Low GMAT. should I give another shot?

[boblindien]

Hi there,

Here is my question, I am an IT manager in France, and I have a fairly busy activity, and building solid experience. I would like to take a jump forward in my career through a top tier MBA + it would be a personal achievement to get into one of these top schools. Now, here is the problem:

I have attempted the GMAT three times (yes..) without success and mostly studying on my on not extremely consistently due to my activity (I had taken a course which was not very good, or useful). On my last try, I had booked a week to study, which didn't help..

On my first attempt, I scored 480 without prep (thought I could do without .. learnt my lesson)
On the second and third times, I scored 530 and 540 which weren't good scores at all. I am targeting 660-690. I believe that my biggest issue is quant where I do very bad usually (43% on the last score..)

I have two questions:

1. Is it worth trying again? (3 scores as bad in over a year.. should I give another shot? Can we achieve a jump like this to the desired score?)
2. If I DO try, will the school penalize me for these bad scores?

Thanks for your help and advice.

Rob

[Paxton Helms - Kaplan]

Hi, Rob, and thanks for your note. It sounds like your thinking is right and that a top-tier MBA would really accelerate your career. So...on to the GMAT:

1. Is it worth trying again? (3 scores as bad in over a year.. should I give another shot? Can we achieve a jump like this to the desired score?)

I think it's worth trying again but not under the same circumstances. It is really important that you take a few steps to maximize your chances of success:

- There are lots of components to the GMAT (probably more than most people realize). Have you thought very carefully about where you went wrong? Did you have your core knowledge memorized (this means triangle ratios, formulas, question types, etc.)? Did you memorize the verbal question types? Did you have strategies for time management? Do you know where your weaknesses are?

2. If I DO try, will the school penalize me for these bad scores?

Possibly; but, the fact that you are not a native English speaker may help you...; you can also make a case that you were unprepared, etc., though you may not get much sympathy!! I wouldn't worry about it at the moment. I think your focus now should be on giving yourself a chance and then deciding what to do from there.

I hope this helps. Keep me in the loop about your thoughts and decisions--

Paxton

[ouail]

Hi Rob,
I think you should give it another shoot. You are engineer ( just a guess because you are IT manager in France) so studying math should not be a problem. You need to do some 1000-2000 math problems and I think you will be able to get a score between 45 and 50. The verbal part is probably more difficult to improve and thus need more time. You can buy tests from gmatclub. I use them for my preparation and they helped me.
What is sure is that you should not take the exam unless you are confident about your score. The gmatprep is a good tool to assess where you stand. MGMAT tests can help you also to manage your time.
GMAC report only the last three scores.