I am typically an excellent standardized test taker, and did the Manhattan prep course for a few months and self-studied on my own for a few weeks after the course. My recent scores on the Manhattan CATs were ~700, and I got 730 on one of them about a month ago. I got a 750 on the Veritas practice CAT a few weeks ago. Given that, and the fact that most sources I have consulted have said that the Manhattan CATs quant questions are considerably harder than the real GMATs, I feel that I realistically should be around a 730 on the real thing.
When i took it, I had serious jitters from overdoing it on the stimulants, and did not do my best (allocated time poorly, leaving only 6 min for the final 8 quant questions, and may have clicked the wrong choice for one of the quant questions). Got a 710 (45Q/66th percentile, 42V/96th percentile).
Do you think I should retake? I think I will have less anxiety the 2nd time around, and feel that I am capable of getting 730+. So I have two questions:
1. Does taking it twice dilute, in any way, your submitted score in the eyes of MBA admissions (if I retook it and got another 710, would that look materially worse to admissions than if I had taken it just once and got a 710)?
2. I've heard most admissions offices bucket your score, i.e. I'm in the 700-740 bucket, and the only way that improving my score on a retake would help me considerably is if I reached 750, so if I went from 710 --> 730, it wouldn't make much of a difference. Is this true?
I'd greatly appreciate any input, thanks!
When i took it, I had serious jitters from overdoing it on the stimulants, and did not do my best (allocated time poorly, leaving only 6 min for the final 8 quant questions, and may have clicked the wrong choice for one of the quant questions). Got a 710 (45Q/66th percentile, 42V/96th percentile).
Do you think I should retake? I think I will have less anxiety the 2nd time around, and feel that I am capable of getting 730+. So I have two questions:
1. Does taking it twice dilute, in any way, your submitted score in the eyes of MBA admissions (if I retook it and got another 710, would that look materially worse to admissions than if I had taken it just once and got a 710)?
2. I've heard most admissions offices bucket your score, i.e. I'm in the 700-740 bucket, and the only way that improving my score on a retake would help me considerably is if I reached 750, so if I went from 710 --> 730, it wouldn't make much of a difference. Is this true?
I'd greatly appreciate any input, thanks!













