I just Beat The GMAT!

Hi all,

I gave my GMAT on 2nd September and got a 680 (Q 46, V37).

Now my question is should I retake?

My profile is: Indian (which puts me in the higher GMAT peer group), Female (which puts me in advantage ) with 4.5 years of experience in banking and decent academic and extra curricular activities and some (not much) community experience and yes, very little international exposure.

The take here is that it would be my second MBA. The first one was 5 years ago and as many of you might know Indian MBAs are more academic and unless you do it from an IIM or ISB its not recognized globally. So I need to do another one. Now, my doubts are:

1. Given my background, should I retake GMAT (my reaction after looking at the score was I should, but I really want some expert opinions)? - please consider that since it would be my second MBA I would need everything to make my case strong.
2. If I should retake GMAT, what should be expected out of it? I mean how do schools take retakes and what do they expect out of retakes? Is s 30-40 point increase only will be considered good in the eyes of schools. Also what if my score comes down - how will the schools take that?
3. Again, I want to pursue a finance focused MBA, so should I focus on a better quants score and if yes- how much? I think I can at least pull off a 48 in quants.

Thanks in advance for all the suggestions.

Let me just put in my opinion here to get this conversation going. What are your target schools? That is the first thing to check to know whether you fit into some schools.

Second of all, Fall 2012? which round are you applying? Do you have time for a retake?

Next, how much do you think you can improve (be very sure!) if you take another attempt? If you are looking at 20-30 points, then you might be better off strengthening other parts of your application.

I am not an expert, but my gut feel is that you want to get into finance you should get a great quant score.

Retaking is not considered bad. It shows your perseverance.

Schools generally consider the best score, not the latest.

Take GMAT again only if you think your last attempt was not your 100% and you can do better next time.

Hey, shveta question: is it possible for one to get two MBA degrees?

vineeshp wrote:Let me just put in my opinion here to get this conversation going. What are your target schools? That is the first thing to check to know whether you fit into some schools.

Second of all, Fall 2012? which round are you applying? Do you have time for a retake?

Next, how much do you think you can improve (be very sure!) if you take another attempt? If you are looking at 20-30 points, then you might be better off strengthening other parts of your application.

Hi Vineesh,

My target schools are:
1. Oxford
2. LBS
3. INSEAD
4. ISB

I am not planning to apply this year so I do have time at hand which I can use to improve the score. To answer how much I can improve, I can improve 20-30 points for sure. Not sure how much more than that I can stretch.

Also, what do you mean by fitting into school - I mean what criterion are you talking about? Are you talking about the double MBA because all of my target schools have no such constraints.

Thanks.

hoji wrote:Hey, shveta question: is it possible for one to get two MBA degrees?

Yes Hoji, it is possible

I am not planning to apply this year so I do have time at hand which I can use to improve the score. To answer how much I can improve, I can improve 20-30 points for sure. Not sure how much more than that I can stretch.

20-30 points improvement is good but improvement of profile can be just as good. Anyway you have time, go ahead and give it another shot.

Also, what do you mean by fitting into school - I mean what criterion are you talking about? Are you talking about the double MBA because all of my target schools have no such constraints.

Well all b schools look at how well you fit into their class. what you add to their class and how ur scores match up and what is ur experience etc. I dont know how to define fit. But that is a key criteria.

vineeshp wrote:

I am not planning to apply this year so I do have time at hand which I can use to improve the score. To answer how much I can improve, I can improve 20-30 points for sure. Not sure how much more than that I can stretch.

20-30 points improvement is good but improvement of profile can be just as good. Anyway you have time, go ahead and give it another shot.

Also, what do you mean by fitting into school - I mean what criterion are you talking about? Are you talking about the double MBA because all of my target schools have no such constraints.

Well all b schools look at how well you fit into their class. what you add to their class and how ur scores match up and what is ur experience etc. I dont know how to define fit. But that is a key criteria.

Thanks for your views Vineesh.

Hey,

Try to work for an NGO. you have more than one year time to build your career. plan properly and go for the kill

prodizy wrote:Hey,

Try to work for an NGO. you have more than one year time to build your career. plan properly and go for the kill

Yes, that's what I am doing. I am also planning to learn one more language. I agree that I have time to prepare my applications but at the same time do you think I should settle with a 680.

GMAT is something that is entirely in your hands. So I definetely think that you should retake - only if you think you can do better this time. Having said that I have a gut feeling that if we work hard enough GMAT score can be improved.