GMAT Strategy

Took the test today and bombed, in my opinion. The computers were down for more than 4 hours so i had to wait i couldn't nap because i was wired on caffeine in prep for the exam. I got to the center at around 7:30am and took the test at noon, tired, cranky, crashing hard from caffeine i drank to take the test at my scheduled time. i blew the quant out the water but found myself in brief moments of deep sleep a few times throughout the verbal

ended up getting only a 650... (50Q and i think 32V... i threw the score report away because i was pissed)
I consistently score 50 or 51 on Q thnx to mastergmat's prep course btw.

Im not shooting for a top tier B-school because I want to stay near home and my GPA is only 3.2 from undergrad, but feel as if I should retake in a month and hope that conditions won't be so horrendous the second time around.

I scored 740 and 780 on the 2 gmatpreps respectively first try each after a run through with mastergmat and some review in manhattans books, so I'm sure you can understand my disappointment.

any suggestions on whether a retake is even worth it?

People say 650 is a solid and competitive score even in some of top schools and that i should focus more on other things now if I'm not shooting for ivy league, but I don't understand how 650 is good.

If you feel like you could very likely get a 730+ the next time you take it, then I would suggest taking it again. I've heard of people doing a lot better the second time around, so I would definitely consider it.

Hey kwak,

Given what you wrote I think you owe it to yourself to take it again. That's a rough, rough day with a lot of circumstances that were out of your control and that contributed to your performance. It's pretty evident in your breakdown, too - after being at the test center for a healthy 6+ hours fatigue got you on the verbal. I just don't see that happening again if you get to take the test within an hour of arriving!

Depending on what you want to do - if 650 is a good enough score for some of your programs, 750 would probably get you some scholarship money. And if 650 is "competitive", 700+ is probably quite a bit more competitive. You seem poised for a big leap from 650 to the 700s, and while 650 is certainly a good score (you're more than a standard deviation above average there) when you're clearly capable of so much more it seems, to me at least, foolish to leave those points on the table. Whether the extra 70-100 points or whatever it looks like you may be able to grab - just based on better circumstances!! - help you to get into a better program, net some scholarship money, or put a huge score on your resume (or hold in your back pocket for the true MBA-style consulting/banking style jobs that you may apply for), I'd say it's worth it.

You may also want to contact GMAC Customer Service (via www.mba.com) to see if you can file an incident report for the computer trouble. There's at least a chance that they'll let you retake the test for free given those testing conditions, so if you're on the fence about retaking you might as well see if there's a chance you get to do it with absolutely no penalty (other than another 5 hours or so of your life).

I'd retake for sure. Like Brian said, I think it might be possible to get a free retake under the circumstances because the test center should be held responsible. Not sure about the policy on this but I'd definitely check and see what your options are. At the very least I'd shoot them an email and explain the situation and see what they say. I would be upset too if the same thing happen to me