Retake or not. Help

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I took my first GMAT test on 18-09-2013 and scored 710 (92%) V35(75%) Q50(89%) AWA 5.0(60%) IR 8 (93%).

I am not happy with my score because I have been scoring 720 plus in my various mock tests undertaken almost 100% test conditions. Few of my mock test scores are as under:

Veritas CAT on 25-07-2013 Q50 V39 Total 720
Kaplan CAT on 29-07-2013 Total 760
MGMAT 1 on 09-08-2013 Q51 V37 Total 720
Kaplan on 12-08-2013 Total 760
MGMAT 2 on 13-08-2013 Q50 V38 Total 720
MGMAT 3 on 24-08-2013 Q51 V37 Total 720
MGMAT4 on 25-08-2013 Q50 V45 Total 770
GMAT Prep 1 on 05-09-2013 Q50 V44 Total 770
MGMAT 5 on 08-09-2013 Q51 V38 Total 760
GMAT Prep 2 on 11-09-2013 Q50 V42 Total 760
MGMAT 6 on 13-09-2013 Q51 V45 Total 780



I am Indian engineering pool with 3 yrs of WE with decent academic and decent profile and aiming for top 20-30 b schools with scholarship. Will be applying for B schools next year. Unable to decide to retake the GMAT or go ahead with my application.

Looking forward for advice.

Thanks in advance

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Hi jb_avinash,

This is the Official Test Maker Forum, so you're probably not going to get much advice here; you should repost this in the public Forums. As it stands a 710/Q50 is a great score, and there's not much to be gained from retaking the GMAT (unless an Admissions Officer from a particular school tells you to, you should consider your GMAT testing complete). For what it's worth, saying that you're "not happy" with a 90th percentile score makes you sound silly. While you were scoring higher on your practice CATs, you should note that those are practice exams that were created by OTHER companies, so the scores, while accurate enough to give you an assessment of your ability, aren't necessarily "in line" with the official GMAT.

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

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Hi Rich,

Thanks for your valued feedback.

Avinash Deori

[OfficialGMAT]

Hi jb_avinash,

As mentioned below, 710 is a great score and there is really no sense in retaking the exam. It's great that you want to improve your score, but you could spend the time focusing on the other elements of your application.

All the best with your plans!
Tina

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Hi Tina,

Thanks for your valuable feedback.

I would be thankful, if could kindly help me in selecting B School. here is my brief profile.

Indian Male
Age : 26 years
Education:

10th ICSE board year 2003 91%
12th ISC board year 2005 91%

Graduation : B E (Marine Engineering) Year 2010 75% from DMET Kolkata (known as T S Chankya also) affiliated to Jadavpur University. Admission thru IIT JEE merit list.
Always in top 10% in the class.

Extra Curricular activities:

Very good in extra curricular acitivities and many certificates to support in sports, organization & management of events at school, college and national meets.
Work Experience: I am Marine Engineer (Mariner Profile) with more than 24 months of sailing experience with overall 4 years of work experience. Will be prepared for additional work experience to get to top business schools.

Thanks & best regards


AVinash deori

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Hi Avinash Deori,

I don't believe anyone on this website (from any Forum) should be advising you on which Business Schools to select. You should think about what you want to do with an MBA. What field or industry to do you want to be working in? What do you want to be doing in 10 years? The answers to these questions (and others) should help you to guide your own research into which MBA program(s) is/are the best match for YOUR goals. Good luck with your search.

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

[essaysnark]

I took my first GMAT test on 18-09-2013 and scored 710 (92%) V35(75%) Q50(89%) AWA 5.0(60%) IR 8 (93%).

I am not happy with my score because I have been scoring 720 plus in my various mock tests undertaken almost 100% test conditions. Few of my mock test scores are as under:

Veritas CAT on 25-07-2013 Q50 V39 Total 720
Kaplan CAT on 29-07-2013 Total 760
MGMAT 1 on 09-08-2013 Q51 V37 Total 720
Kaplan on 12-08-2013 Total 760
MGMAT 2 on 13-08-2013 Q50 V38 Total 720
MGMAT 3 on 24-08-2013 Q51 V37 Total 720
MGMAT4 on 25-08-2013 Q50 V45 Total 770
GMAT Prep 1 on 05-09-2013 Q50 V44 Total 770
MGMAT 5 on 08-09-2013 Q51 V38 Total 760
GMAT Prep 2 on 11-09-2013 Q50 V42 Total 760
MGMAT 6 on 13-09-2013 Q51 V45 Total 780



I am Indian engineering pool with 3 yrs of WE with decent academic and decent profile and aiming for top 20-30 b schools with scholarship. Will be applying for B schools next year. Unable to decide to retake the GMAT or go ahead with my application.

Looking forward for advice.

Thanks in advance

Really hate to be the contrarian in this thread but a 710 GMAT can be tough for an applicant coming from such an oversubscribed pool. EssaySnark would say it's a GOOD score, and it certainly can be enough to get in to a good school - especially a top 20-30 ranked one - but it's not that competitive compared to your peers.

Since you are not planning on applying this season, then our opinion is you should DEFINITELY re-take the GMAT.

There's marginal difference between a 710 and a 720 but there's a massive difference between 710 and 770. Or 710 and 750. If you only think you can boost your score by 10 points then it may not be worth the bother but it sounds like you feel you could do much better. This can make quite a difference. A higher score can open the door to better-ranked schools and also can much more easily help you qualify for a scholarship (scholarships are somewhat rare for the standard Indian candidate, they happen but not that common - see this recent post from the EssaySnark blahg.).

The GMAT is far from the most critical thing in an app, the other stuff counts for a lot, but the GMAT is certainly very important. A higher score doesn't guarantee you anything, and your 710 isn't in "trouble territory" - you can definitely get in to a good school with that score, and if you were planning on applying in Round 2 then we'd say go for it - but it doesn't help you stand out.

And you're young. You have the time. We would encourage you to make the most of it, if your sights are set on the best schools. You started early, which means that you're serious about this - which is great. Take advantage of that and make the most of it. Tackle the test one more time and see where you can go with it. It would suck for you to get through this whole process and come up empty-handed, and wonder if it was due to something simple like a GMAT score that you could've done better on.

Anyway, just our opinion. Good luck with it!

EssaySnark

[OfficialGMAT]

Hi Avinash,

Rich is right, your school choice will come down to your own personal preferences and goals. Once you have decided what most matters to you and your education, try and put together a shortlist of your top choices. You can then do a deep dive into these schools by attending an event (online if you the school is abroad), arrange to speak to current students or alumni and definitely speak to the admissions representatives about your profile.

We are also enhancing our website, mba.com to include a more comprehensive School Finder tool, where you will be able to compare and contrast schools side-by-side. The tool should be available on the site from December 4th 12pm EST.

I hope the above was useful.
Thanks,
Tina