I just Beat The GMAT!

Well, I just took the GMAT yesterday and I suppose my score is somewhat atypical from most people on this board. Overall I received a 730, but the breakdown was V48/99%, Q43/67%. I know I probably shouldn't be upset because the overall score is good, but I scored higher in the math section of each practice test I took before (Q45-47). I don't know what went wrong in the actual test, but I just wasn't able to put it all together this time. I took the second GMATPrep Test the day before the actual GMAT and scored 750 (Q47/V47), which would have been perfect for the real thing... too bad it didn't work out that way.

I'm considering applying to some of the top schools in the US and in Europe, and I'm wondering if any of them may look at my Q43 and think I might not be able to handle the quantitative courses in their program.

Do you guys think I should re-take the GMAT in the hope that I'll be able to improve to a Q45+? Do you think it will actually matter? Or do you think that the fact that I went to a pretty quantitative school (Carnegie Mellon) and had mostly A's in my math & statistics classes would compensate for the low Q-score on the GMAT?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Well, first of all congratulations for such a great score. I may not be the correct person to answer your concern about quant score However,I feel that Q43 may draw some kind of suspicion among the adcom members. If you have taken some Quant courses or your major is Quant related background(say engineering etc) then I believe you can make up for your low Q-score.

Apart from that, I would really be interested to know your strategies for Verbal. You really have a amazing Verbal score and I will glad if you can share your study strategy/books etc with us.

Karan,

Thanks for your response. It seems I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. I'm sure I could improve my Q-score if I were to re-take the test. Not only would I have another month to study for it, but I also scored better in each of the practice tests I took. On the other hand, I'm afraid Adcoms may think I'm crazy for re-taking the test after getting a 730 and wasting time and money that could better be spent on other parts of the application.

Funny that you would ask how I prepared for the verbal section... I didn't. I grew up in Germany and learned English in school there. My English teachers there always placed a strong emphasis on grammar and spelling, so the verbal section has always come naturally to me. Plus I've been living in the US for almost 10 years now, and I'm sure that also helped.

I knew I would have trouble with the math section. I don't particularly like math. I'm good calculating things in my head, and I have a good "feel" for numbers, so I do fine with everyday math in my job (real estate finance) and in life in general. I just don't speak algebra, and I have trouble seeing which specific math rules I need to apply to solve a given problem. I know most of them, and I can solve just about every problem if somebody gives me a nudge in the right direction - I just have trouble finding the right path by myself sometimes.

Knowing my issues with this type of math, I focused extensively on studying for the math section. I would say I spent a good 95% or more of my study time on math. I prepared about a month, maybe 2-3 nights a week for about 2-3 hours each. I know that's probably less than most people on this board, but I work long hours and cherish the little bit of time off I have, which I'd rather devote to family, friends, and hobbies than to re-learning high school math.

The materials I used were the Princeton Review guide and OG12. I went through most of the PR guide and did probably 75% of the math problems in the OG12.

I took 3 Princeton Review online tests and 2 GMATPrep Tests. The scores were as follows:

1. PR1 - 660 (week 1, baseline w/o studying)
2. PR2 - 680 (week 2)
3. PR3 - 690 (week 3)
--- took a 2-week break and studied a bit harder ---
4. GMATPrep1 - 730 (Q45/V46 - I think)
5. GMATPrep2 - 750 (Q47/V47)

I don't remember the Q/V splits on the PR tests. I took both GMATPrep tests the weekend before the actual test, which I took on a Monday. Took #1 on Saturday, then #2 on Sunday.

After the two GMATPrep tests, I was fairly confident I would at least score a Q45, and I knew I was not going to score below a V45 regardless of how stressed out or nervous I would be. Hence, I figured a 720 would be a realistic and positive result.

When I ended up seeing my 730, I didn't know how to feel about it. 730 is a great score, but I wish it had been more balanced... I would even have taken a balanced 720 (Q45/V45) over the 730 I received! I just think I caught a bad day for math, or maybe just a bad combination of math problems compared to the practice tests.

Not sure what to do now. I think my undergraduate transcript shows that I can handle quantitative courses. Carnegie Mellon is a pretty quantitative school, and I had mostly A's in the quantitative courses I took there (Calculus, Multivariate Analysis, Regression Analysis, etc). Did I like those courses? Not particularly. Was I able to handle them? Absolutely.

Do you really think it would be worth it to re-take the GMAT just to get a Q45 or higher? Or is the risk too high that it would raise a red flag since it seems almost insane to re-take the test after you've already scored in the 96% percentile overall...?

Thanks in advance!

wow this is definitely a tough situation.

I had a conversation with a few different admissions directors several weeks ago (the schools were Cornell, Duke, and UCLA) and one of my students brought up a similar question - she scored under 80% on the GMAT and was wondering whether she should take the test again.

All schools shared the general consensus that if you showed a solid background in quant, either through your occupation (ie engineer, finance) or possessed solid math grades in college, they would not count this against you. However, you may want to mention this justification in your essay when applying.

On that note, Cornell specifically mentioned that a low quant score wouldn't raise any flags unless the percentile was 67% or less.

But since you are right at that 67% border, this makes the situation very tricky. While I think most likely you are ok, you can always better position your application by taking some additional statistical courses at a community college to demonstrate quantitative proficiency.

dude I'll take your score!!

Forget about the percentile. Your score rocks. If your application tells a compelling story I doubt that a 43 on Quant will count against you.

I'd go with GMATBootcamp. If you are a nuclear physicist with Nasa, then even a 29 in quant prolly would not matter. So 43Q may or may not be acceptable depending on your quant background. If it is like mine i.e. zero, nada, zip... then 43 is not going to cut for a top school. If you are worried about adcoms wondering why you'd retake with a 730... tell them the truth -- your quant was not strong enough. But I'm sure they'll figure it out for themselves.

Good Luck!

I'm in much the same position as you. I took the GMAT this morning and while I was very pleased with my score (710) I am concerned about my breakdown, though it was not at all surprising (46V, 41Q).

I trade merger arbitrage, I am a level II CFA candidate (pass all level I sections over 70%, for those familiar), but I just don't have a good feel for the math the GMAT requires...ESPECIALLY in the time constraints. I probably blind guessed the last 4-5 questions.

Does my occupation and CFA candidacy nullify my poor quant? Afterall, the CFA curriculum is much more parallel to MBA curriculum than is the GMAT quant.

My humble opinion is that either with a 730 or a 710 you are OK. I agree with GMATBootcamp that explaining the situation in the extra essay is the correct approach.
However,if you feel confident enough, you can always retake.

It is a very tough situation,I believe i woudn't retake though.

by the way, congrats on the scores!!