[710 Q45 V41] is my quant too weak?

BankBank

took the gmat earlier this evening..

section - scaled score - percentile
quantitative - 45 - 77
verbal - 41 - 93
total - 710 - 93

the lady at the testing center (42nd + 5th ave in nyc) was very impressed, however, i'm unhappy with my quantitative score. my target is Columbia Fall '09 early decision, what do you guys think about how I stand? my undergrad is only 3.0 from a state school that doesn't have a strong reputation, and i have 2 years work experience as a money market trader at a small foreign bank.

thanks for your input.

[edit] by the way, i used MANY books, but the focus was always on the OG, both the double and the quant. FYI, I believe the test quant to be MUCH more challenging than what is provided in these books. I had the SAME experience with the 2 free practice test software available at mba.com... the questions just seem much harder and brand new.

I studed for a month casually about a year ago and then 2 months fairly hardcore before taking the test.

jamess · Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 4:01 am Post subject:

You could have score 750/760, had you got a perfect quant score.

Find out how below.

BankBank · Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 6:32 am Post subject:

wow thanks for the advice mr spam

parore26 · Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 11:48 am Post subject:

LOL! nice reply.

Generally schools say that they want an 80, 80 breakdown in the percentiles (meaning percentile greater than 80 in each section). However, I think that 710 with a Quant percentile of a 77% is nothing to worry about. One thing that could be important is your undergraduate degree. If you have a quantitative undergraduate degree then I think this is understandable. Hope this helps!

BTW, what other schools are you applying to? I live and work in nyc as well.

BankBank · Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 5:17 pm Post subject:

thanks for the information.

my 1st choice is CBS early decision. if i get in there, i'm set and happy and i won't have to apply for any other programs. i imagine that CBS will get me into GS S&T, so it doesn't matter what path i take to get there.

if i don't get into CBS ED, i'm going to apply to harvard, wharton, mit, chicago, nyu, probably yale. if i don't get into CBS ED i'll probably retake the gmat to get an outstanding score since my undergrad institution and gpa blow.

where are you applying?

parore26 · Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 4:23 pm Post subject:

Hi Bank,
I'm going to be applying for Fall 2009 as well. I'm shooting for the Early Decision at Tuck. I'll be applying to MIT, HBS, LBS, INSEAD and Stanford as well. I'm looking at management consulting or alternative energy positions and I think these are the schools that fit my profile. Good Luck with your application! There is a meetup group in nyc and I think it is mostly for GMAT we should try and setup a group in nyc so we can meet and exchange information for prospective MBA Applicants as well.

BankBank · Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 7:59 pm Post subject:

sounds cool.. reply to this or send me an aim with more info about the meetup

MeddlingKid · Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 3:45 pm Post subject:

I had a similar question about my quant performance today. I scored 740: 44Q (72 percentile) and 47V (99 percentile). I'm a bit concerned about my quant score being too low for some programs. I do have somewhat of a quantitative background (Finance undergrad, CFA L1, structured finance job), so I'm not sure if that will help the adcoms overlook my percentile.

parore26 · Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 3:52 pm Post subject:

I think you should be fine on the quant front Meddling. I dont think anyone who has cleared CFA L1 can be questioned on their quantitative ability Wink

BankBank · Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 5:11 pm Post subject:

i don't understand how our quant can be so low yet our overall be (in your case especially) so high

Confused

MeddlingKid · Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 7:25 pm Post subject:

jamess · Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 7:08 pm Post subject:

kalyanachanta · Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 1:07 pm Post subject:

Hello BankBank and Parore,

I am in NYC and will be applying for Fall 2009. Do you guys have a meet up or something ? I would love to be a part of it and I confused as hell about the whole application procedure..
e-mail me at kallu79 at yahoo

Kalyan

parore26 · Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 8:29 am Post subject:

Cool Kalyan will keep you posted! Check out the meetup forums as well to see if others are organizing events around this area.

creativedes · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 10:07 am Post subject: Re: 710...what next

hello all,

need some advice / thoughts - took the test today and scored 710:

Q - 48 (85%)
V - 40 (89%)
T - 710 (93%)

I think my Quant score was largely in the ballpark - that's roughly what the GMAT Focus diagnostic had predicted (new Quant software from the official monopolists!!), and 49 was the highest I had ever socred on a practice test anyway (although, therefore, I would have been happier with a 49 !)

Verbal was bit of a let down given that I had been scoring higher (at least 42 in practice tests, went up to 47 as well).

Needles to say, 710 is not a brilliant score, but I personally don't think it's that bad either.

It's only been a few hours since I finished the test, so haven't entirely made up my mind yet: should I retake the test? I don't think I'll do significantly better in Quant (maybe a point more at the most I think), but Verbal, chances are I can. This means I can get my score to c. 740 - 750 with a better performance in Verbal.

Apart from the given increase in the overall score, and the overall percentile, will a skew in my potential re-take individual scores (potential c. 95% in Verbal and 85%-ish in Quant) make the score look worse than it is now (when the scores are more balanced?)

Any thoughts would be helpful.

Cheers

P.S. Obviously, there's always a chance I get a lower score if I re-take. Hence, the conundrum Smile