Hey everyone! So, I took the GMAT twice. First I scored 670 overall (35V, 47Q). I just took the test again today and was very upset and shocked that I score 480 overall (25V, 31Q). I have never scored this low in any practice test. I scored a 530 on my diagnostic test not ever having seen any type of GMAT question.
I have a couple of questions. 1. I know schools take your highest score, but in a situation like this how bad will this hurt me? 2. Is it possible that there was an error in the scoring? 3. I gave 5 schools the first time I took the test and 5 different schools the second time. Do all 10 schools have access to both scores? And if not, is it possible to not report the 480 to the first 5 schools?
All answers and comments are appreciated. Thanks guys!
1. Depends on the school you are applying to. Some of them just look at the highest score - period. Some others will look at both scores but still consider the highest. Yet others will just look at your most recent score. In any case, 670 to 480 is a steep drop so it will raise eyebrows. Retake recommended. 2. Nope - you can still email GMAC if you have a concern, but the possibility of an error is really very remote 3. No - only the five most recent ones have access to both scores. You can report the 480 to the earlier five by paying for sending across the new score to them.
Thanks for your response GyanOne. So is it possible to leave my 480 out of my application when applying to the first 5 schools or must they be reported no matter what?
Hey everyone! So, I took the GMAT twice. First I scored 670 overall (35V, 47Q). I just took the test again today and was very upset and shocked that I score 480 overall (25V, 31Q). I have never scored this low in any practice test. I scored a 530 on my diagnostic test not ever having seen any type of GMAT question.
I have a couple of questions. 1. I know schools take your highest score, but in a situation like this how bad will this hurt me? 2. Is it possible that there was an error in the scoring? 3. I gave 5 schools the first time I took the test and 5 different schools the second time. Do all 10 schools have access to both scores? And if not, is it possible to not report the 480 to the first 5 schools?
All answers and comments are appreciated. Thanks guys!
Looks like you got your answers already but here is a different take:
You should be fine without a retake (you can always explain in an optional essay if you need to) - what are your target schools? (of course if you can retake and get 700+ that's better but what are the chances)
I just applied to Wharton, 100% won't get in but whatever. Other schools I'm looking at are UT, USC, NYU, WashU, Emory and UCLA. Probably won't apply to all, but at least a few of them. NYU would be a dream school but UT would be ideal.
I took mostly Kaplan tests. My diagnostic was a 530, this was considering I have never seen any type of GMAT question before. I eventually started scoring around 630 on the Kaplan tests. I took a MannhattanGmat test last week and scored a 600. The 670 I got the first time could have been luck, but dropping to 480 is just ridiculous.
I took my first test in November 2011 and I took the second one yesterday. So about 2 months have past.
Is it possible to not report the 480 to the schools that I gave my scores on my first attempt at the test?
I am not an expert on this, unfortunately. But Gyanone seems to suggest that the first 5 schools would see only your first scores - so you should be fine there.
Probably you could ask Stacy Blackman on the 'Ask Stacy' thread to confirm?
For the second batch of 5 schools, you can possibly explain your substantially lower score on the second attempt in your optional essays with something like 'took the test while I had very high fever' or some other personal emergency...? They might just buy it, because a ~200 point drop is pretty unusual and they might believe that something was really amiss the second time around.
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