gogrannygo,
Schools would probably wonder why someone with a 750 would retake the GMAT. They might wonder if you have a prioritization issue. Your 750 is excellent and raising it will have no significant impact on your odds of admission. Though a high GMAT compensates for GPA it doesn't really offset issues like age, and certainly will not offset a lack of leadership or diverse experiences. So only retake the GMAT if it will not take time away from addressing other higher-value aspects of your application.
--Paul Bodine, Great Applications for Business School,
www.topMBA.guru/outcomesgogrannygo wrote:
Not sure if a general forum posting (instead of a posting in the individual admissions consultant subforums) will generate much discussion, but any advice will be appreciated:
I just got my GMAT score and did a little better than expected--750, with Q50 and V41
However, while Q was much higher than expected, I really (relatively) bombed verbal.
I had a pretty messed up sleeping cycle the past few weeks, and ended up staying up all night before the exam--therefore being groggy throughout and straight up falling asleep during verbal. Additionally, I started getting a series of really easy questions during Q, and figured that I had really messed it up. So given the tiredness, I found myself slacking off on at least a couple verbal questions.
I know I can do better on verbal. My two GMATprep test scores were q43 v46 for 720 the first time, and Q49 and V 44 for 760 the second time (and generally, I thought the V44 was disappointing based on other unscored problem sets) (but i admit, I cheated and paused during the Q section to get an accurate gauge on problem solving ability beyond time management).
So, I don't think that I will replicate the Q49. But I should do a lot better than V41. I think there's a 50-50 chance of improving on overall score.
Now, in usual cases, the common wisdom may be to not retake.
However, a couple curveballs:
1) The new policy is that you can cancel score after seeing your score. How will adcoms take on a cancelled score, particularly for a retake from a 750 guy?
2) I already have low undergrad/grad GPA (below 25th percentile at most schools), advanced age (31-33 next fall), unexciting but high paying career (little opportunities for "leadership" and stuff to come across on essays, and one that is unpopular to Bschools, I feel; at the same time, maybe too advanced for b-schools to seriously consider me). So I think I need all the help that I can get, and I've noticed that the 75th/80th percentile GMAT at most top schools are 760 or above. So I've got enough going against me, and while I recognize 750 is a great score above ALL schools' median score, it may not be high enough to be something that is going "for" me. Particularly because I'd be targeting M7, particularly the Holy Trinity (while I am passionate about my post b-school goals, given my current career, it's quite a big sacrifice that may not be justified for a school without a portable brand name).
Given the foregoing, would it make sense to try and go up even 20 more points?
Thanks in advance!