I just Beat The GMAT!

I've been scoring consistent Q 49-51 scaled scores on practice tests. I will have a masters in Physics at the time of B-school application. Somehow I got a 46Q (77%) on my first GMAT. My verbal was 45, yielding a 730 total. Should I retake and try to get my Q score up? Or will my physics masters demonstrate adequate quantitative abilities?

I *kind of* beat the GMAT(?).

jesus christmas....are you freaking kidding me? Unless you are planning to work for a test prep company, your score would not disadvantage you as you would be competitive at any top school, but then again you should know that.

Masters in Physics could expect more from the quant but overall your score is good enough for any school. Work on your application. You are done with GMAT.

daniyatom wrote:jesus christmas....are you freaking kidding me? Unless you are planning to work for a test prep company, your score would not disadvantage you as you would be competitive at any top school, but then again you should know that.

I realize that the cumulative score is good enough for any school. I'm just worried that someone will think it odd that a Physics MS only scored in the 77th percentile. I honestly don't know how that happened. But I think I'll just start focusing on application essays. Does anyone know when the fall 2010 application materials are posted on schools' websites?

I've been lurking this site for the past two months while preparing for the GMAT. Thanks to everyone, and good luck!

I'm really sorry to be a downer, but anyone that is questioning taking a retest after getting a 730 is just out of their mind. I guess a 97th percentile score isn't good enough. You just sound spoiled. The majority of this forum, I would say 99% of us, would be ecstatic with anything over a 700. Why even post that you're not happy with that high of a score? Sorry for going on about this, but get your priorities straight.

Good point.

gammacad wrote:I've been scoring consistent Q 49-51 scaled scores on practice tests. I will have a masters in Physics at the time of B-school application. Somehow I got a 46Q (77%) on my first GMAT. My verbal was 45, yielding a 730 total. Should I retake and try to get my Q score up? Or will my physics masters demonstrate adequate quantitative abilities?

I *kind of* beat the GMAT(?).

Go ahead and retake and do not forget to ask GMAC to transfer your score to my name!

Many thanks amigo,

I think you may be looking at this the wrong way. Another way to look at this is that your Ph.D. in physics gives you a little wiggle room to mess up the quant. If you going to split the exam one way, people would expect you to perform better on quant. You have a solid quant score, a great verbal score, a total that easily exeeds the average of every school, and a Ph.D in physics. If you show me those four facts, I'm going to think you are strong in quant and strong in verbal.

Congratulations and good luck!

I thought you guys would find it interesting that an admissions counselor of a top-5 program suggested that I ensure each of my scores is above the 80th%. When I raised the point that although my Q score was 77%, my total score was 730, they told me to take it again anyway.

I'll be retaking the GMAT in early June. My practice test scores have been higher than my original 730. Hopefully the added confidence of knowing I have a 730 under my belt will help me get a 49 or 50 on the Q.

Thanks for the input.

I can fully understand why you'd want to retake. People just have different ways of measuring success. Since you're a physics master, it's natural to want a higher quant score - you probably felt "betrayed" when you saw that 46.

I have heard about this 80/80 rule before - it's been discussed on the forum. However, your background is pretty quant-solid, so to speak. This means that maybe this particular admissions counselor believes that the rest of your application is not that sound. That may not be the case for other admissions experts.

Since I see you've already decided: the best of luck with your exam and be sure to keep up posted!

I would look at it this way. Since you have a masters in Physics and if you have taken a lot courses that involves maths and quantitative data analysis, then anyone who looks into your quant score would NOT think of it as a downer.. Instead they would think that you just had a bad day.

In fact when i looked at your score for the first time, i was impressed and when i read that you had a physics major what i thought was "Oh God on a good day this guy could've score in the 99th percentile". So dont worry about it and concentrate on your apps.

Most schools have an optional essay. You can explain your case in this essay.

So take it easy and buy your friends a drink!!!

Since you've already signed up for the test again, I suppose there's no harm in giving it a go. Ordinarily I'd tell you not to bother retaking a 700+ score, but you never know! You might've just had a bad day or a bad bunch of questions. Just keep working hard problems to get even more comfortable with the GMAT, which as you know, does not require any advanced math. I've had engineer students bomb the math, and students who hadn't taken math since high school get 49. So you never know!

But I also agree with the above - I think the physics background will overcome a "low" quant score, not the other way around.

Good luck!