740!! Should I retake?

Question

Well, first and foremost, let me thank this wonderful website which I used during my gmat prep and it did help me a lot.
Guys, I need your sincere help in helping me take the decision of whether to retake or not.

I took the Gmat yesterday and following are my unofficial scores :
Overall : 740 (97 percentile)
Quant : 51 (99 percentile)
Verbal : 39 (87 percentile)

Yeah.. Am not really satisfied with the 740 that I have got. Though it is more than the average scores at almost all the top Business Schools, I feel it doesn’t truly reflect my preparation. There was a genuine reason for me getting screwed up in the main exam.
Let me explain.

I am 25/Male/Indian IT(software)/Working in one of the biggest software makers in the world/3 years experience till date.
I had prepared for ~3 months with verbal as my main focus, as quant was truly never a problem.
I had perfected my verbal to a very good extent. My mock exam scores were just rocking.

MGMAT 1 : 720
GMATPrep 1 : 720
GMATPrep 2 : 720
MGMAT 2 : 740
MGMAT 3 : 740
MGMAT 4 : 760
MGMAT 5 : 760
MGMAT 6 : 780
MGMAT 1A(after resetting MGMAT exams) : 780
MGMAT 2A(after resetting MGMAT exams) : 780
GMATPrep 1 and GMATPrep2(repeat) : 760

I was very confident of hitting a 760-780 with the level of my preparation and there is just no way that my score can get below a 760 if I take the exam in my right senses.

Night before the exam, due to some unforeseen circumstances, I couldn’t sleep. Didn’t get the time to sleep for even 2-3 hours. Ended up buying 2 redbulls and gulping one before Quant and one before Verbal. Quant, as I said was a breeze for me. But, during Verbal, just couldn’t focus at all. Yeah, the red bulls just didn’t work. Did not even apply a single grammar rule to any of the SCs or any of the premise, conclusion blah blah to CR. I was like, just get over with this exam. Basically, my brain had stopped functioning totally. Finished verbal in about 50 mins, as was just not able to sustain.

I aim to apply to the best of the best schools only : Insead, Wharton, Stanford, LBS etc. because I really think that I deserve those. Have a fantastic work profile to show with awards, leadership skills, fast career progression in a short 3 years at my workplace. Have already skipped some of the best schools in India where I got a final admit call : IIM L, IIM I, MDI, XLRI because I want to do an international MBA at a top school only.

I truly believe that I deserve more than a 740 and am confident of hitting a 760 even if I write just now. But, unfortunately I will have to wait for 31 days.

Now, am in a dilemma on whether this can have a negative effect on my application. Suppose if I improve my score from 740-760, do schools take it in a negative way i.e. do they consider that this guy is wasting resources despite having a great score? I know that it is a great score, but there are few things which are going through my mind:
1) Am an Indian/IT Male(Lot a of competition from this segment). A 740, I think is just around the average in India given that many people hit a 51 on Maths.
2) In my assessment, my scores aren’t balanced. A 99% in quant, and an 87% in verbal.
3) I know I can get atleast another 20 easily without even preparing anything extra. Just have to revise the verbal stuff a week before the exam.
4) I do have time for preparing on my applications as most of the R1 applications will start in Sept end/Oct first week i.e. will have 3 full months for my applications.
5) Have read on some sites, that schools do take it negatively if you already have a great score and improve my just ~20-30.

I know, I need to take the final decision of whether to retake or not, but would really really appreciate if you guys can help me out in assessing the pros and cons keeping in mind the above 5 points.

A huge thanks in Advance!!!!!

ra011y · Answer

A 740 to 760 jump is not necessarily going to sky rocket your chances of getting into these schools. I think you should focus on your essays.

And congrats! 740 is a damned good score.

sivaelectric · Answer

Thats an awesome score you got there buddy and I got a question for you. When did you start taking the practice tests during your preparation. And after how many days interval you took the next test.

jordanhendrix · Answer

everyone here is going to tell you not to retake, 
everyone here will think you are a maniac for even contemplating retaking a 740
everyone here will tell you that it cant help you much at all.

no matter what, if you wanna do it, then just do it. If for some reason you get the same score or god forbid a 730 I think your judgement as a reasonable human being comes into question.

gmataspirant123 · Answer

There is just no way I can get below a 740. I got a 740 with almost 20% of my normal concentration levels. I am 100% sure that I will hit >=760.

So, would like to get the opinion from you all on how much would a 20-30 marks increase from 740 will help me given that my scores aren't balanced at all right now and I am applying from a very highly competitive pool of Indian/Engineer/IT(software).

gmataspirant123 · Answer

@sivaelectric I gave the tests every 15 days. The first test I wrote of MGMAT was like 10-15 days into my prep. The last 4-5 tests, I wrote with an interval of 3-4 days.
I know I just can't go below a 760, so would a 20-30 increase from 740 be taken as a positive or a negative?

sivaelectric · Answer

I appreciate your confidence buddy, but 740 is not a bad score at all. Above others, its your opinion in the last. Go for it if you are completely confident.

jordanhendrix · Answer

Look just take the damn test again then, of course a 760+ is better than a 740. Only your highest score will be used. Lol at 20% concentration level, bump it up to 25% and you should have the 760. Now is that 20 points going to be the difference between a ding and an admit? I'd say no, but do whatever you want.

bb · Answer

See here: should-i-retake-gmat-thread-retaking-gmat-strategies-83339.html If it makes you sleep better, and let's you prove a point and get 99th percentile, then yes

In terms of a practical reasons - there are not too many but they exist: 1) If you want/plan to teach GMAT 2) If the school you are applying to has merit scholarship (probably not). Only lower level schools do 3) If you want bragging rights and want to put it on your resume (very few consulting companies/finance shops ask for it but they do) You won't need this score to impress anyone at a top 10 school nor will it impress anyone. It is more of a checkmark. Most feel it is a better use of time to spend it on Essays.

sivaelectric · Answer

@bb, now thats what I call a perfect reply... :wink:

gmataspirant123 · Answer

Thanx a lot BB for the reply..

No I don't plan to teach GMAT and neither do I want to brag about my score. Yes, I definitely want to get into consulting companies. Din't know that some of them ask for this.

Well, it is something like the score just doesn't reflect my true level. There were some bad circumstances(resulting in almost no sleep) which led to it. Considering the highly competitive Indian/IT Pool, I wanted to have atleast a 760(which was not wishful thinking given my prep and mock cat scores).

Now, am already going thru the gmatclub threads in detail, but would reallly really appreciate if you(with your vast knowledge of experiences of different candidates on this forum) can tell me whether schools consider retaking and improving by say a 20 marks to be a negative?
I have lotsa time(3 full months) for my essays even if i retake the exam after a month.

Again, Thanks a lot for all your help guys..

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