jaywhy wrote:
Hi, Alex.
I'll try to keep this short.
I took the GMAT back in April earlier this year and scored a 730. Recently, after seeking out advice from an MBA grad, I was advised to send my score report to the school I am interested in immediately and re-sit for the GMAT (given the fact that I feel I had a bad test day; i was scoring in the 750-770 range for practice) and only send those scores if I improve.
Back in April, I went back and forth in my head and ultimately decided not to retake given my split of Q49/V41 (i seriously think i was 1 or 2 questions from a 750... no, it's not about how many right/wrong, but i'm confident i missed some easy ones...)
Now this new advice has me thinking...
1) Obviously if i'm confident I can score 750+ I should re-take, but at this point will it reflect poorly on me for not having re-taken the test earlier this summer or in May (where has the time gone btw...)?
2) I was also advised to apply to all my schools (+/- 5) in R1... when exactly is the last day I could take the GMAT and have it valid for R1? I figure it is the actual application deadline, but I haven't seen it written anywhere
3) the IR reason will be brand new to me. how heavily will this be weighted?
and just an FYI, I have a 3.5 GPA from Cornell Engineering and a background in digital media. I'm shooting for the top schools, so I'm wondering if a 750+ could help me significantly.
Thanks in advance,
jay
Hi Jay,
I decided to chip in here, until you hear back from Alex
730 is a great score in itself, and I think you should let it be. If you are planning to apply to 5 b-schools in Round 1 (Oct. onwards), I think your plate is very, very full already. You have set yourself a tough target and the hassel of another GMAT is unwarranted at this time. What if your scores do not improve on d-day? It will be wasted effort.
I suggest you spend your time in preparing sold applications instead. Certain things that you should will take you much further ahead, compared to another 20 points on the GMAT are:
1. demonstrating career progression - spend time to collate your work related experiences, achievements, strengths, weaknesses, threats etc.
2. Very clear career goals - spend time to research these well. Talk to people within your interest industry to understand how your career will grow in their companies after the MBA.
3. Demonstrating knowledge about the MBA programs- spend time to talk to students/ alumni/ admissions teams to find out specific features of interest to you. Devour info from written/video material like blogs/ online chats/ interviews / you tube related to the b-schools.
4. Lastly, information overload can lead to a confused application. Sift through all this information you have collected in the points above and strategize about which of the information you want to highlight, that best explains your fit and interest in the b-school.
That's a ton of work to take your mind off GMAT.
To answer your specific question: Most b-schools will let you self report GMAT scores, so you would be fine to take them just before submission deadlines (official scorec come after 20 days). The timing of yoru 2nd GMAT does not matter to b-schools - I am sure they are too burdened to think about yoru test dates.
All the best,
Namita
www.mbadecoder.com