Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant

Well, I am programmer planning to pursue my masters in Information system or Information tech.(hybrid course)
I have 3 years full experience of programming and working as lecturer in a university.
I have 99% percentile GPA(1st of my university)
(now good things ends here)
But
I got very bad GMAT score(540).It was my first attempt.(haste made the waste)
Now I am planning strongly to apply for august session.
What do you suggest ,should i retake GMAT? What may be benefits of doing so?
(admission process for good colleges for 2011 will be already ended by then and will gmat only make such a huge difference?)
I am looking for some assistance ship or partial waiver. But when i see most college's requirements for that stand good on all requirements except GMAT which has put in me dilemma. So, what should i do?
should I still go ahead and try for best.
where do I stand in overall general admission process?(generally)
Any suggestions?
How can i maximize my chances of assistance ship or other waivers?
Any programs i should apply for?
This is very vague question but if college says its average GMAT score is 610 ,does that me I am down and out with 540?
thanks
would be more than grateful for your suggestions.

Unfortunately a 540 puts you in a precarious position for a school with an average over 600 - particularly if you are looking for scholarships. It will be a particular problem if your quant score is at or below 50%ile. Some schools have a firm 50%ile cutoff.

I recognize you are anxious to move ahead with your career, but you should seriously consider waiting a year. Three years is a good length, but four years' work experience would be even better and that would allow you to apply in the early rounds and give you a chance to boost your GMAT.

There are certainly schools that will accept someone with a score at your level, but you would have a chance at a much stronger school and more financial support if you could get your score up.

You could still make third round for some schools this year and have time to take the GMAT again, but only do that if you know what kept your score down and have significantly changed the way you take the test. Schools do not look favorably on someone who takes the test multiple times, particularly if the score doesn't show a major change.

Another consideration is that scholarship and assistance-ship monies tend to go early in the application process so many schools will have committed their fund soon.

Good luck,

First of all thanks for your reply.
It was really valuable for me.

Well when I started preparing for GMAT ,all books use to say ,GMAT is one part of the story of the whole process. There are lots of other things in admission process. Low GMAT score doesn't necessarily mean end of the road.
But reality, I got thrashed on the GMAT exam day, I am almost down and out of examination process. My 19 years of schooling one side and GMAT score on the other side.My numerous A's on mathematical subjects on one side and low score of quantitative quiz on the other. My 3.9 GPA is just like nullified(in reality) because of low gmat score as most institutions say whatever may be your GPA, your experience, achievements you must have xxx GMAT score.
Any way never mind.
Well I am planning to apply for august session and as i am more a tech guy ,i think I should look for assistance ship rather than any scholarships. I feel I will have chance for that as I have some global programming certifications(including Microsoft's).
and I feel only college ranking below 50th is left for me.
I have option of MBA(IS) and MS (Computer)
Latter one will require GRE, so really thinking what should i do:
Apply as it is OR retake gmat OR wait another one year OR take GRE

It may be a joke for now, but I have started advocating that interested students should be taught GMAT from semester 1 of their undergraduate study in my university(where I lecture) considering its significance.
Any way really thanks for your comments. I am thinking over it as well.

I understand your frustration, but the truth is, the GMAT is an excellent predictor of classroom performance. One thing that makes this test difficult is the way questions are asked. The writers consciously ask questions in non-standard and indirect ways. They do this to see whether you are really reading the questions and whether you really understand the math and its meaning. They are not testing for rote learning. They are not trying to find out whether you know the math formulas, but rather whether you can apply them in ways that are unusual and often indirect. These are skills that are needed in business. Your boss will never give you a math problem to solve. Instead she will say something like, "If we raise the cost of product X by 7% and take the price up 3% how much additional volume will we need to increase our bottom line by 8% and what would that do to our share versus the number one brand in our category?"

The issue is not to teach GMAT, but to teach complex thinking processes that combine information and skills from multiple areas to attack knotty problems.

You should certainly try the GRE - there are many free practice tests online - however, that test causes many US and international students problems because it is heavily vocabulary-based. Once you see what your score might be on that test, you will have more information to work with.

You are not necessarily barred from the top 50. Look at the score ranges and you will see many schools accept students with scores in the 500s if they can present compelling reasons.

Good luck,