Help! 710 (45Q 42V) on first try... Retake?!

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Help! 710 (45Q 42V) on first try... Retake?!

by HTTR » Tue Sep 17, 2013 10:39 am
I am typically an excellent standardized test taker, and did the Manhattan prep course for a few months and self-studied on my own for a few weeks after the course. My recent scores on the Manhattan CATs were ~700, and I got 730 on one of them about a month ago. I got a 750 on the Veritas practice CAT a few weeks ago. Given that, and the fact that most sources I have consulted have said that the Manhattan CATs quant questions are considerably harder than the real GMATs, I feel that I realistically should be around a 730 on the real thing.

When i took it, I had serious jitters from overdoing it on the stimulants, and did not do my best (allocated time poorly, leaving only 6 min for the final 8 quant questions, and may have clicked the wrong choice for one of the quant questions). Got a 710 (45Q/66th percentile, 42V/96th percentile).

Do you think I should retake? I think I will have less anxiety the 2nd time around, and feel that I am capable of getting 730+. So I have two questions:

1. Does taking it twice dilute, in any way, your submitted score in the eyes of MBA admissions (if I retook it and got another 710, would that look materially worse to admissions than if I had taken it just once and got a 710)?

2. I've heard most admissions offices bucket your score, i.e. I'm in the 700-740 bucket, and the only way that improving my score on a retake would help me considerably is if I reached 750, so if I went from 710 --> 730, it wouldn't make much of a difference. Is this true?

I'd greatly appreciate any input, thanks!
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by Mike@Magoosh » Tue Sep 17, 2013 1:19 pm
Dear HTTR,

Here's my two cents. DO NOT RETAKE THE GMAT. For a detailed explanation of why, see this post:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/should-i-retake-the-gmat/

Let me know if you have any further questions.
Mike :-)
Magoosh GMAT Instructor
https://gmat.magoosh.com/

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by [email protected] » Tue Sep 17, 2013 8:50 pm
Hi HTTR,

You have a great GMAT score, so there's really no benefit in retesting. An Admissions Consultant could probably provide some additional perspective (depending on the schools that you're interested in). Barring something surprising, you're done with the GMAT. Congrats!

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by HTTR » Wed Sep 18, 2013 12:32 pm
[email protected] wrote:Hi HTTR,

You have a great GMAT score, so there's really no benefit in retesting. An Admissions Consultant could probably provide some additional perspective (depending on the schools that you're interested in). Barring something surprising, you're done with the GMAT. Congrats!

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
I should mention that my undergrad GPA is very low. I have great work experience, as an analyst doing business development for a F100 financial services company - but my GPA is going to be a tough obstacle to overcome.

For that reason, I really am striving for an elite GMAT score to make up some ground.

So, yes, maybe admissions offices do view the over 700/under 700 GMAT score as a binary, "check the box" criteria... but given the fact that i am applying with a very low undergrad GPA, i think my situation is a bit different and needs to be evaluated as such.

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by [email protected] » Wed Sep 18, 2013 6:41 pm
Hi HTTR,

What schools are you planning to apply to? Barring some really special circumstances, retesting is NOT required nor is it a good idea.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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