GMAT score very dissappointing

by **sara23** Mon Feb 25, 2008 2:38 pm

This past Saturday I took the GMAT and scored a 480!!!??!!! I am highly dissappointed with my score and have confidence that I could do much better. My highest CAT score was a 560. I really need to break 600 to get into my state MBA school. I am discouraged and have no clue what to do since my Applications are due in April.

I feel that my quantity of studying was good but not the quality. For example there were some math concepts that I did not fully understand, since i most likely could not teach it to someone else or make up a problem myself.

Is 4 weeks enough time for me to take the test again and break 600?

Any advice is much appreciated!

by **StaceyKoprince** Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:03 pm

Did you take a course with us or work with a tutor? If so, please do two things:
- contact your teacher to get advice
- contact studentservices@manhattangmat.com and ask for a Post Exam Assessment - this is a free phone call with an instructor to go over your first test and figure out what to do to get yourself ready for the next test. You'll have to fill out a form and return it and then they'll schedule your call.

Also, as soon as you can, write down EVERYthing you can remember from your test experience - what worked well and what didn't work across question types, topic areas, major sections of the test, timing / pacing, etc. Get that data down and then we can start to figure out what to do.

It sounds like you've already figured out one of your issues (quantity over quality) but what to do? Schedule the phone call ASAP (if you are one of our students) - otherwise, post your test debrief here and we'll try to help you - but if you don't already have all of our resources available (that is, if you're not already a student), then you may need to work with a tutor to learn how to study better, not just more!

There are things you can do in a month to improve - but the potential magnitude of that improvement is going to depend on a lot of things that I don't yet know about your situation.

by **sara23** Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:39 pm

Yes, I took the online 9 week course. I just submitted my questionaire for the Post Gmat Assessment. Hopefully that will help me identify weak points I need to work on.

I have all the MGMAT materials---do you they are my only source for learning all math concepts, etc that will be on the exam? Is there anything else that I can turn to?

Thanks!

by **StaceyKoprince** Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:45 pm

You also have the online materials available (and you will get an automatic extension of your online access as a result of signing up for the assessment). One thing you might want to ask about during your exam assessment phone call: whether the instructor thinks it would it be valuable for you to do our two Foundations of Math workshops - if you are struggling with some of the fundamentals, these may be of use to you (and the price is heavily discounted if you're a current or former student).