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peterrm555
- Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2011 4:58 pm
Hi all,
I have been a follower of beat the GMAT for long time and finally today I have decided to post something. First of all, I would like to thank for the great contributions you make through this forum.
I have to say that I feel quite embarrassed to post this but I think it will be good to ask for some advice.
My "battle" with the GMAT started at the beginning of 2009 and to be honest I did not now what was coming...
I am not a native english speaker so my first struggle has been with the verbal section although my quant has not been great either.
My test scores have been as folows:
March 2009: 460 /V.25/Q.28, AW: 4.0
August 2009: 490 /V.21/ Q.36, AW: 3.5
February 2011: 550 /V.27/ Q.39 AW: 4.5
March 2011: 500 /V.25/ Q.34 AW: 4.5
May 2011: 540 /V.25/ Q.39 AW: 4.5
In the first two attempts I did not take the test seriously and my scores reflect that quite well.
For the February 2011 attempt I studied a lot more, used the Manhattan tests together with the official guides and Kaplan. I also practiced with the official practice tests offered by Mba.com. I studied more than before and I concentrated most of the study just the month before the test (actually I took 2 weeeks off to study). I think my mistake was that I jumped straight to do practice tests without knowing the official guides questions well first and I also was oveloaded with study time the last days. I also used the sentence correction book from Manhattan that was quite helpful.
My attempt after this was only a month later (huge mistake) I followeed the logic that as I had increased my score every time I took the test, the next time I will probably be able at least to break the ,that will give me a chance in a decent school but my score was 500 (dropped 50 points shocking!). For this attempt I just reveiewed previous study questions and did a lot of practice tests.
I thought that the 500 was just a bad day I was sure that on my 5th and last attempt I will at least break the 600 (this time I focused mainly on the official guide questions and I did not do a lot of practice tests) again i took it in less than a month and again bombed it! wih a 540. I took my last two attempts within only three months because I wanted to break the 600 before the deadline of a program I really wanted to get in.
I believe that in non of the attempts I did a proper preparations or planning and this is why I got this outcome, during practice tests at home, I was scoring within the range of 600-690 so I think my nerves during the real thing did not help either. Also as you can see my verbal is quite weak coming from the fact that i did not read a lot apart from the GMAT questions.
I applied to a couple of schools and I was accepted into one but it is not a very competitive one so I was thinking if there is any point in going.
I have the feeling that if for once I prepare the test properly and giving myself enough time I could actually get a more decent score, obviously like everyone here I would love to get to the 700..
Lets suppose that i take it one more time and I score a 750, considering that I have taken the test so many times already would this score help me to get into a top school or admissions will see my previous attempts and these will damage my chances completely.
I have a bachelor and masters in business management with a GPA of 2.8 and 9 years of experience in finance. So another weakness would also be my GPA.
I am going to move to California and my dream school will be Berkeley, they offer a part time program evening and weekends in which the GPA and GMAT scores averages are lower than in the full time program. My questions is would I stand any chances at this progam if for example on my last attempt, after hard work, I score 750 (I know i am being too optimistic
) and in relation to the other top programs (I was thinking of focusing on part time programs as the acceptance rate is highger and I will also be working at the same time) would I have any chances??
My last question shall i accept the offer I got from a mediocre school or give the GMAT another go??
Thank you very much for your help
I have been a follower of beat the GMAT for long time and finally today I have decided to post something. First of all, I would like to thank for the great contributions you make through this forum.
I have to say that I feel quite embarrassed to post this but I think it will be good to ask for some advice.
My "battle" with the GMAT started at the beginning of 2009 and to be honest I did not now what was coming...
I am not a native english speaker so my first struggle has been with the verbal section although my quant has not been great either.
My test scores have been as folows:
March 2009: 460 /V.25/Q.28, AW: 4.0
August 2009: 490 /V.21/ Q.36, AW: 3.5
February 2011: 550 /V.27/ Q.39 AW: 4.5
March 2011: 500 /V.25/ Q.34 AW: 4.5
May 2011: 540 /V.25/ Q.39 AW: 4.5
In the first two attempts I did not take the test seriously and my scores reflect that quite well.
For the February 2011 attempt I studied a lot more, used the Manhattan tests together with the official guides and Kaplan. I also practiced with the official practice tests offered by Mba.com. I studied more than before and I concentrated most of the study just the month before the test (actually I took 2 weeeks off to study). I think my mistake was that I jumped straight to do practice tests without knowing the official guides questions well first and I also was oveloaded with study time the last days. I also used the sentence correction book from Manhattan that was quite helpful.
My attempt after this was only a month later (huge mistake) I followeed the logic that as I had increased my score every time I took the test, the next time I will probably be able at least to break the ,that will give me a chance in a decent school but my score was 500 (dropped 50 points shocking!). For this attempt I just reveiewed previous study questions and did a lot of practice tests.
I thought that the 500 was just a bad day I was sure that on my 5th and last attempt I will at least break the 600 (this time I focused mainly on the official guide questions and I did not do a lot of practice tests) again i took it in less than a month and again bombed it! wih a 540. I took my last two attempts within only three months because I wanted to break the 600 before the deadline of a program I really wanted to get in.
I believe that in non of the attempts I did a proper preparations or planning and this is why I got this outcome, during practice tests at home, I was scoring within the range of 600-690 so I think my nerves during the real thing did not help either. Also as you can see my verbal is quite weak coming from the fact that i did not read a lot apart from the GMAT questions.
I applied to a couple of schools and I was accepted into one but it is not a very competitive one so I was thinking if there is any point in going.
I have the feeling that if for once I prepare the test properly and giving myself enough time I could actually get a more decent score, obviously like everyone here I would love to get to the 700..
Lets suppose that i take it one more time and I score a 750, considering that I have taken the test so many times already would this score help me to get into a top school or admissions will see my previous attempts and these will damage my chances completely.
I have a bachelor and masters in business management with a GPA of 2.8 and 9 years of experience in finance. So another weakness would also be my GPA.
I am going to move to California and my dream school will be Berkeley, they offer a part time program evening and weekends in which the GPA and GMAT scores averages are lower than in the full time program. My questions is would I stand any chances at this progam if for example on my last attempt, after hard work, I score 750 (I know i am being too optimistic
) and in relation to the other top programs (I was thinking of focusing on part time programs as the acceptance rate is highger and I will also be working at the same time) would I have any chances??My last question shall i accept the offer I got from a mediocre school or give the GMAT another go??
Thank you very much for your help
