GMAT Strategy

Last week was the first time I tried a GMAT prep exam and I scored 36Q and 30 V. This time I get a 36 Q and 32 V. I got a 570 today, so I am not sure if I should take the exam this Friday. I can sign up for it but I'm not sure what will happen.. 570 isn't that great. I need at least 550 though to be accepted into my graduate school. A 600 is the average they accept with an average GPA of 3.2 My GPA is a lot better than 3.2 so maybe I should just give it a whirl this Friday?? I heard GMAT prep exams are similar to the real thing and usually are a trusty gauge of what you actually receive. I had major problems with the first 9 questions of the Quantitative, I missed 8. I just had never seen some of them and they were weird, but I came back fairly strong the second half of the exam and thought the questions were a bit easier..but I mean I only scored 36 on it. The Verbal I got 15 wrong and scored 32, I got 15 wrong last time and I thought my skills have improved since last week, what a drag. I guess I answered more hard questions correct so it gave me more points. Anyways, what do you guys think I should do, my deadline to take the exam is Friday because I will be starting Fall semester on August 26th. Please help.

Hi there,

First, if I understood your post correctly, your deadline to take the GMAT is next Friday... so what would your alternatives be if you don't take it by that time?

Also, GMAT prep tests are fairly accurate predictors of your actual score on the GMAT, so since you got around the same score twice, you will probably get around a 550 on the actual test (please note, I've had students do a lot worse and a lot better, so there are no guarantees).

If you are going to take the test on Friday, there isn't a whole lot you can do now, so review your notes for the next couple days, and then take it easy for the rest of the week. Being well rested and relaxed will help you more than cramming will.

Good luck!

Hey thanks for the response. I know I worded my post very oddly. Anyways the deadline of this Friday is only the deadline to take it before school starts. I have basically up till Fall 2010 to take the GMAT. I need to score around 550-600 to get in. The average my university accepts is around 600 with a 3.2 GPA like I noted earlier. I do not think I am going to take it now, I am a bit discouraged but I will just have to study for it during Christmas break and take it in early January. I hope I can get at least a 600 by then, I'm not far off and I know that isn't a very good score but whatever. I am not that great at math, I thought I was better at verbal but that stuff gets difficult.. anyways I will just postpone it and take it in Jan. I did not get enough preparation this summer because I had 4 summer classes to take. Thanks