![\"Manhattan](\"\/\/cdn2.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2017\/10\/when-to-stop-studying-for-the-gmat-ceilidh-erickson.png\")
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Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We\u2019re not kidding! <\/i><\/b>Check out our upcoming courses here<\/i><\/b><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n <\/i><\/b>Studying for the GMAT is likely one of the hardest things that you\u2019ll ever do. Many of my former students tell me that studying for the GMAT was way harder than business school classes!<\/span><\/p>\n So what happens when you\u2019ve spent months of your time studying, invested money in a class or books, put your heart and soul into trying to increase your score\u2026 but you still haven\u2019t hit your goal? Here\u2019s the uncomfortable truth:<\/span><\/p>\n As an educator, I\u2019m deeply invested in doing whatever I can to help all my students succeed, but I also don\u2019t believe in sugar-coating or building false hope. I know that even with months or years of hard work, not everyone is going to get above a 700. <\/span><\/p>\n Personally, I know that if I worked with the best personal trainer in the world for months, I could become <\/span>significantly<\/span><\/i> stronger and more agile. But no amount of hard work would turn me into an Olympic gymnast. I\u2019m just not built for exceptional (or even above-average) athleticism. At a certain point\u2014despite all the effort I could muster\u2014there would be vanishing returns on the athletic skills I could achieve.<\/span><\/p>\n The same is true when studying for the GMAT: after a certain point, everyone hits a threshold of vanishing returns, after which all the studying in the world won\u2019t yield a score increase. (For me, it\u2019s 780-790. I make too many careless mistakes to ever get a perfect score!)<\/span><\/p>\n You might be thinking, \u201cWow, this is really discouraging.\u201d (You might also be thinking, \u201cWhat is she thinking? Shouldn\u2019t she be telling me that I\u2019ll succeed if I just buy more books or resources or tutoring hours?\u201d Absolutely not! My mission is always to do what\u2019s in the best interest of my students, and I would never want anyone to spend time or money on anything that wasn\u2019t going to bring results. Every one of my colleagues would agree.) <\/span><\/p>\n But don\u2019t despair yet: here are several reasons why it\u2019s ok to stop studying for the GMAT before you hit your goal score.<\/span><\/p>\n This surprises some people, but it\u2019s true. Business schools care about the <\/span>whole<\/span><\/i> applicant: work history, undergraduate record, hobbies and interests, etc. They want someone who is going to be an all-around asset to their class.<\/span><\/p>\n If you have a 770 GMAT score but a low GPA and resume that shows no initiative or leadership\u2026 you\u2019re not going to get into a top school. The GMAT score alone won\u2019t get you in. On the other hand, if you have a very impressive resume but a lower GMAT score, you might be able to get into a top school. Schools can overlook the GMAT if they have enough other data points to believe that you\u2019d be an asset.<\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s say that you\u2019ve been studying for the GMAT for 4 months, you\u2019ve learned all the content, and your practice exam scores have gone from 530 to 610 to 640 to 660\u2026 to 670\u2026 to 670\u2026 but they\u2019re not budging from there. You\u2019ve taken the real test twice and got a 660, then a 680. Your goal is to get a 700-720.<\/span><\/p>\n Option 1: You could spend another 2-4 months grinding away, spending every spare hour studying, in the hopes of bringing your score up a few more points. <\/span><\/p>\n Option 2: You could spend that time doing more volunteering, perhaps taking on a leadership position in an organization. You could take an online or extended-learning class in finance or accounting to demonstrate interest and academic prowess. You could help your friend build an app for her new startup. You could write an article and get it published, etc., etc. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A GMAT score increase might seem more immediately necessary, because that\u2019s what will be measured directly against other candidates. But I assure you, some version of Option 2 is the much better option: that\u2019s what will make you unique and stand out among the competition! Think about the things you could put on an application that <\/span>no one else could<\/span><\/i>, then think of ways to accentuate those things. <\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019re looking for advice on how to make yourself stand out, I recommend doing a free consultation with our partners at <\/span>mbamission.com<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s a flowchart of questions to help you decide:<\/span><\/p>\n It can be disappointing to let go of a goal before you\u2019ve fully reached it. But if you\u2019ve put real, significant effort into your studies and gotten as far as you reasonably can, it\u2019s the prudent decision to <\/span>ignore the sunk costs<\/b> and <\/span>invest your time elsewhere<\/b>. <\/span><\/p>\n Making prudent, rational decisions about what to invest time, energy, and money into\u2014isn\u2019t that what business school is all about? ?<\/span><\/p>\n See that \u201cSUBSCRIBE\u201d button in the top right corner? Click on it to receive all our GMAT blog updates straight to your inbox!<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We\u2019re not kidding! Check out our upcoming courses here. Studying for the GMAT is likely one of the hardest things that you\u2019ll ever do. Many of my former students tell me that studying for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[928,52900,873,929,52871,930,2],"tags":[53168,53182,53181],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-14839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-mindset","category-business-school","category-for-current-studiers","category-gmat-prep","category-gmat-strategies","category-gmat-study-guide","category-how-to-study","tag-goal-score","tag-stop-studying-for-the-gmat","tag-studying-for-the-gmat"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14839"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14870,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14839\/revisions\/14870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14839"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=14839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nYou Might Not Hit Your Goal Score<\/b><\/h4>\n
1. The GMAT is <\/b>not<\/i><\/b> the most important part of your application.<\/b><\/h4>\n
2. Your time might be better spent improving other parts of your application.<\/b><\/h4>\n
So How Do I Know <\/b>When<\/i><\/b> I Should Stop? <\/b><\/h4>\n
![\"Manhattan](\"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2017\/10\/capture.png\")
<\/p>\n
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\n![\"ceilidh-erickson-Manhattan-Prep-GMAT-Instructor\"](\"https:\/\/d27gmszdzgfpo3.cloudfront.net\/gmat\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2016\/02\/ceilidh-erickson-150x150.png\" "\\"Ceilidh")
<\/a>C\u00e9ilidh Erickson<\/a>\u00a0is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Boston, MA.<\/strong>\u00a0When she tells people that her name is\u00a0pronounced \u201ckay-lee,\u201d she often gets puzzled looks.\u00a0C\u00e9ilidh is a graduate of Princeton University\u00a0and a master\u2019s candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Tutoring was always the job that brought her the greatest joy and challenge, so she decided to make it her full-time job. Check out\u00a0C\u00e9ilidh\u2019s upcoming GMAT courses<\/a>\u00a0(she scored a 760, so you\u2019re in great hands).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"