To Retake, or not to retake? that is the question...

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littlearistotle: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 2; Joined: Sun Jul 10, 2011 7:33 am; Thanked: 1 times

by littlearistotle » Sun Jul 10, 2011 7:43 am

Hi,

I sat for the GMAT yesterday and received a 700. I was somewhat disappointed with my quant score. I received on verbal a 44 (97th percentile) and on quant a 42 (59th percentile). I had been receiving on average a 730 on the practice exams with a 44 on verbal and a 46-47 on quant. Should I retake it if my target schools are Harvard, Wharton, Columbia, Chicago, Stanford and the likes? Specifically, I would like to attend Wharton.

A little bit about my profile. I graduated from Southern Methodist University in Texas with a 3.85. I received two degrees. One in Finance and one in Economics(where my concentration was econometrics). I also received several distinctions along the way and participated in several honors programs. I just graduated and will be working at a strong energy investment bank for 2-3 years before I apply. Im especially disappointed on the quant section when considering most of my undergraduate studies were not high level mathematics, but still quant in nature.

Thanks for all your advice.

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money9111: Legendary Member; Posts: 2109; Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:25 pmFollowed by: 79 members; Location: New Jersey; Thanked: 109 times; GMAT Score:640

by money9111 » Mon Jul 11, 2011 7:26 am

honestly, if you were scoring 730's on your practice exams... and you believe you can score higher on quant without jeopardizing the quality of your application then sure go ahead and retake it. much of the first exam is just learning how to take the real thing.

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apphelp: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 262; Joined: Fri Oct 31, 2008 10:37 amFollowed by: 10 members; Location: India; Thanked: 31 times

by apphelp » Mon Jul 11, 2011 10:29 am

littlearistotle wrote:Hi,

I sat for the GMAT yesterday and received a 700. I was somewhat disappointed with my quant score. I received on verbal a 44 (97th percentile) and on quant a 42 (59th percentile). I had been receiving on average a 730 on the practice exams with a 44 on verbal and a 46-47 on quant. Should I retake it if my target schools are Harvard, Wharton, Columbia, Chicago, Stanford and the likes? Specifically, I would like to attend Wharton.

A little bit about my profile. I graduated from Southern Methodist University in Texas with a 3.85. I received two degrees. One in Finance and one in Economics(where my concentration was econometrics). I also received several distinctions along the way and participated in several honors programs. I just graduated and will be working at a strong energy investment bank for 2-3 years before I apply. Im especially disappointed on the quant section when considering most of my undergraduate studies were not high level mathematics, but still quant in nature.

Thanks for all your advice.

I second money911. If you feel that it was a bad day and you can get a 730+ or next attempt go for it. You still have 3 months for round 1 deadline of most schools.

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bln123: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 59; Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2009 6:39 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 4 times

by bln123 » Tue Jul 12, 2011 4:14 am

Ask yourself what the up- and downside is...

(potential) upside:
-increase score by 20-30 points meaning you are not 10 points or so below but above average...makes no difference to the school

downside:
-loosing time for other important tasks in your application process, like visiting school, writing essays, pre-writing recommendations...

I would definently not retake!

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Ttronn: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 41; Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2010 3:27 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 6 times; GMAT Score:760

by Ttronn » Wed Jul 13, 2011 6:15 pm

Top programs typically do not like big splits, especiially when the Q side is the lower of the two. I would definately retake. Now if the score was a 740 and the split was 99%V 78%Q I'd say you were fine but a 59% in Quant is something you can clearly improve on and is definately a red flag for admissions. Re-write and improve. Best of luck

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