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jgoldfischer
- Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sun Jul 11, 2010 1:57 pm
Before I say anything, I want to thank everyone in the BTG community. This is my first time posting, but I've been reading this site since the time when it was just Eric's personal blog. I've thought about business school and the GMAT for years. Reading everyone's amazing stories about their GMAT successes and journeys to business school inspired me to finally buckle down and study for the GMAT for a solid two and a half months. So, thank you for your inspiration and encouragement over the years!
I took the GMAT the other day and scored exactly a 700 (Q47/V38) - 76th percentile in math, 83rd percentile in verbal, 90th percentile overall. I want to say that I know this is a good score. My goal all along was a 700+, so I'm happy to have gotten the elusive "7" in my score. However, I didn't have time to even guess on the final math question. I know there's some kind of penalty for not finishing a section, so I'm left wondering what my score would have been if I just could have had two more seconds to randomly guess on that last question. Could it have been a 710 or 720 without whatever penalty occurred? Again, I'm happy with the 700, but I don't like the "what if" feeling lingering afterwards. If I had been able to finish and still got a 700, I'd feel happier about my score.
Some background: I studied for a little less than three months, since the beginning of November. I used Kaplan GMAT Premiere, Kaplan GMAT 800, and of course the entire OG. Along the way, I took four full length practice tests from a Kaplan CD, and we all know Kaplan CAT scores are completely out of whack and not indicative of anything. When it came time for me to take the official GMAT Prep tests towards the end of my studying, I scored a 720 (Q48/V41) and a 700 (Q50/V35). Obviously, I was very encouraged by those results, and I knew I was capable of achieving my goal of 700+ on the real thing.
With all that said, I'm left feeling that I could have had a 710 or 720 if I had just had an extra two seconds to randomly guess, given the situation I laid out above. I'm completely resigned to the fact that something around a 720 is probably my ceiling, given my scores on GMAT Prep and then the actual GMAT. Therefore, I don't think re-taking it would be worth it, even if I'd get a 720, which is not exactly a guarantee in the first place by any means. Is re-taking the test really worth it to go from 700 to 720 and also possibly get the desirable 80/80 split that I just missed? I'd obviously prefer not to re-take the test since it's such a mentally draining process, and I think my time would be better spent thoroughly researching schools and visiting them as well.
In terms of actual schools, I want to target Columbia (my #1 choice), NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Cornell Johnson, Yale, and UVA Darden, in some order. So, I'm not exactly aiming for Harvard/Wharton/Stanford here. Knowing that, I'd really like to know what you think my chances of getting into my target schools are. I'm a 27 year old white male with a 3.4 GPA from one of the country's top non-Ivy League universities in the Boston area and have been working in a strategy and analytics role in the digital marketing industry in New York for 5 years (while moving up nicely along the way). I would like to pursue a career in strategy/management consulting in New York after getting an MBA. Hopefully that gives more context to my overall profile as a candidate, as it stands now.
All things considered, what's your best advice regarding re-taking the test and also my chances of getting into the target schools I listed above? Also, should I consider other schools as well (Tuck? Booth? Sloan? Fuqua?), given my background and career interests? I'm trying to gauge where I stand in the grand scheme of things and hoping to put myself in the best position possible.
If you've read this post completely to the end, I commend you. Thank you again, and I really appreciate your feedback!
I took the GMAT the other day and scored exactly a 700 (Q47/V38) - 76th percentile in math, 83rd percentile in verbal, 90th percentile overall. I want to say that I know this is a good score. My goal all along was a 700+, so I'm happy to have gotten the elusive "7" in my score. However, I didn't have time to even guess on the final math question. I know there's some kind of penalty for not finishing a section, so I'm left wondering what my score would have been if I just could have had two more seconds to randomly guess on that last question. Could it have been a 710 or 720 without whatever penalty occurred? Again, I'm happy with the 700, but I don't like the "what if" feeling lingering afterwards. If I had been able to finish and still got a 700, I'd feel happier about my score.
Some background: I studied for a little less than three months, since the beginning of November. I used Kaplan GMAT Premiere, Kaplan GMAT 800, and of course the entire OG. Along the way, I took four full length practice tests from a Kaplan CD, and we all know Kaplan CAT scores are completely out of whack and not indicative of anything. When it came time for me to take the official GMAT Prep tests towards the end of my studying, I scored a 720 (Q48/V41) and a 700 (Q50/V35). Obviously, I was very encouraged by those results, and I knew I was capable of achieving my goal of 700+ on the real thing.
With all that said, I'm left feeling that I could have had a 710 or 720 if I had just had an extra two seconds to randomly guess, given the situation I laid out above. I'm completely resigned to the fact that something around a 720 is probably my ceiling, given my scores on GMAT Prep and then the actual GMAT. Therefore, I don't think re-taking it would be worth it, even if I'd get a 720, which is not exactly a guarantee in the first place by any means. Is re-taking the test really worth it to go from 700 to 720 and also possibly get the desirable 80/80 split that I just missed? I'd obviously prefer not to re-take the test since it's such a mentally draining process, and I think my time would be better spent thoroughly researching schools and visiting them as well.
In terms of actual schools, I want to target Columbia (my #1 choice), NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Cornell Johnson, Yale, and UVA Darden, in some order. So, I'm not exactly aiming for Harvard/Wharton/Stanford here. Knowing that, I'd really like to know what you think my chances of getting into my target schools are. I'm a 27 year old white male with a 3.4 GPA from one of the country's top non-Ivy League universities in the Boston area and have been working in a strategy and analytics role in the digital marketing industry in New York for 5 years (while moving up nicely along the way). I would like to pursue a career in strategy/management consulting in New York after getting an MBA. Hopefully that gives more context to my overall profile as a candidate, as it stands now.
All things considered, what's your best advice regarding re-taking the test and also my chances of getting into the target schools I listed above? Also, should I consider other schools as well (Tuck? Booth? Sloan? Fuqua?), given my background and career interests? I'm trying to gauge where I stand in the grand scheme of things and hoping to put myself in the best position possible.
If you've read this post completely to the end, I commend you. Thank you again, and I really appreciate your feedback!
