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I got a 720, but it was a bad 720....should I retake?

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I got a 720, but it was a bad 720....should I retake?

by mj12g » Wed Sep 30, 2009 7:03 pm
Hi guys,

I'm new to this forum so thanks in advance for the responses. I took the GMAT this past Saturday and scored a 720. The breakdown, though, was 40Q/58% and 50V/99%. I knew that I'd be able to pull off a high verbal score, but I was very disappointed with the math. It had always been my sticking point throughout my studying (I took the Kaplan course), but I had improved quite a bit on my last few practice tests. A major problem I had with my practice tests was that I was all over the place. If you can believe it, my scores were (starting with the diagnostic): 630, 730, 650, 630, 690, 770, 670, and a 770 on the first GMATPrep test. I found the actual GMAT math to be pretty hard, but I screwed up on my pacing and had to guess a few at the end. I'm strongly considering taking it again, but I wanted to get a little perspective on this (I'm basically only looking at top 20 schools). I work in a very quantitative job (economic consulting) and all my coursework in college was very quant-heavy, so I'm not sure if maybe I can compensate for the low score without having to retake. Thanks guys.
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by gmat740 » Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:01 pm
I work in a very quantitative job (economic consulting) and all my coursework in college was very quant-heavy, so I'm not sure if maybe I can compensate for the low score without having to retake. Thanks guys.
This may relieve you a little after scoring Q40. If I were you I would apply with the same score(720). For Quant I will address my low Quant score and let the adcom know that I am comfortable in Quant-oriented environment.

By the way you have amazing verbal score.
Please throw some light on your Verbal Preparation
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by ogbeni » Thu Oct 01, 2009 4:02 am
Your 720 is a great score regardless of the Quant breakdown. If any adcoms committee rejects because of that then you probably don't want to be in such a school that has such a black/white approach to analysis. Your 50 in Verbal says a lot about your strenghths. If I were you I'd focus on my essays/applications and how to frame a compelling story.

Great score - Congratulations!!
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by zuleron » Thu Oct 01, 2009 5:18 am
There is a rule that if you get above 700 then you shouldn't retake but this is one situation where if I were you I would strongly consider retaking. Especially if you want to do Finance at a top school. If you are interested in marketing then you are prolly ok. Also, if your college grades in the quant subjects were strong and your recommenders can attest to your quant skills then you are prolly ok.


Still, I can't help but think that you are within striking distance of a 45/46 in quant and with a 50V you don't have to worry at all about verbal so you are within reach of a monster 770. It is not that hard to improve to the mid-40s in quant. You just have to pin point your weak areas and shore them up. And if you are like most people, then it is prolly number properties, equations, inequalities and VICs you need to focus on and Manhattan GMAT has fantastic books on those topics.

Think about it... a 50 in verbal is a horrible thing to waste :wink:
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by mj12g » Fri Oct 02, 2009 3:06 pm
Thanks guys...I think I am going to retake at some point, probably early November. I know that I can improve the quant, and if I can hold steady in verbal, then I should be able to raise it to at least a 750-760 (if I'm lucky). As for preparation, I really didn't do that much for the verbal. I was strong in the verbal from the get-go, so I guess I was just blessed with strong verbal skills, at least in the standardized test department. So I don't have any special study techniques on the verbal side
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by Beat-D-GMAT » Sat Oct 03, 2009 2:01 am
Hi MJ,

In my opinion you have good score in Q and ok score in V.
If you want to retake GMAT , target for improving your score in V and as you said that you are already good in verbal then it will be much easier to achieve v 40+ if put those efforts in verbal.

At same time you can also work out for quant but even in worst case scenario if you maintain your score in quant, still verbal will help you there.

In last GMAT score is only one of selection criteria and after that your sop and reco will be critical in selection or rejection.

So my emphasis will be on verbal rather then quant.

I hope this will help.
Good luck with your exam.
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