just didn't make logical sense, causing me to have to accelerate the last 20 questions to be safe. The verbal I was happy with as generally my sentence correction is not excellent. I speak and write in an unusual (aka wrong) manner and so find it hard to differentiate between correct and nearly correct.
Test conditions were okay for the first half, however having to get up at 4am on top of my sleep apnoea to get to a test centre for 8.15am really took its toll. The maths I just couldn't THINK in out of tiredness, and by the time I got to the verbal I was just trying to finish ASAP.
So my questions are:
1) Can I actually improve from a 680 with work, what is realistic?
2) I've been looking at, like most, the top flight Harvard/MIT/LBS with 'backups' of Oxford and Cambridge. I've looked at the average GMATs and in 2008 they seemed to only be a slither over 700-710, but are now rocking 730s?! Is 680 unlikely to cut it any more [I know its not just the GMAT, but how MUCH is it going to disadvantage me]?
3) Will a stronger and vstrong IR help, or do people still primarily look at the headline score?
4) Does sitting the test again look bad, and how many times do candidates realistically sit the test?
5) Do you think the situational factors, if removed, would have a significant affect on my score if at all?
Thanks all
) test taking.
