Dilemma - should I retake?

Question

Hello fellow GmatClub members,

This is my first post on the forums (I have been reading GmatClub forums for a while though), I took the GMAT this past Thursday, and I ended up with a 700 score (Q47,V39). I am planning to apply to some of the top bschools such as CBS, Booth, Wharton, and NYU. After talking to a few bschool friends, I was advised that I should consider re-taking the GMAT because my Quant score is too low. I felt discouraged after hearing that and since the round 1 app deadlines are drawing near, I need to decide if I should re-take the test soon. I studied about a month prior to taking the test. In all my practice CATS, I consistently scored 49-50 for the Quant section, and 35 for the Verbal section (both are averages).

A little background info about me - I am current working as a tech. analyst for an i-bank in the Fixed Income research business, and I have 2 years of fulltime working experience. My undergrad major was in Computer Engineering and my overall undergrad GPA is not high at all.

Please share your views of my situation.

Thank you.

sandeep800 · Answer

HI Spy0o2,
welcome to the Gmat Club,
First of all congrats for 700 score.
Well according to me i will advice u to retake the exam my reasons are :
1:- Since ur choice of schools are Top 10 schools
2:- Ur work Experience is of 2 years and will be 3 by the time u join school so there are many other candidates applying in these school with high exp and high GMAT score.Unless and untill u have some great achievements in these 2 years of work ex it wont add something gr8 to ur resume.
3:- as u say ur GPA is on Lower side so U can cover it by Bit high GMAt score.
4:- Since u were getting good score in quant and in actual u got 47 i will say i bit more study for 
 month will surely take ur score to higher side if u concentrate on ur errors..

thanx
sandy

Hussain15 · Answer

Hi SPY, welcome to gmat club!! Kindly check this thread should-i-retake-gmat-thread-retaking-gmat-strategies-83339.html I am always in favor of not retaking gmat, provided the score is within 20-30 points of avg gmat scores of one's targeted schools. You can check the details in the above link. Best of luck for your plans & keep us posted.

Dawgie · Answer

Congrats on breaking 700. I would say depending on how confident you are and the amount of time you have to prepare, these will be the main factors in assessing whether or not you wish to retake.

Thanks and best wishes,
Dawg

sarathy · Answer

Ask yourself this question: "Does this score reflect my ability".

bb · Answer

Here kind of my thoughts: should-i-retake-gmat-thread-retaking-gmat-strategies-83339.html?highlight=ml303 I think you broke the 700 barrier and that's great. Don't think you should retake....

SpY0o2 · Answer

thanks for all the replies so far.

I was really nervous at the beginning of Quant section. I spent 3-4 min on the first Quant question and totally blanked out. I remember spending about 20 min for the first 7-8 questions, and I felt totally defeated by then. As I expected, I was running out of time at the end, so I had to randomly guess the last 4 or 5 questions. I feel I am definitely more capable in the Quant section. For the Verbal section however, I have consistently scored around 35 in all my practices, so I was really happy that I ended up with a 39, and it compensated for my low quant score. If I had to retake the GMAT, I'm not that confident that I will be able to replicate my Verbal performance. Hence, the current dilemma.

Another issue is the time factor. Since round 1 app deadlines are drawing near, I really want to start working on my essays (I decided to attempt bschool in late July), and get them in before the deadlines so I may move on to my next goal (sitting for level 1 CFA exam in December). Re-taking the GMAT will be a big time setback for me (without guaranteed improved results), and most likely I'll need to re-organize my priorities (perhaps apply to less schools?).

bb · Answer

I agree with this. Feeling that your score is not representative is tough but if you butcher the essays, you may as well not even retake. After 700, essays and recommendations are really the differentiators.

SpY0o2 · Answer

I guess my concern is if my quantitative score will reflect negatively on my application (I'm sure it will, but how much). Is 47 too low for the top 15 schools? Do business schools look at the overall GMAT score (700 level checkmark?), or do they look for a certain level of achievement on the individual quant/verbal sections? If it's the individual sections, should I worry about my scores enough that I should re-take?

From Sandy's post above, I do agree with all her arguments in favor of re-taking the GMAT. However, I also agree with bb and others that it'll be a high-risk marginal benefit endeavour, and it may be a better to focus on the essays instead.

From Sandy's post above, I do agree with all her arguments in favor of re-taking the GMAT. However, I also agree with bb and others that it'll be a high-risk marginal benefit endeavour, and it may be a better to focus on the essays instead.

kissthegmat · Answer

I won't suggest to retake. Please have a look at this post "510 and admitted to HBS!! How important is GMAT score?" 510-and-admitted-to-hbs-how-important-is-gmat-score-100552.html

PranavChamp · Answer

I think q47 is not so bad..it's almost 80%ile and usually top-notch schools follow 80-80 rule in quant and verb raw scores.means both should be at 80 %ile level. 1 more thing to add here is that BSchools sometimes see your quant scores in undergrad or schools transcripts to find out your quantitative abilities. so it's not entirely depended on your GMAT quant score. According to me...don't take retake instead put your whole energy to make your app stronger...All the best

shaselai · Answer

timeline wise you have to see the risk-reward. Lets say you study for a month to shore up your weakness or just to practice then you get a 720 - is that that much better than a 700? schools may or may not think so and 20 pt improvement might not warrant the time spent especially you have a month or so before R1 starts to close and the last thing you want is to rush essays etc. Also, how is your gpa? is it competitive or it needs a "boost"? 700 is about right for most schools maybe not top 5 and i wouldnt worry about quant 47 as a bad indicator.

iamgrunt · Answer

I don't think you should retake it, the difference between 49 and 47 is kind of minimal imho. Sure, the percentile difference might look big on paper, but you're improving what, 20 points at most?

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Dilemma - should I retake?

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