I took the gmat last saturday and got whooped. Got a 530. Even though I lost about 2 minutes for going over during the break before quant and lost about another 3 minutes for having to go to the bathroom (if I want that energy drink, then I’ll have to use a catheter next time), I only had to guess on the last 5 q’s and thought that I had done ok on most of the q’s. I was stunned that I only got a 32 on verbal. I was scoring around 40 on practice tests. It’s almost like it scored it wrong. I even scored a 540 on a Kaplan test and pretty much guessed on all the quant q’s.
I was going to apply to SMU accounting for fall ’08 which has a scholarship consideration deadline of Jan 15. As soon as I saw that score, I knew that wasn’t going to happen. I also had to come to the realization that going to my dream school of UT Austin wasn’t going to happen as they only accept in the fall. I can’t delay til fall ’09. I have some time now to apply for spring ‘09 at SMU. I’ll see if I can take some classes at a local state school to transfer in so hopefully my graduation won’t be delayed. I wonder though if there’s less of a chance at getting scholarship money if you apply in the spring.
I had started studying around last August for only a few hours a week, then increased it around late November. I had paced my studying using solely the PR book, thinking this is pretty easy. Then I look at the OG book after Christmas and realized I was screwed. I then discover this forum and realized my massive mistake. I intensified my studying using Kaplan 800 for the quant and thought I had learned enough quant. I then reviewed the flashcards from the site. I wasn’t worried at all about verbal. I really don’t know what went wrong with verbal.
Do I need to start from scratch and follow the 80 day guide? My goal is at least 650, but I feel like I’m capable of more. I do know one thing, I’m not scheduling til I’m ready. If I work hard for the retake and still score badly, then I guess I’ll have to take the Manhattan course, but I really don’t want to plop down $900. My worst nightmare is finding out that I’m just meant to score under 600 on the GMAT.
I was going to apply to SMU accounting for fall ’08 which has a scholarship consideration deadline of Jan 15. As soon as I saw that score, I knew that wasn’t going to happen. I also had to come to the realization that going to my dream school of UT Austin wasn’t going to happen as they only accept in the fall. I can’t delay til fall ’09. I have some time now to apply for spring ‘09 at SMU. I’ll see if I can take some classes at a local state school to transfer in so hopefully my graduation won’t be delayed. I wonder though if there’s less of a chance at getting scholarship money if you apply in the spring.
I had started studying around last August for only a few hours a week, then increased it around late November. I had paced my studying using solely the PR book, thinking this is pretty easy. Then I look at the OG book after Christmas and realized I was screwed. I then discover this forum and realized my massive mistake. I intensified my studying using Kaplan 800 for the quant and thought I had learned enough quant. I then reviewed the flashcards from the site. I wasn’t worried at all about verbal. I really don’t know what went wrong with verbal.
Do I need to start from scratch and follow the 80 day guide? My goal is at least 650, but I feel like I’m capable of more. I do know one thing, I’m not scheduling til I’m ready. If I work hard for the retake and still score badly, then I guess I’ll have to take the Manhattan course, but I really don’t want to plop down $900. My worst nightmare is finding out that I’m just meant to score under 600 on the GMAT.
