5 months prep

[miker88]

Hey everyone I am new the forum but I have been reading on the site for awhile. Anyway I took the SAT back in high school and scored a low 1100, although I didn't prepare whatsoever. I took a course at my local library for 50 bucks it was four sessions in total each lasting three hours. In high school I had an 88 overall average and got into SUNY Albany. I never applied myself in high school, I would basically look at the book but never actually took in any of the material. My first year was rough and I got a 1.93 and a 2.5 the second semester. Since then I haven't gotten below a 3.83 in the past two years and have gotten an A in every upper level economics class. I don't think I knew how to learn in high school if that makes sense. Now I am able to go into every class and figure out a way to succeed. Anyway I am still kind of worried because of how I did on the SAT years ago but I am willing to do everything I can over the next five months to hit a 600-650 on the GMAT. The question I have is, is it possible to not necessarily score well on the SAT (because I didn't prepare) and then do well on the GMAT?

[grockit_andrea]

Five months is a big chunk of time to devote to studying, and if you're doing the right kind of prep, you can probably see a significant increase. However, without knowing your baseline score from a GMAT practice test, it's impossible to predict whether you can reach your target in that time. I do think a 600-650 score is an attainable and reasonable goal for many people.
You also don't mention whether your SAT score was out of the old 1600 points or the new 2400 points; that makes a huge difference in understanding your score on that test. Overall, though, I don't think you should weigh the SAT too heavily when thinking about the GMAT. The tests are different in many ways, and you have had years of education since high school. Don't let that old score get you down, and focus on where you're going, not where you've been.