Hi All,
I wrote my first GMAT in Dec 2009 and got a 660 (Q45,V36).
The first time I took, I booked the test on Nov 19,2009 and took it on Dec 28, 2009. I don't think I even studied for verbal properly. I did like the first 2 or 3 RCs from OG12 and the first 20-30 questions in CR and SC from the same book. I studied for quant from OG12 and again did only the first 50-60 questions from each section.
I took my test again today and got 710-92 %ile.
Q47-76%ile
V40- 89%ile
I am somewhat disappointed with the score as I was expecting atleast a 730+ to compensate for my horrendously low GPA: 2.6 in electrical engineering. I know someone from my school who apparently had a 3.5+ and a 720 and he didn't even get an interview invite from a single school (granted he applied only to M7s).
So should I retake? I have heard conflicting evidence on retakes. Some say that a high GMAT (say 750+) is needed to compensate for a low GPA. Some say GMAT is just one of the data points and any score over 700 is good enough. This score tells the adcoms that you have the appropriate quant and verbal skills to succeed in b-school. My personal view is that I will try this application season. If I don't get in, I will take the GMAT again (although I dread it). I must say that if I had a GPA over 3.0 I will NOT be in a confusion whether to retake or not.
I believe my essays are strong and am very clear on what I want to do post MBA but I was laid off a few weeks ago. This score is good enough for the local schools but not for the top American schools. Btw I sent my score report to Booth, Wharton, HBS and a couple of other schools. My score is lower than the average of all these schools.
So should I retake? Any and all opinions welcome!
My prep scores are as follows:
GMATPrep1: 710
MGMAT1: 670
MGMAT2: 740(Q47,V44)
MGMAT3: 730(Q46,V44)
MGMAT4: 760 (Q49,V45)
GMATPrep2: 720
Materials used:
OG12,
OG Quant and Verbal review, and Manhattan strategy guides.
I think the reason for my low verbal score is because I had to rush my last 3-4 questions. I only had about 2 minutes for them. This is odd because whenever I did GMATpreps I used to finish verbal with 3-4 minutes to spare. I think I tried to take it slow, and it got
too slow. SCs also did me in. Most of the time I could narrow down to 2 choices and then I would be screwed.
For the test takers out there:
Make an error log: I think not making an
error log was my biggest mistake. I did a whole LOT of questions, but when I got something wrong I would never go back to check what went wrong. I would just glance over the explanation and move on. Do not make this mistake!! I think this is what cost me my SCs.
Eat properly: I got very very hungry during the last 15 minutes in verbal. I had a banana after my essays and a banana again after my quant section, but still I became very hungry.
Focus on verbal: Quants are, imo, getting ridiculously tough. I mean I got a 47 and am still in the 76%ile. IMO focusing on the verbal sections will probably boost your score a lot more than focusing on quant will.
Regards,
gijoedude.
PS: Big big thanks to GMATClub!!! I was able to improve my quant score thanks to the
GMATClub tests. I was languishing around 45 or so but GMATClub helped me raise it to 47 which is, for me, a big deal as I have always considered quant my weak area.