Hi,

I have been studying for my gmat for the past 6 months and after two attempts, I am stuck w/ a 570. I didn’t take any prep course w/ my study and focused primarily on practicing questions. I have practiced nearly 3000 questions and lived and breathed gmat for months. I did past my CFA level I exam so I can’t be that intellectually challenged, so I haven’t given up. I just registered for Veritas and hope this will make a difference.

I am a 28 year old asian female w/ over 5yrs of experience working in the investment industry on the buy-side as a fundamental research analyst. In addition to working 60 hrs/wk, I am on the board of a non-profit organization in which I spend 10-20hrs/wk on for the past 4yrs. I got a 3.4 GPA from undergrad which included a 2.7 from freshman yr due to a personal challenge which I overcame. I believe I have a unique story to tell and have accomplished a lot as someone who immigrated to the US at age 10 and growing up in an underprivileged family with non-English speaking parents who are both currently unemployed.

Should I apply round 3 after I improve my gmat score? I understand that round 3 is more competitive and my original plan was to apply round 2. However, w/ a 570 gmat, I have a near zero chance of getting into HBS, Stanford, Wharton or Kellogg. Alternatively, should I apply round 1 next year instead? Please advise, thank you!

Hi Monica,

You're well on your way now that you've signed up for our GMAT course.

But seriously, you did the right thing by pushing back your application. Without question, you have a MUCH better chance of getting in with a higher score (assuming you get one, of course) in Round 3 than with a 570 in Round 2. People absolutely do get into top MBA programs in Round 3. Yes, it's a bit harder, but not as hard as getting in with a 570. I'll put it another way: Top schools accept far more people in Round 3 than they accept people with sub-600 across all three rounds!

Since you're already 28 years old (unfortunately, approaching "old" in some admissions officers' eyes), I do think it's worth a shot this year. If you don't get in, you can try again in the Fall, and can still be very successful as a re-applicant. Again, that assumed that you do manage to significantly boost your score before R3. I can't give you a magic number that you should aim for, but if you take it again and only boost your score to 600, then I would say wait, spend months on working to get yourself into the high 600s (not easy, I fully understand), and then apply in R1 next year.

Good luck!

Scott