I just Beat The GMAT!

Hey guys,

I need some advice. I just took the GMAT on Monday and was a little disappointed with my 730. My goal was at least a 740 and considering my nerves totally got to me in the verbal section when I was hit with some really atypical RC passages (4 long passages...) and critical reasoning questions, I scored much lower on verbal than I had scored in practice (range in verbal from 41-47).

My goal for b-school is probably like that of everyone else: top 10. By the time I apply, I'll have 2.5+ years of work experience at consulting firm and a 3.6 GPA in math/applied science at UCLA.

With these stats, should I retake the test to further enhance my application? I know that with familiarity of the test-taking process and a calmer set of nerves, I'll probably score at least 10-20 points higher. Does such an increase warrant a retake and make me more competitive? Also, worst case scenario - say I score lower on the retake... will that reflect poorly to the admissions folks?

Thanks for reading and I hope you can guide me in the right direction....

Congratulations mate, try to savour the success now.

Tell you what, your jump of 20-30 points in GMAT wont matter as much as your profile in next two years will matter. You have 2.5 years, try to work harder on your overall profile, build it properly. What I am saying is, if you are interested in some stream, try to incline towards that with other overall development activities. You can cover this laters in your application to business school saying this was your plan that you worked hard very well to achieve it. Your profile as in overall will matter more than these 10-20 points jump in GMAT score.

730 lies in top league already. Its just my take on it, ask more people. Get more info and then decide.

Good luck.

wth you are thinking about a retake with that score??? even if you retake i dont think you will do any good to ur profile. On the flip side if you work for 2 more yrs you will have a great profile for a top10 school. just my 2cents.

but for now just go out and party. congratulations on that stunning score.

I think because you have academics well within range of most top schools, there's no need to retake. In fact, MBA adcoms might see that as a cause for concern -- you already have a good enough score, why waste your time taking it again?

snowdove510 wrote:Hey guys,

I need some advice. I just took the GMAT on Monday and was a little disappointed with my 730. My goal was at least a 740 and considering my nerves totally got to me in the verbal section when I was hit with some really atypical RC passages (4 long passages...) and critical reasoning questions, I scored much lower on verbal than I had scored in practice (range in verbal from 41-47).

Congrats! Very commendable score.

730 is a pretty high score and normally I would say that's high enough. However, your score break down is interesting. You have Q50 and V38. You obviously have quant down cold. With some focused studying on verbal, you hopefully can get it into the mid V40's.

You have nothing to loose. If you really are set on getting a higher score, I think you're a good candidate to retake the test as you have room to improve on your verbal section. But do keep in mind, as everyone else has said, that a score of 730 places you in solid contention for all schools. It might be more worthwhile to focus on other parts of your overall application.

Whatever you decide, your established scored of 730 places you in very solid footing already.

Best of luck!

38 puts you in tyhe 83%ile for verbal. With a 50 in quant, that is good enough for any school. Adcom will question your judgement if you retake with such a high score because it will look like you don't know how to allocate your resources. Sort of like shooting a dead person is a waste of bullets. It might make you feel better but it is a waste of bullets. Focus on other parts of your app. If, on the other hand, you want to be a GMAT instructor then definitely retake. But for B-school purposes, it is probably not worth it.

lol nice analogy zuleron