Hi...

I just sat for GMAT and got 590 :-( Dont know what went wrong because i scored 650+ is MGMAT CAT exams. Can anyone suggest me if there is any chance for me to get admitted in universities like Pennsylvania State University with full funding??

uPenn.. do you mean Wharton Business School? I think their usual GMAT average lie around 700+ so it would be hard to gain admission with 650, let alone full scholarship

Pennsylvania State University is not Wharton, its Smeal. The average GMAT is around 650 so you may get in. Not sure about Scholarship, you will have to check the criteria as it may depend upon other factors other than GMAT.

But if you were scoring 650 consistently in the MGMAT CATs, I suggest that you try and improve your GMAT score. I don't know how much effort you put into it but do a realistic assessment and give it another shot. Don't give up in one go. There are many stories out there on people who have managed to improve their scores. Read those stories and you will find the motivation. Just remember that it may take time and patience. You still have 4 months before the Round 1 deadlines.

Regards

Sunil

Thank u so much for your reply. But unfortunately this is my 2nd time. 1st time i got 440. I will say that was just stupid of me because i rushed so much to get into the b school as the deadlines were closer. This time I really went through all famous GMAT blogs and sites to ensure I understand all about GMAT, went through all MGMAT books, and study materials available on net. Below is my score details:

Q 48
V 24 ( horrible)

GMAT Score: 590

Can you pls suggest how can i improve verbal? Also, will my gmat history affect my application negatively?

Hey,

Ok, the first thing I see is that whatever you did after getting a 440 worked well. I know you are not happy with a 590 but that is a 150 point improvement from your first attempt. According to me, that's a great improvement. You have a great quant score too.

I am no expert on GMAT and admissions but here is what I would do:

Get your profile evaluated by an admissions consultant if you haven't done so already. MBAMission have a 30 minute free assessment. Now would be a good time for you to use it. Make sure you go prepared, don't expect them to tell you things. You have to ask them the questions and they will answer. Make a list of your target schools and speak to them about your chances on getting in them.

As far as GMAT is concerned, having attempted it twice is not an issue. A lot of people out there who have taken in a third time and even more. But that is a personal decision for everyone. I am not suggesting that you keep trying a zillion times. You have to see how motivated you are and how much more time you are willing to put in. You have mentioned that you have gone through the posts, blogs, MGMAT books etc so I totally understand that you have already invested a fair amount of time. Whether you want another shot at it is totally up to you.

If you do decide to take it again, I suggest that you use the report generator on the MGMAT CATs to find out what your weak areas are. Is it SC, CR, RC or a combination of all three? Is timing an issue? Is stamina an issue? Some of the questions that you can ask yourself: With SC, do you struggle with all the SCs or the longer ones? Do you understand what is being tested when you see SC question? Are you able to spot the splits?
With CR, are you able to identify the conclusion? Are you diagramming the argument? Don't underestimate diagramming, it really does help so try it if you haven't already. Are you able to identify the boundary words/extreme words? These are very important and useful as some answers can be eliminated based on them.

These are just some of the questions. All of them do not apply to you. Basically, all I am saying is be very honest with your assessment and think hard on where you are going wrong. Don't just say -"I struggle with long SCs". Think beyond that. What happens when you see a long SC? Do you panic? Do you start thinking that you can't do it? Do you start reading all the answer choices instead of staying calm and looking for the splits? Is it parallelism that you don't understand? etc etc

You know everything there is to know about GMAT, its format, type of questions etc. Now spend some quality time assessing yourself and working on the weak areas. Once you have identified those weak areas, read the forums and blogs (Stacey's ones are particularly good) - Read them again if you have to. Then make a plan! Always have a plan. Plan gives you a goal to work towards.

Also, get involved in the forums if you aren't already. Not only try and read what others are saying, but also try and answer them.

Another thing to do is attend Ron's Thursday sessions. These are free and very very good. This takes place every alternate Thursday.

OK, am going to stop now as this has been a long post and I am assuming too much. Maybe you have already done all of the above so apologies for rambling on. :)

Good luck with your admissions and feel free to shoot back if you have any other queries

Regards

Sunil

Sunil,

Thank u so much for such a long, elobarated, motivating response. :-) No, you did a lot of things that i did not do. I am going to follow your advice on assesing my weaknesses and I will post you update on what I m up to and what can be done. I am still ready to put another 2 month on improving verbal. so for now I am going to focus on verbal and just practicing math ( so that I don feel less confidence about math later on ) . Thank you again.

God bless you!

Thanks! Hope it goes well for both of us as I am trying to improve my score as well. :)

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monira,
I have the same problem. other than recommending you to take the test again and try to improve your score, I can tell you that there’s a lot to do even with a low GMAT, here is a helpful video I found: http://www.aringo.com/low_gmat.htm