Need advice on whether to retake GMAT or not

[inharmonywithlife]

Hi,

I took GMAT in Oct 2007 and scored 710 (93 Percentile) V(37) Q(50) AWA(4.0). This year, I applied for ISB alone but got rejected.
Now I'm thinking whether to retake it or not. I'm aiming at scoring 750+.

Profile
Industry: IT
Work Experience: 5 years 2 months in a renowned MNC (2 years of US)
Education: BE with 80%
Extra Curricular: Good


My First Attempt Prep

Prep Books:
The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 11th Edition
Cracking the GMAT, 2007 Edition (Graduate Test Prep)
The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review
The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review

Practise Tests:
GMATPrep Software
Princeton Review - Online Tests

Pracise Test Scores:

1. GMATPrep Software - Practise Test 1
710 Q (30/37) V (29/41)

2. Princeton Review Practise Test 1
600 V[28] Q[45]

3. Princeton Review Practise Test 2
700 V[36] Q[51]

4. Princeton Review Practise Test 3
590 V[28] Q[44] [Lapsed my soncentration and couldn't complete both the sections and hence the penalty]

5. GMATPrep Software - Practise Test 2
720 Quants (30/37) Verbal (31/41)

My observations
- Limited Prep Tools...Never tried Manhattan/Kaplan Prep materials
- Paced too much...was a bit hasty and solved too many questions in a day and did not allow enough time for reviewing the answers.
- Didn't practise enough for AWA
- Could not concentrate enough in the verbal section (last 15 - 20 questions)
- Quants problems are less complex in the above mentioned materials. I found the actual GMAT questions to be a little tougher.
- And above all could NEVER IMPROVE my score beyond 710/720 range

Need suggestions on
- Strategies to improve my score beyond the 750 mark
- Materials to strengthen in the Verbal section
- Other Quants Prep materials

Looking forward to your suggestions.
Thanks so much

[parore26]

I don't think you need to re-take the GMAT. A school like ISB is unlikely to have rejected you based on a 710. Before you decide you might want to ask either Stacy or Amy to better understand what reasons might have contributed to your rejection.

If you do decide to retake, the first step I'd suggest is to analyze which type of questions in the verbal section (i.e. CR, RC or SC) are troubling you the most. Based on that, if you can boil it down to one or two of these three sections it would be easier to suggest materials that can help you. Best of Luck!

[zoom2anil]

my 2 cents on weather to retake gmat:
https://www.freewebs.com/anilc/retakegmat.htm

For
• How old is your GMAT score? If your GMAT score is older than a couple of years, think about retaking it. GMAT is a reflection of your current abitiles. A 2 year old score does not reflect your current abilities.
• Target schools? Which tier schools are you targeting? Look at the average scores of those schools and add 30 points more. That should be your target. If you are a Indian/IT/Male/4+ work-ex, then add 50 points more at least and start praying.
• Skewed score? Do your verbal and quant scores differ a lot? From what I have read & heard is that most schools look for a balanced score.
• How much do you think your score will increase? Do you think taking a GMAT again will increase your score by 40-50 points? If your really confident of this then retake it.
• Weak undergrad scores? Ideally speaking, GMAT is in no way representative of your future performance at b-school. But if you have a weak undergrad score due to unavoidable circumstances, then a strong GMAT score can cover it up.
• How do your target schools treat multiple GMAT scores? Most of the colleges take the highest score or the one you select as your GMAT score. But remember that all your scores are sent to the college. Be really sure how your college treats multiple scores. Maybe they only consider the latest score? Or do they average it?

Against
• Wasted valuable time for peanuts? You might have wasted valuable time which could have been used to write your b-school essays.
• Another 250$ down the drain? This money could be used towards your applications