I'm 31, male, have worked in education since 2005. I am a founding faculty member at a private middle/high school that opened in 2007 and am still working there. I've developed programs, led teams, and have developed curriculum. I have an M.Ed that I received in 2012. My undergrad GPA is 3.47 from St. John's College in Annapolis, MD. I mention this because it's an unconventional school: no electives, with a four-year all-required curriculum in philosophy, history of math, and history of science.
I'm confident in my recommendations and my ability to make a case for myself as an applicant. I'm looking at top-tier schools for a range of reasons, mostly in that the opportunity cost is too high for anything less. That's a separate issue, though.
I've been planning on applying in R1 but had two family health crises that delayed my test day and slowed my prep. I have been doing quantitative review for 10+ weeks and just took my first full practice exam on Friday. I got a 680 (V42, Q40) and on a full math section yesterday got a Q42. I have heard a lot about the need for an 80-80 split for top programs. I am obviously there for verbal and not in the range yet for quant.
My test is two weeks from today and I'm debating what to do. I am not working now (bonus of academic schedule) and have all day to work on prep. I go back to work full time on 8/14 and will have less time to devote to prep. This has set up a real conundrum for me.
So, here's my dilemma:
1. Do I take the test on 8/13 assuming I can get 710-720 but probably not an 80/80 split on my sections? That could give me time to retake if I needed to before R1 apps are due; the first few weeks of the school year are busy, and carving out time to do serious prep could be difficult. I'd have to take a day off work to do the test and it would be a big disruption.
2. Do I push back my applications to R2 and push hard to get my quant score up to the 47-48 range? That would put me right about the 80th percentile. I'm confident that with more time I can do it, but it would certainly place much more pressure on me to do that during the schoolyear vs right now. That said, I did my M.Ed while I worked and made it happen, despite being stressed.
I guess another way of asking the question is this: would any benefit of applying in R1 (with my unconventional background) be mitigated by a not-stellar but still solid GMAT score, or would it be better to wait until R2 with a GMAT score that would likely meet the 80/80 threshold?
Thanks!
I'm confident in my recommendations and my ability to make a case for myself as an applicant. I'm looking at top-tier schools for a range of reasons, mostly in that the opportunity cost is too high for anything less. That's a separate issue, though.
I've been planning on applying in R1 but had two family health crises that delayed my test day and slowed my prep. I have been doing quantitative review for 10+ weeks and just took my first full practice exam on Friday. I got a 680 (V42, Q40) and on a full math section yesterday got a Q42. I have heard a lot about the need for an 80-80 split for top programs. I am obviously there for verbal and not in the range yet for quant.
My test is two weeks from today and I'm debating what to do. I am not working now (bonus of academic schedule) and have all day to work on prep. I go back to work full time on 8/14 and will have less time to devote to prep. This has set up a real conundrum for me.
So, here's my dilemma:
1. Do I take the test on 8/13 assuming I can get 710-720 but probably not an 80/80 split on my sections? That could give me time to retake if I needed to before R1 apps are due; the first few weeks of the school year are busy, and carving out time to do serious prep could be difficult. I'd have to take a day off work to do the test and it would be a big disruption.
2. Do I push back my applications to R2 and push hard to get my quant score up to the 47-48 range? That would put me right about the 80th percentile. I'm confident that with more time I can do it, but it would certainly place much more pressure on me to do that during the schoolyear vs right now. That said, I did my M.Ed while I worked and made it happen, despite being stressed.
I guess another way of asking the question is this: would any benefit of applying in R1 (with my unconventional background) be mitigated by a not-stellar but still solid GMAT score, or would it be better to wait until R2 with a GMAT score that would likely meet the 80/80 threshold?
Thanks!