720 GMAT, worth retaking?

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720 GMAT, worth retaking?

by jc2586 » Mon May 14, 2018 8:38 am
Hi all,

I plan to apply to business school and scored a 720 on my gmat. I plan on applying to the top ten schools.

Any thoughts on whether it's worth retaking? For context, on practice tests - I've been scoring in the 730-750 range. My verbal score was lower than expected. My official score came out to Q49V40. Realistically, I think I can easily retake and get a V42/43 but unsure if my math can stay as high.

Any thoughts on whether it's worth taking it again for a shot at 730-750 or 720 is good enough for the top 10 schools. (Also understood that the Gmat score is just one facet of the application)

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by [email protected] » Tue May 15, 2018 1:13 pm
Hi jc2586,

To start, a 720/Q49 is an outstanding score (it's above the 90th percentile overall), so you can comfortably apply to ANY Business Schools that interest you. By extension, a retest is almost certainly NOT necessary. Since you're planning to apply to some highly-competitive Schools, you have to make sure that you have a strong OVERALL application and that you properly 'market yourself' to each individual School that you apply to. As such, you might want to consider working with an Admissions Expert on your applications. There's a forum full of those Experts here:

https://www.beatthegmat.com/ask-an-mba- ... t-f40.html

Rich
Contact Rich at [email protected]
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by ceilidh.erickson » Mon May 21, 2018 6:10 am
jc2586 wrote:Hi all,

I plan to apply to business school and scored a 720 on my gmat. I plan on applying to the top ten schools.

Any thoughts on whether it's worth retaking? For context, on practice tests - I've been scoring in the 730-750 range. My verbal score was lower than expected. My official score came out to Q49V40. Realistically, I think I can easily retake and get a V42/43 but unsure if my math can stay as high.

Any thoughts on whether it's worth taking it again for a shot at 730-750 or 720 is good enough for the top 10 schools. (Also understood that the Gmat score is just one facet of the application)
It depends on the rest of your application. A 720 is certainly high enough to show that you have the cognitive capabilities of handling any top-10 school. If the rest of your application is unique and impressive, then you're fine - a retake won't confer much additional benefit. But if your GPA or work history is middling, or if you think there are a lot of other applicants who will look like you (similar demographics, similar jobs), you might want to try for a higher score to stand out more.

If you got a 730 the next time with a higher verbal but lower quant, schools would still take into account the higher quant you had before. If the prospect of studying for another few weeks and spending another $250 isn't too painful, you might want to roll the dice again.

Book a free consultation with mbamission.com or another admissions consulting firm. They'll look at your resume and tell you whether you need the extra GMAT boost.
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education