Hey everybody,
Been lurking on this forum for a while now. I am considering reinstating my 700 gmat score that I canceled at the test center on test day (Oct 2014). I canceled my test score because it was my 2nd 700 score this year. I had already gotten a 700 in January of this year (2014) with a higher quant score (Q46,V41). My second 700, however, had only a quant score of 44, which was only 50th or 60th-ish percentile (don't remember exactly) and a higher verbal (i think it was 43?).
My main concern in reinstating the 2nd 700 is because of the low quant score. Since I plan to take the gmat again next year (hopefully with much better results), I have not reinstated the score but am considering doing so because I now think a canceled second score might look worse to adcom (he/she might think you got a terrible score).
I am very concerned by the low quant because my first gmat, that I took 4 years ago, also had a terrible quant score (620,Q39,V39,or something like that). Although, I have a quantitative-ish background (IB analyst at two Investment Banks/M&A boutiques) I believe that the quant score (and gmat score overall) will be very important in my application due to my low undergrad GPA (2.7). I have a bachelors in business from a okay mid-western state school and an masters in econ from a leading Chinese university. I am looking for any input on whether or not I should reinstate my 2nd 700 score. Basically, I am wondering if it is worse in an adcom's eyes to have a canceled 2nd score (technically 3rd) or a score with a lower (44) quant.
Any input would be helpful. I would like to thank everyone upfront for taking the time to comment/input.
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Canceled my 700, should I reinstate?
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Hi gkhan23,
Since you already have a 700/Q46 on file, there's really no harm in either option. You really have to give Business School Admissions Officers some credit - they're not going to throw out your application for having another 700 on your file and they're not going to throw out your application for having a cancelled score either. They're going to look at your OVERALL application and compare it to the overall applications of everyone else who applies. If there's any question about whether you're a strong applicant or not, then they'll likely ask for an interview.
I think that the bigger question is why you chose to retest - a 700/Q46 is a fantastic score (it's right around the 90th percentile overall). What schools are you planning to apply to? Certain types of Finance-focused programs would probably "want" you to have a higher score in the Quant section, but other than that specific situation, you have a GMAT score that most Test Takers will never earn in their lifetimes, so a retest is probably unneccessary. Before you Test again, you might consider talking to an Admissions Expert (there's a Forum full of them on this site) about your overall profile and application plans.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Since you already have a 700/Q46 on file, there's really no harm in either option. You really have to give Business School Admissions Officers some credit - they're not going to throw out your application for having another 700 on your file and they're not going to throw out your application for having a cancelled score either. They're going to look at your OVERALL application and compare it to the overall applications of everyone else who applies. If there's any question about whether you're a strong applicant or not, then they'll likely ask for an interview.
I think that the bigger question is why you chose to retest - a 700/Q46 is a fantastic score (it's right around the 90th percentile overall). What schools are you planning to apply to? Certain types of Finance-focused programs would probably "want" you to have a higher score in the Quant section, but other than that specific situation, you have a GMAT score that most Test Takers will never earn in their lifetimes, so a retest is probably unneccessary. Before you Test again, you might consider talking to an Admissions Expert (there's a Forum full of them on this site) about your overall profile and application plans.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Thanks for the reply Rich. My concern is my low undergrad GPA and because of my focus on finance-focused programs, which, like you said, would probably "want" me to have a higher Quant score. Due to my longer term goals, I do not "need" to go to H/S/W and would be shooting for (applying to) other finance-focused programs like Columbia/Cornell etc.
Thanks again for your input Rich, it helped alot.
Daniel
Thanks again for your input Rich, it helped alot.
Daniel
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Hi gkhan23,
If we're talking about more of an "extreme" situation, in which a school tells you that you have to score higher in the Quant, then there is a solution to that situation, but you're not going to "like" it. Your Quant Scaled Scores on your 2 GMATs (Q46 and Q44) are a direct result of "your way" of doing things - you're probably a really strong "math thinker", but those scores are about as high as a math thinker can get. To score in the Q49+ range, you have to also be a tactical thinker (and that means you have to change the way that you "see" the Quant section). During that next round of studies, you'd need to emphasize tactical approaches (TESTing VALUES, TESTing THE ANSWERS, Number Properties, etc.) so that you can build up those skills (and by extension, pick up those missing points). All of this is likely a moot point, since I don't think that any program would tell you that your scores were too low, but having this information is better than not having it.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
If we're talking about more of an "extreme" situation, in which a school tells you that you have to score higher in the Quant, then there is a solution to that situation, but you're not going to "like" it. Your Quant Scaled Scores on your 2 GMATs (Q46 and Q44) are a direct result of "your way" of doing things - you're probably a really strong "math thinker", but those scores are about as high as a math thinker can get. To score in the Q49+ range, you have to also be a tactical thinker (and that means you have to change the way that you "see" the Quant section). During that next round of studies, you'd need to emphasize tactical approaches (TESTing VALUES, TESTing THE ANSWERS, Number Properties, etc.) so that you can build up those skills (and by extension, pick up those missing points). All of this is likely a moot point, since I don't think that any program would tell you that your scores were too low, but having this information is better than not having it.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
