I just failed to beat the GMAT

[econgirl]

I took the GMAT in July and got a 710 - 40Q, 47V

Wanting to improve my quant, I spent a bunch of time studying, taking practice tests (42 and 46 on the 2 GMATPrep tests) and felt like I was ready to take it again today.

But my score didn't change and my quant actually went down, I now have a 39Q and 49V.

It's frustrating because I definitely felt like I knew more going in and I'd done better on practice tests. I stupidly didn't finish the section and ran out of time on the last question - could that have hurt me enough to bring my score down?

I'm so bummed because I did everything right - studied a lot, improved practice scores - and still did badly today. Is it worth retaking or am I pretty much at the limit of my ability here?

[beatthegmat]

I took the GMAT in July and got a 710 - 40Q, 47V

Wanting to improve my quant, I spent a bunch of time studying, taking practice tests (42 and 46 on the 2 GMATPrep tests) and felt like I was ready to take it again today.

But my score didn't change and my quant actually went down, I now have a 39Q and 49V.

It's frustrating because I definitely felt like I knew more going in and I'd done better on practice tests. I stupidly didn't finish the section and ran out of time on the last question - could that have hurt me enough to bring my score down?

I'm so bummed because I did everything right - studied a lot, improved practice scores - and still did badly today. Is it worth retaking or am I pretty much at the limit of my ability here?

Hi econgirl:

Just to clarify, how many times have you actually taken the GMAT? Once or twice?

I'm sorry that you didn't reach your goal with the quant section, but your verbal score is off the charts and your overall GMAT score is terrific! I think your scores are certainly competitive for the best programs, but it might be worth retaking if:

1. You are confident you can significantly raise your score the next time around (50 points?)
2. Other factors in your candidacy such as GPA or work experience are weak

With regard to your question about leaving questions unanswered--this is something you should definitely avoid on the GMAT. The test deducts a lot of points for questions that are left unanswered, so always guess!

Good luck--please let us know what you decide.

[econgirl]

Eric, thanks for the words of encouragement!

To clarify, I took the GMAT twice. My second time was today and that is why I am so bummed by the lack of improvement.

I WAS confident that I could improve my raw score by at least a couple of points - I was getting 42-47 on practice tests, but got only 39 today. I'm kicking myself for not hitting "next" quickly enough on that last question, but even if I'd done that, I'd still have only had a 40 again, right?

My GPA is 3.07, mostly due to failing or withdrawing from pretty much everything my freshman year. My subsequent grades include a B in calc and an A in statistics, and my major GPA (econ) is 3.3 or so, so it's not like I'm terrible at math.

I'm worried about re-taking because what if I score the same or worse AGAIN? That would really look awful to adcoms.

[beatthegmat]

Eric, thanks for the words of encouragement!

To clarify, I took the GMAT twice. My second time was today and that is why I am so bummed by the lack of improvement.

I WAS confident that I could improve my raw score by at least a couple of points - I was getting 42-47 on practice tests, but got only 39 today. I'm kicking myself for not hitting "next" quickly enough on that last question, but even if I'd done that, I'd still have only had a 40 again, right?

My GPA is 3.07, mostly due to failing or withdrawing from pretty much everything my freshman year. My subsequent grades include a B in calc and an A in statistics, and my major GPA (econ) is 3.3 or so, so it's not like I'm terrible at math.

I'm worried about re-taking because what if I score the same or worse AGAIN? That would really look awful to adcoms.

Again, a 710 is still a great score--but it seems like you're within striking distance of an even higher score.

Since your GPA is slightly low (sounds like you have a story around this), I would think about re-taking one more time only if you're confident that you can raise your GMAT score by at least 30 points.

Try bringing your case to the attention of Stacy Blackman in her forum area. She might have some thoughts on how admissions committees view multiple GMAT attempts.

Good luck!

[samirpandeyit62]

Hi econgirl,
Sorry to hear about ur Quant score, however I've never seen such a combination 40Q, 47V & then 39Q and 49V, instead I've always seen the opposite happening. In fact if someone sees you Verbal score alone they would definitely guess that you got 750+.
As far as the GMAT quant is concerned, Since I'm myself preparing for the GMAT and not very bad in quant, I believe one needs to be strong with basic matematical concepts & fundamentals, and practice a lot, I think the GMAT Maths forum on this site is an excellent place to practice maths & clear your doubts.You can start with scanning individual posts in both the Problem solving & Data Suffiency sections & then move on & try solving the questions posted by members, I believe it can boost ur confidence unlike anything. Although 710 is very good score indeed, but I still think that if you believe that you can be consistent with your Verbal score, then you can give it another try coz if you improve on Quant and cross a score of 45 (which is much much simpler than getting a score of 47 + on verbal, I think a lot of people will agree with me over here), I think you can touch the 740/750 mark which would do reasonable justice with ur verbal score.
If I can get a score like yours in Verbal then I would not target a score below 780 on the GMAT.