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Loud Ankle
- Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Tue Sep 21, 2010 10:15 am
QUESTION: SHOULD I RETAKE THE TEST?
I have never been the one that would fuss over 10 points, but I believe I got the one score that would require me to do so as the score seems to exclude me from the coveted 700+ pools. I plan to apply to B-schools this year, so I took the GMAT for the first time last Thursday (9/16/2010) and received the following score.
690 (88th percentile) - Quant 65 percentile: Verbal 92 percentile
It was the one score I dreaded to see on my computer screen when the test was over because now I have to make the decision of whether to take the test over again. My personal GMAT goal was to get 700+ and I am now 10 points shy of the highly coveted 700+. Also, I needed to get the 700+ score to make up for my lower-than-average undergraduate GPA 3.1.
A little about me: 25 yrs old, Asian American female, foreign born, immigrated to the US when I was 10 yrs old, graduated with a Pre-Med (hence the low GPA) and an Econ double degrees from the #1 US public college, had an epiphany the last year in college that it would be too depressing for me to see sick people every day as a career, decided to go into banking after college and had worked for a bulge bracket bank for the past 3 years.
My study plan: I have been studying on and off for 3 months (3-4 hours a week). I finally signed up to take the test 2 weeks ago and that's when I buckled down and did 2 weeks of cramming. The score was a shocker because 1.) my quant score was on the lower end of my practice exams' scores (I am embarrassed to even write that I work in the financial industry and deal with quant all day!) and 2.) my verbal score was on the higher end of what I was expecting because I am not a native English speaker.
I have heard that B-schools (ie. Columbia) weight the quant score more heavily (to make sure the applicants have the quant skills needed to succeed in B-schools). But I have also heard that B-schools (ie. HBS) weight the verbal score more heavily if the applicants already work in a quantitative industry (ie. Finance). Are any of these rumors true?
If I retake the test, I run the risk of getting a lower or same score. As the deadlines for this year's application submission are approaching, retaking the GMAT also means that I will have less time to write my essays. But if I apply with the 690 GMAT score, do I stand a chance getting in the top-10 schools?
My two options are:
1.) apply with the 690 GMAT score in Round 1
2.) wait a month (the minimal time between taking the test again), retake the GMAT (possibly get a higher, lower or same score) and apply in Round 2
Can anyone help with this 690 dilemma? Thank you for your time in advance!
I have never been the one that would fuss over 10 points, but I believe I got the one score that would require me to do so as the score seems to exclude me from the coveted 700+ pools. I plan to apply to B-schools this year, so I took the GMAT for the first time last Thursday (9/16/2010) and received the following score.
690 (88th percentile) - Quant 65 percentile: Verbal 92 percentile
It was the one score I dreaded to see on my computer screen when the test was over because now I have to make the decision of whether to take the test over again. My personal GMAT goal was to get 700+ and I am now 10 points shy of the highly coveted 700+. Also, I needed to get the 700+ score to make up for my lower-than-average undergraduate GPA 3.1.
A little about me: 25 yrs old, Asian American female, foreign born, immigrated to the US when I was 10 yrs old, graduated with a Pre-Med (hence the low GPA) and an Econ double degrees from the #1 US public college, had an epiphany the last year in college that it would be too depressing for me to see sick people every day as a career, decided to go into banking after college and had worked for a bulge bracket bank for the past 3 years.
My study plan: I have been studying on and off for 3 months (3-4 hours a week). I finally signed up to take the test 2 weeks ago and that's when I buckled down and did 2 weeks of cramming. The score was a shocker because 1.) my quant score was on the lower end of my practice exams' scores (I am embarrassed to even write that I work in the financial industry and deal with quant all day!) and 2.) my verbal score was on the higher end of what I was expecting because I am not a native English speaker.
I have heard that B-schools (ie. Columbia) weight the quant score more heavily (to make sure the applicants have the quant skills needed to succeed in B-schools). But I have also heard that B-schools (ie. HBS) weight the verbal score more heavily if the applicants already work in a quantitative industry (ie. Finance). Are any of these rumors true?
If I retake the test, I run the risk of getting a lower or same score. As the deadlines for this year's application submission are approaching, retaking the GMAT also means that I will have less time to write my essays. But if I apply with the 690 GMAT score, do I stand a chance getting in the top-10 schools?
My two options are:
1.) apply with the 690 GMAT score in Round 1
2.) wait a month (the minimal time between taking the test again), retake the GMAT (possibly get a higher, lower or same score) and apply in Round 2
Can anyone help with this 690 dilemma? Thank you for your time in advance!
