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Shotgunned GMAT this morning - 700, retake?

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Shotgunned GMAT this morning - 700, retake?

by ShiftyPig » Sat Sep 19, 2009 10:45 am
The thread title is a self explanatory - 700, 42Q(62%), 44V(97%)

I am currently a first year law student (a story for a different day), so I didn't have the time (or thought I didn't have the time) to prep beyond taking the two official GMAT prep tests (710 44Q 42V First, 760 50Q 42V Second). I haven't had algebra or geometry since eighth grade (I'm 26 now), so I'm thinking that I should have put a little effort into it instead of hoping for a luck of the draw on math problems. I felt during the exam as if I completely punted on the math section and legitimately thought going in that 700 was my floor.

I live in Florida, hope to work in Florida, and am aiming for UF. I realize this is enough to get in, but does retaking simply to get a scholarship/grant make sense in this situation? The last published average for UF was 670, but they now claim it is 687.

Edit to add: having taken it once and having listed UF as a school to which I wanted my scores sent... if I retake, can I leave the school-selection area at the start blank and then choose after the fact to send my score for $28? Or will they receive it no matter what in the event of a retake?
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by zuleron » Sat Sep 19, 2009 12:59 pm
When do you plan to apply to UF? Are you thinking of a JD/MBA? The reason I ask is I am a lawyer and am wondering why on earth you'd be doing GMAT as a 1L... aren't they giving you enough work?

But congrats on your score!
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by ShiftyPig » Mon Sep 21, 2009 3:43 pm
Within the next few weeks. I'm torn between JD/MBA and switching entirely. I never really wanted to practice law, but my parents convinced me that a law degree is useful to cross over to business. That's true to a degree, but by no means is it a free ticket in the door because you have to prove . In other words, I'm finding that a law degree isn't nearly as flexible as people on the outside would believe.

I love business and finance and marketing, so it seems natural to pursue a decent MBA. It seems a little silly to pay an extra $30K (plus $4-5K for a bar exam/prep) for a JD tag on my resume that I really don't care about using.

And regarding time.... I'm only four weeks in - it's just reading cases and not looking like a fool in class. But I ordered MGMAT math books and I'm going to kill the GMAT in early November with the goal of going for free here or getting into a big-time program. It's where my heart is. I was just torn up on Saturday because I know I punted on the math section and should have rung up a 740+
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by zuleron » Tue Sep 22, 2009 5:16 am
I agree. I wouldn't say that a law degree is too useful to cross over into business (except consulting) coz bankers have this notion that lawyers can't count i.e do math (which is why they went to law school instead of business school... to some degree this is true). In fact I would say the opposite: that an MBA has alot more weight in the legal world than a JD has in the business world.

BUT if you can get a JD/MBA you give yourself a lot more options career-wise and employer-wise in industry, academia or government. 5 years out of law school, I wish I had done the JD/MBA. What I can tell you about law school is that after 1L, you can just gorge yourself on business law classes and law school won't seem so bad. In fact, you'll prolly get a different perspective on finance and business.

Another thing I can tell you without equivocation is that if you can get a free ride... if someone is paying you to go to their school, don't stop them. Coz you don't want to have thousands of dollars in student loan debt when the economy tanks again... and we know it will at some time in the not too distant future.

Finally, if you got a 42 in quant without much work, with 2 months of work with MGMAT quant books, you can get a 48. I know coz I am now scoring 47/48 in quant using MGMAT when I scored a 41 the first time around.

Good Luck!
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by ShiftyPig » Tue Sep 22, 2009 9:34 pm
I'm not too worried about the Quant score - on the two practices I did, I scored 44 and 50. During the real deal I felt like I was absolutely bombing it. I think I just need a refresh instead of banking on questions that fall within the 50% of algebra I remember.

Thanks for the advice... it's hard getting any useful advice out of people at the law school. It seems insular in that people think I'm stupid for even considering to do something other than law.

You hit on a point that I seem to be chasing in circles in my head: an MBA seems useful when the JD is dominant degree, but exactly how useful is the JD when the MBA is the dominant degree, i.e., getting a business-ish job that doesn't require bar admission. How does an employer look at a JD/MBA if I don't take the bar exam?
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