The Gmat beat me 550 (please give me advice)

[kellyeroses]

Well, I just arrived home after a grueling day taking the GMAT. I had hoped to break 600 as I am looking to apply to schools in the top 25 but not top 10 (University of Indiana, University of North Carolina, Ohio State, University of Maryland).

27 Q, 38 V 550 Total

I am thinking that re-taking it would be my best option although I was trying to apply for January deadlines which would be tight at this point to restudy and apply for those deadlines.

Couple of questions:

Other than OG 11 what types of information should I study to raise my Quant score (DS is my bigger problem but PS is also a struggle)?

Could a 550 be good enough to get in to any of the schools above along with a decent GPA, good recommendations and 5 years of work experience (in your opinion)?

Is it horrible to apply in the last round of deadlines should I just post-pone my plans a year?

Thanks for any help or advice you can offer.

Bummed about the GMAT!

[beatthegmat]

I'm really sorry to hear that you didn't reach your target today.

To address your first question, besides OG I recommend using the practice resources available from Kaplan, Princeton Review and Manhattan GMAT. They are all very solid.

With regard to your second questions regarding admissions with your current score and applying 3rd round--I would pose those questions to Stacy Blackman. Stacy or Amy should be able to provide some expertise around those topics.

Best of luck!

[beatthegmat]

Hey! I'm so sorry to hear that you did poorly on gmat, but I think you will improve if you take more tests and understand your weakness. I'm having a differnt problem actually. I just took the gmat and the strangest thing happened to me. I actually took it a year ago while I was in college and I scored a 530. I was so devastated back then that I decided to postpone taking it again ! Huge mistake! I forgot everything and I had to study from scratch. So I took the gmat today and I scored a 470, (21 v 34 Q). I couldn't believe my verbal was this low....I actually thought there is something wrong with the answers....but then again, I was having a horrible week and lacked studying...I don't know how to improve but I just have to try harder, I'm thinking of taking manhattan gmat...an instructor can help pinpoint my weak points on verbal....I feel if I do this on my own...I'm so overwhelmed and don't know what's gone wrong!

Sorry to hear about your situation. It seems like self study wasn't an effective option for you in the past, so it may be wise to hire a tutor as you said. I highly recommend Manhattan GMAT. They are expensive, but at least you can get a 10% discount on their services.

Good luck!