Hello Everyone
Firstly I would like to congratulate everyone on the great community here, and I think it is amazing that even after many of you have achieved your goals you still take time out to help others.
I Just took the gmat for today and scored 590 which was like a good smack in the face. I am currently studying abroad in Australia and took a lot of time out from other activities to study because I believed it would all be worth it and that makes this score hurt even more. A little bit about myself first.
My name is Ian and I am a 22 year old African-American ( Malawian and US citizen) studying International Studies at the University of Miami. I am currently going into my senior year. I have a 2.7 gpa but I am not dumb, I am on a full merit scholarship but in the early years of my college career there was so much going on with my family and at home that now it seems it would have been wiser to take sometime out than trying to handle it all at a young age. Regardless, my gpa is not great, but I still have 1 year to rescue it, and given that all my pre-requisites are out of the way, I can pick electives that I know I will excel in.
I have never wanted togo to business school as I felt it does not add much to a person but last year I registered 12 companies in my homeland Malawi and I would really like to go pursue the opportunities there once I graduate. However I still do not feel that I have the skill-set, knowledge, or network needed to successfully plan and start my own businesses. My parents own two very successful businesses that I am heavily involved with over the holidays but I still would like some formal business education before I embark on such an endeavour. Thus I have decided to look at graduate business programs.
The schools I have singled out that I believe "fit" me are the Global School of Business and Economics at the University of Melbourne, EMLyon, Copenhagen Business School, EDHEC, and maybe even a punt at ESCP. Melbourne was my number one choice and I have visited them and met with the director of the program who was very impressed with my story and we have exchanged a few emails. Their average gmat score is 610.
So after about 2 months of self-study, and I cannot honestly say it was intense I got a 590 (Q36, V34). I found the actual test much harder than the practice tests where I have routinely been scoring in the late 600 range so it was a big shock. Math is my obvious weakness and I spent all but a few days studying for the math section, I did not respect the verbal section.
What steps can you recommend for me to improve my scores? I would say my ultimate target is a score in the 650-670 range which I really think is possible with the right prep. I am now heading back to Miami for my next semester and I am considering enrolling in either the Kaplan or Princeton Review in class prep sessions. Both are quite pricy but I have secured a job for the next month that should give me enough to cover the costs but I would like the best value for my money. I currently have all the Manhattan study guides, but they are from 2007 so I do not know if that is an issue but I would be willing to purchase newer editions and materials if they can help avoid this feeling again.
Lastly, I was throwing up and freaking out before my test, I need to work on my composure as I put way too much pressure on myself, I feel like a complete failure now even though I know that this is just a roadblock on the way to success and that I have lots of time to improve my situation. Thank you for taking the time to read about my situation. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Ian
Firstly I would like to congratulate everyone on the great community here, and I think it is amazing that even after many of you have achieved your goals you still take time out to help others.
I Just took the gmat for today and scored 590 which was like a good smack in the face. I am currently studying abroad in Australia and took a lot of time out from other activities to study because I believed it would all be worth it and that makes this score hurt even more. A little bit about myself first.
My name is Ian and I am a 22 year old African-American ( Malawian and US citizen) studying International Studies at the University of Miami. I am currently going into my senior year. I have a 2.7 gpa but I am not dumb, I am on a full merit scholarship but in the early years of my college career there was so much going on with my family and at home that now it seems it would have been wiser to take sometime out than trying to handle it all at a young age. Regardless, my gpa is not great, but I still have 1 year to rescue it, and given that all my pre-requisites are out of the way, I can pick electives that I know I will excel in.
I have never wanted togo to business school as I felt it does not add much to a person but last year I registered 12 companies in my homeland Malawi and I would really like to go pursue the opportunities there once I graduate. However I still do not feel that I have the skill-set, knowledge, or network needed to successfully plan and start my own businesses. My parents own two very successful businesses that I am heavily involved with over the holidays but I still would like some formal business education before I embark on such an endeavour. Thus I have decided to look at graduate business programs.
The schools I have singled out that I believe "fit" me are the Global School of Business and Economics at the University of Melbourne, EMLyon, Copenhagen Business School, EDHEC, and maybe even a punt at ESCP. Melbourne was my number one choice and I have visited them and met with the director of the program who was very impressed with my story and we have exchanged a few emails. Their average gmat score is 610.
So after about 2 months of self-study, and I cannot honestly say it was intense I got a 590 (Q36, V34). I found the actual test much harder than the practice tests where I have routinely been scoring in the late 600 range so it was a big shock. Math is my obvious weakness and I spent all but a few days studying for the math section, I did not respect the verbal section.
What steps can you recommend for me to improve my scores? I would say my ultimate target is a score in the 650-670 range which I really think is possible with the right prep. I am now heading back to Miami for my next semester and I am considering enrolling in either the Kaplan or Princeton Review in class prep sessions. Both are quite pricy but I have secured a job for the next month that should give me enough to cover the costs but I would like the best value for my money. I currently have all the Manhattan study guides, but they are from 2007 so I do not know if that is an issue but I would be willing to purchase newer editions and materials if they can help avoid this feeling again.
Lastly, I was throwing up and freaking out before my test, I need to work on my composure as I put way too much pressure on myself, I feel like a complete failure now even though I know that this is just a roadblock on the way to success and that I have lots of time to improve my situation. Thank you for taking the time to read about my situation. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Ian
