730 retake -> 750. GMAT Beaten... kind of.

[gammacad]

I posted recently about my first official GMAT score, which was a 730. My quant score was only the 77th%, and I asked if I should retake it. Most people said no.

I spoke with someone at Wharton, and they said that they like to see both scores above 80%. Given my background (grad student in Physics), I thought I'd be able to pull my quant score up.

I took 4 more practice tests, and was scoring consistently between 48 and 51 in the quant section.

Retook the GMAT today. 45Q 48V, for a total of 750. Great combined score, but my quant score actually dropped a bit (75%.) I'm definitely done taking the GMAT, and I can't imagine that Wharton will frown on a 750. I would definitely liked to have had two scores above 80% though.

Thanks to everyone here for their help. For anyone getting ready to take the GMAT, I'm left with three major impressions:

1) The Kaplan pre-tests are artificially skewed down to encourage you to take the course (I got a 570 on the pretest.)

2) The MacMillan GMAT book has tons of errors, and the software is almost worthless.

3) The best prep was taking the GMATPrep tests supplied by GMAC.

Thanks again for all the support!

[aj5105]

wow! 750 is an awesome score! Good Luck!

[skang357]

How many questions do you have to miss to get 48Q?

Thanks

[gammacad]

In practice tests I was getting 4 or 5 wrong on the verbal and getting 46 / 47. So maybe 3? It also has a lot to do with the point at which you get those questions wrong. So I imagine I got 3 or 4 wrong toward the end.

[zuleron]

I have NO doubt that Wharton will not frown on a 750. I think the 80/80 is just something they have to say coz they don't want to be quoted as saying 75% is okay. But in reality I am sure there are a bunch of people at Wharton below 80% in Quant.

Congratilations!

[Don Wrigley]

I have NO doubt that Wharton will not frown on a 750. I think the 80/80 is just something they have to say coz they don't want to be quoted as saying 75% is okay. But in reality I am sure there are a bunch of people at Wharton below 80% in Quant.

Congratilations!

To take this a step further, I wouldn't be surprised if some of these top schools looked favorably upon such a high verbal score. You'd have to think most top schools accept GMAT scores that are tilted in favor of higher quantitative, a high verbal score may really set you apart.

Whatever the case, you shouldn't have to worry with a 750 gmat.