Targeting Fall 2012 Test Date

[Aggiemike96]

Pardon the long, initial post. But, I wanted to capture a little about me and encourage others to chime in. My goal is to get into a top-tier accounting PhD program in Texas (UT, A&M, UH, etc.). I applied for Fall 2012 admission, but was rejected from these three schools. I'm looking to improve my GMAT score for next year and re-apply.

My two attempts at the GMAT:
January 2003 (applying for MBA, for which I was accepted): 560 (v29, q38 and AWA 5.5).
January 2012 (applying for PhD programs, denied): 620 (v30, q45 and AWA 6.0)

I'm targeting a 700+ and anything above 730 would be ideal. For example, UH (University of Houston) accepted 4 accounting PhD students for 2012 with GMATs of 770, 770, 740 and 710. I am confident that the GMAT is the weak link in my application. I am a CPA with almost 10 years of public accounting/auditing, 2.5 years as a controller and 2+ years as a lecturer at UH. During my MBA studies at UH, I had a 3.9 GPA while working full-time in public accounting. Certainly my background is solid, so it must be the GMAT holding me back!

In 2003, my studies were limited. I did not take any practice tests. I reviewed the GMAT website the night before, learned what the problems would look like, worked a few and called it a "study". Therefore, the 560 is pretty much my baseline. For 2012, I studied for about 10 days off-and-on. I estimate about 35-40 hours of studying and took it immediately thereafter. (Was actually on vacation visiting the in-laws in Hawaii for 2 weeks, studied while we were there and took it in Honolulu the morning in which we flew out that night.) My goal for this January was (1) get a feel for what a few weeks of studying would net me and (2) pray it was enough to get accepted. Well, it wasn't!

So, here I am. I'm looking to throw everything, including the kitchen sink, at my next attempt. As of today (6/6/2012), I have not committed/purchased any program. I am leaning towards the online courses & materials from Manhattan GMAT. I'd be interested in hearing of other programs that would be better in my preparation. Verbal is my weak link, and it must be improved significantly. My budget is $1,000 for study/course materials, but could talk the Mrs. into another couple hundred dollars with the notion that it would be worth it. Any advice, tips, hints, etc. are greatly appreciated! Thanks!!!

Here we go!!!

[evergreen]

I think you have a good goal. Anything above 730 would indeed be good for you.

I think you're severely limiting yourself by only applying to three schools. As you know, most schools are only taking 1-5 students... and they get 100s of applicants... more if they're a strong program.
To really have a shot, you should be applying to at least 10 schools... and if you can afford to, 20 applications would be ideal.

Once you've conquered the GMAT, you should post your profile on the PhD Business section of this forum.

Good luck!

personal statement. I used Kaplan and the Official Guide. I think Manhattan or Kaplan would be great... many people have used either of them and scored really well. So go with either, and at that point it's just on you to put in the hours to get a great score.

[gmatpill]

Great! Your aspirations on the GMAT exam are ambitious and you have a good background for applying into business schools. A low 600 score can get you into some programs but as you said, your aim for 730 is the goal. You should target what your weakness areas are?

The breakdown in your scores shows that Quant is lower for you, so you should really brush up on the basics here. Go through the various types of questions - distance rate time problems, algebra, geometry. Your focus is on speed and efficiency. You know what questions are on the GMAT exam - it's just a matter of answering them quickly on the actual day of the exam.

Good luck!

[vdasovich001]

Pardon the long, initial post. But, I wanted to capture a little about me and encourage others to chime in. My goal is to get into a top-tier accounting PhD program in Texas (UT, A&M, UH, etc.). I applied for Fall 2012 admission, but was rejected from these three schools. I'm looking to improve my GMAT score for next year and re-apply.

My two attempts at the GMAT:
January 2003 (applying for MBA, for which I was accepted): 560 (v29, q38 and AWA 5.5).
January 2012 (applying for PhD programs, denied): 620 (v30, q45 and AWA 6.0)

I'm targeting a 700+ and anything above 730 would be ideal. For example, UH (University of Houston) accepted 4 accounting PhD students for 2012 with GMATs of 770, 770, 740 and 710. I am confident that the GMAT is the weak link in my application. I am a CPA with almost 10 years of public accounting/auditing, 2.5 years as a controller and 2+ years as a lecturer at UH. During my MBA studies at UH, I had a 3.9 GPA while working full-time in public accounting. Certainly my background is solid, so it must be the GMAT holding me back!

In 2003, my studies were limited. I did not take any practice tests. I reviewed the GMAT website the night before, learned what the problems would look like, worked a few and called it a "study". Therefore, the 560 is pretty much my baseline. For 2012, I studied for about 10 days off-and-on. I estimate about 35-40 hours of studying and took it immediately thereafter. (Was actually on vacation visiting the in-laws in Hawaii for 2 weeks, studied while we were there and took it in Honolulu the morning in which we flew out that night.) My goal for this January was (1) get a feel for what a few weeks of studying would net me and (2) pray it was enough to get accepted. Well, it wasn't!

So, here I am. I'm looking to throw everything, including the kitchen sink, at my next attempt. As of today (6/6/2012), I have not committed/purchased any program. I am leaning towards the online courses & materials from Manhattan GMAT. I'd be interested in hearing of other programs that would be better in my preparation. Verbal is my weak link, and it must be improved significantly. My budget is $1,000 for study/course materials, but could talk the Mrs. into another couple hundred dollars with the notion that it would be worth it. Any advice, tips, hints, etc. are greatly appreciated! Thanks!!!

Here we go!!!

Hello! To keep your studying in the budget of $1000, it would be most advisable for you to sign up for a computer adaptive testing program. These are definitely the most efficient, easiest ways of improving your score without having to make a large commitment (money & time wise).

It seems like you have not spent enough time in the past studying for the exam. Although the material may not be too difficult, it is important to study more than 10 days for the GMAT. It's also easy to study up on what you think will be useful to know, and keep reading questions you know a lot about. This will not help you improve your score at all because you will be ignoring lots of topics you have no knowledge about, therefore going into the exam blindly on many lessons.

There are many programs out there online - my suggestion to you is to try them each out and see what makes you feel the most comfortable. Lots of programs have free trails, or a "free question of the day" like on Prepmyfuture.com. It's easy to try a question, see how you do, and look at your analytics to discover where you should focus your time. A program that targets your weaknesses is exactly what you need to improve you scores efficiently.

Best of luck in your studies!