690 GMAT Score (Q49/V35), Retake?

Question

I took my GMAT today and got 690 (Q49/V35) and was quite disappointed to be honest as I was hoping to break into the 700 range and missed it by a hair. I had scored above 700 in my practice exams but don't know if it's really worth the time and energy to study and retake again. I went to a top undergrad in California with a 3.7 GPA (business major) and had 3 years of work experience in investment banking. My target schools are Wharton, Columbia, and MIT. With that said, should I consider retaking the GMAT?

akhileshgupta05 · Answer

If you have the liberty of time, then you can retake if you're sure that you will get 40-50 points more than your present score. Check out some retaking strategies on this forum.

Also, though quite mean of me to ask after your apparent disappointment with the test, can you please post a debrief of your test experience - materials you used and their relevance to what you saw on the real test. And any identifiable mistakes you noticed!

Shoumik · Answer

Hey! I was wondering what you started off with in Verbal..I am trying to escalate my verbal score so any advice would be good

also how long did you spend on practicing verbal questions? Thanks

BM · Answer

A 690 is a very good score, so there is nothing to be ashamed of. However, I see your point; the schools that you listed are top programs, so the competition will be intense. That alone should give you a reason to consider a retake. Also, your subscores are a bit far off (49Q, 35V). The admissions office feels more comfortable with a more balanced score. What was your AWA score?

And I second akhileshgupta05's request for a bit more information. Could you tell us about your study habits and material used? How was your experience on test day? The more information you provide, the better we can help you!

Congrats again on the score!

westcoaster85 · Answer

The materials I used were the MGMAT books and the OG guides and I went through all the problems in those books. The practice exams I used were MGMAT and GMATPrep exams. So on test day, I think this is what went wrong. After I came back from my verbal break, they had a technical difficulty where my computer froze and they had to restart it. That stressed me out because I thought they had lost the AWA and math sections I did. It turned out that they didn't lose my previous work and I was able to start at verbal, but I really wonder if that stress affected my performance.

I'm really debating if I should spend the time and energy to retake the test or just move on to focus on getting my apps in for R1. I'm not too concerned about the other aspects of my profile except for my GMAT score, but wonder if this is really going to be the deal-breaker. The score does fall within the "middle 80%" or "middle 50%" for my target schools though...any further thoughts?

BM · Answer

Whoa, a technical difficulty such as this is quite rare. This most likely affected your verbal performance quite a bit. For the amount of money you pay, things should be flawless on their end - and it wasn't. I don't know your chances, but see if you can schedule a free retake. A computer shutdown is simply unnaceptable.

With that said, there probably is still room for improvement on verbal (your quant can't go much higher). If you decide to retake, focus more on verbal, but keep sharp in math with the GMATClub tests. This should put you over the 700 mark (assuming no more technical difficulties).

But is it worth your time? I'm not entirely sure. You performance is solid and others have been accepted with lower GMAT scores. Plus, you don't seem to be that enthusiastic about doing this again. Without motivation and 100 percent concentration, a retake becomes risky. There's also the issue of the application process and essays; these require a great deal of time and effort. Any sacrifice on the essays is a sacrifice of the acceptance letter.

In short, you are capable of a higher score. But if your heart isn't fully into it, then a retake becomes somewhat risky. And you have to start on those essays soon.

Take a week or so off. If you want to do a retake, then do it within four weeks and go hardcore on verbal.

MBAbound12 · Answer

I also took the GMAT today and scored a 690 (Q44 V40). Although my scores were somewhat balanced, I was disappointed because I had been scoring much higher on the GMAC and MGMAT CATs. I am considering Columbia, NYU, Penn and Cal among others but wasn't sure if it would be worth it to try and boost my score to a 720 using predominantly the gmatclub tests (which I didn't use the first time around), along with reviewing my error log. I would try and schedule to take it again early August, but would I have enough time to complete essays from 5 different schools from August to October?

BM · Answer

Your score seems pretty good as it stands. But if you're determined to retake, then here's my input:

August to October is plenty of time for the essays, but you'll be busy with five different sets of essays (hopefully there will be some overlap). The GMATClub tests should help to increase your score by a few points - certainly enough to reach 700. But your verbal can improve too, so don't become passive with that!

missxmelon · Answer

I think you should consider retaking the exam because of the schools you're aiming for. I don't think you were given a fair testing atmosphere, as your computer froze, so you would probably do better the second time. A higher score would obviously make you more competitive, and for those schools, every bit helps.

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