If you're going to take it again, take it now. GMAT scores are good for five years, so there shouldn't be a "preference" for more recent scores if they're valid.

The IR section is an odd thing to judge as schools aren't sure what to make of it yet. If you retake don't just study the IR part, 710 is a good score, but who knows, maybe you'll get anotherer 10-20 points higher, which certainly can't hurt.

I took the GMAT in 2011 and my 2012 was a lot less stressful because I entered the application season knowing that piece was done. If you have the time, check that GMAT box off so you can dedicate the remainder of your time towards school research and applications next year.

Thanks a lot for the reply...But a few more queries
I am sure that I can do better if I retake the gmat... But I also heard that schools generally do not like it if somebody takes the gmat again after an already "good (700+)" score as it is viewed as a "bad judgement "..
And will the IR section be viewed important from next year itself or will it take 3 to 4 years to become important for admissions ?? Any views on that...

Thanks in advance....

hellother wrote:But I also heard that schools generally do not like it if somebody takes the gmat again after an already "good (700+)" score as it is viewed as a "bad judgement "..

Personally, I think that's nonsense. There's nothing wrong with taking the GMAT twice, especially if you know you left points on the table. Taking it 3-4 after already achieving a 700+ score might raise that question, but I would say it's reasonalbe to retake it with a 710. I think if you hit the 730/740 range and take it again, you're wasting your time.

I also think it'll take the IR section a few more years to be relevant, but no one can say. If you're overly concerned about it, the answer is simple: prepare, take the GMAT again and put it to rest by getting a good overall and IR Score.

Best of luck! You're way ahead of most people in terms of preparing to apply.

Yep... no way to be sure about the IR. If you have time; take it again.

Hi hellother,

What were your mock test IR scores?
And if you could share your GMAT day IR section experience (timing/difficulty etc), it will be great.

Thanks

Hi,

Thanks all for the response..
I used to get about 4/8 on MANHATTAN practice tests.. But the IR in the MANHATTAN tests are tougher than that in the actual GMAT. So I thought that I would be able to score atleast a 6... I got a 6 on the GMAT prep software..

But I had not practiced much for the IR , because I thought that a person good at Quants and Verbal sections would be good at IR .. But it is not necessary to be that way... This is because the IR section has questions in which "minor details(sometimes the most important ones)" are hidden and we might not apply those details while solving the questions.. Trickier than verbal questions...

Also not much of practice material is available for IR since the section is new.. Only a few strategies are given in books. But it is difficult to apply strategies in the exam if one has not practiced those strategies before. So I did struggle with timing ...

Two part analysis and multi source reasoning questions are the ones that really require preparation . The other two question types are relatively easy...

All the best..