I just Beat The GMAT!

Hi All,

I gave GMAT (2nd time) this Saturday and got 650. My 1st attempt was 650 and surprisingly in both these attempts I ended up with not only the same score but with same split between maths and verbal.

I got a question from practice material and one from OG in verbal section. I was much better prepared this time and scored 710 and 720 in practice tests as well.

Can it be a software glitch? Any suggestion on what colleges I should focus on with this score. (I have around 6.5 yrs of experience in IT with 3.5yrs of international experience.

Thanks for your time

Hey prat_agl! Congrats on trying again - and even though it may not feel like a win, congrats on getting the 650 again! This is a really hard test and that's a decent score overall. We've seen people with a 650 get into good schools.

We don't have enough info to really say, but from what you've described, it seems like the systems were operating normally. We're doubtful that this is a software glitch. You could ask your question in the Ask the GMAT Test Maker forum if you wanted their input: https://www.beatthegmat.com/ask-the-test-maker-f71.html

Obviously this score is lower than would be considered "safe" for the very best schools, but still, it depends on the entirety of your profile. We don't have nearly enough information to give much advice beyond that. The overseas experience can help a lot at many of the schools, but partly that depends on where you've been. If you're Indian and your 3.5 years have been in the U.S., that's a very common profile and it won't help a whole lot. If your travels have taken you to more unusual places, it could be a different story. It all depends on the pitch.

If you were getting > 700 in practice tests then it *might* be worth trying to test again, but maybe not. A 660 score doesn't do that much more for you than the 650 would do, so it totally rests on how confident you are that you can boost up more significantly. Most people do worse on test day than they do on practice exams, so it's up to you whether you think it's worth going at it once more. There would be no harm to your profile to try for a 3rd time.

In terms of "which schools?" we can't really say. It depends on many more factors than just the GMAT, and it would be professionally irresponsible for us to toss out a bunch of names without knowing a lot more. [Shameless self-promotion: we have a great service to help with this stuff called the Comprehensive Profile Review https://essaysnark.com/tutorial/comprehe ... le-review/ ]

The one comment we can offer is that you're heading to the "older" part of the range and many American schools prefer younger students. Depending on your goals and priorities in life, one of the European programs might be a better choice. If your ex-pat experience has been in a European country with a good bschool then that would be one to look at.

Good luck with the whole process and let us know if we can help.

EssaySnark