drastic improvements on GMAT scores

Question

Dear Members, 

I am planning to retake my GMAt 
I got 730 in my first attempt and am not satisfied pesonally
I want a score of 770+ 
any body can share his experience in drastically improving scores?
Is drastic improvement possible ?

Regards,
Venkatnadhan

jamesrwright3 · Answer

Dude 730 to 770 is not drastic
I improved 30 points my second time by just relaxing

GMAT? · Answer

Hi there,

No offence but I think you must be crazy!

If I had 730 (and I probably never will) I wouldn't retake it! 

I think business school adcom will actually think its rather strange and view it in a negative light. 

I think it basically call your ability to make appropriate judegments into question. It sends off the signal that you don't understand priorities or when to call is a day and move on. 

Would I want someone who had a 730 and then retook it in my study group - Probably not.

An important tool in business is the 80/20 rule. It basically states that to get the first 80 percent of the result, one has to put in 20 percent of the effort. To get th enext 20 percent of the result, one has to put in 80 percent of the effort. 

Being a leader is about coming to a decision quickly even if you have limited information. It not about labouring away forever to reach perfection. 

Just my $2. No offence meant. I sometimes wish people gave me honest advice rather than saying what I want to hear.

I would be interested to hear what other think also.

Take care

venky1979 · Answer

Well my post read 770+
which leaves 780 790 800 
and a jump from 730 to that is much more difficult than 660 to 700
and thats why its drastic
btw what was your first and second score
if you had 770 and improved it to 800 I would call it drastic

venky1979 · Answer

That was a good suggestion
I have applied to 8 colleges and was dinged by all 8
the reason was poor essays
I working on them but i want to improve on my candidacy in all possible ways so i was considering retake of GMAt, applying after i get a promotion etc I was thinking if i give GMAt without much prep i think i can get 740 to 750 which may not be much of an improvement but a 780/790 would definitely be worth it and wante dto know whether 770+ was a realistic score (both 760 and 780 reads 99%)

GMAT? · Answer

What if you do it and have a crap day and the score actually dops.

I would put the effort in building my extra-curriculars - charity work, state level work, etc.

GMAT? · Answer

I guess the other question is whether you have a greater then 80 percentile in both verbal and maths sections. If not them maybe you can justify taking it. If yes it looks all the more strange if you retake it.

I would definately concentrate on biulding up your experiences so you can write interesting essays with real world experience. Someone that business schools feel will contribute to and add diversity to the class.

Also remember that the top business school ding people with even 800 GMAT scores. 

Hope it is helpful.

jamesrwright3 · Answer

I am being honest here
The schools may think you have become obsessed with the GMAT
730 is a good enough score for any school
As you have indicated, you were dinged because of poor essays
Take a writing class instead
It may do you much more good

kidderek · Answer

I disagree with two notions here:

1. An improvement from a 730 to 770+ is slightly more difficult than an improvement from 640 to 680. I've come to the realization that it's not much more difficult. Yes, going from 640 to 680 is easy because at that level, the questions are much easier. But if you can reach 730 consistently, you can get to 770+ as well by taking more care and by getting lucky with some questions. 

2. Doing worse on your second gmat than your first might be a HUGE negative especially when your first attempt was an excellent score. However, if your score is the same or better, bschools will look at the higher score and give you credit for the higher score. Afterall, they want to boost their stats. 

You also have to realize that there are many people who score 700+ With that many people scoring so high, a 40 point difference won't make much of a difference in the eyes of adcoms. If you weren't going to get in with a 750, you're not getting in cause you have a 790. Think about it, do you think adcoms are impressed by an 800? Probably, for about 5 seconds. 

But I do empathize for those who want a higher score for personal satisfaction. It is this drive that made us prepare furiously and score so well in the first place! But is it really personal satisfaction? Or is it so that you can boast of a higher score when someone asks you about your score? Well, if and when you do tell others of your new score, remember to tell them that you took it more than once as well.

necromonger · Answer

This is a good opportunity to look at true benefits for time spent. The question is - where do you derive maximum benefit? Spending X hours to boost your GMAT score from 730 to 780? or spending the same X hours instead to really learn the skill to write solid application essays?

From your own admission, you think all the dings were because of essays (I did look at your essays and also mentioned they needed improvement). Your real benefit of time spent should be where impact is maximum - and that's essays!

Personally, I think you should leave your score alone - it's a competitive score, and really spend time to write solid essays. That means lot more reading/writing/polishing written skills etc.

lepium · Answer

My first thought after reading your post was: R U nuts????!?!?!

But as I am a tolerant and respectful person, I'll just state: I do not think that improving your GMAT beyond 730 (taking into account the effort involved - whether small or huge) will make much difference to your app. Do work hard on your essays and it will pay off much more. You may want to check this post / document as well (check the notes on GMAT at the end).

https://www.gmatclub.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=39233

Hope it helps. L.

tennis1ball · Answer

If you believe you can do well as Pelihu did, why not? :-D

But the increase is not much use beyond 700. Harvard averages about 720, so roughly 1/2 of the students are below this score. Your 730 is above the average, so is enough for any top school. Let alone we don't even know your target school. So it is time to step on the brakes. It is addictive, but relax for 2 weeks and cool down. I also had that strong temptation, but after a week, i realized I got better things to do than to increase on 710 which is already enough.

pelihu · Answer

I have some first hand information here, so I'll go ahead and share. First of all, I believe that there is additional benefit to scoring 30-50 points higher; even in this range. The difference, really, is that a 730 is squarely within the middle 80%; while a 770+ is above the middle 80% which guarantees that you're in the top 10% for any school. It's also a common rumor (I think it is true to an extent) that strategy consulting firms and investment banks greatly prefer applicants that score 750+.

I will agree with the others, however, that it is too late in the game this year to consider retaking the exam. You can be sure that there is a tremendous amount of work to be done before the deadlines in early January for most R2s. If you had 3 or 4 months to spare, I would say give it a shot if you are confident you will improve your score. It's not worth the risk if there is a possibility you might score lower, and it's not worth the effort if you need to devote substantial time to it and the prep time cuts into other parts of the application.

There is some benefit to a higher score, but it's not worth sacrificing any effort that could be utilized elsewhere - such as producing better essays or even visiting campuses. Back when I decided to go for a retake, I concluded that given the time remaining I would not adversely affect my essays by retaking the exam. I think everyone should remember that preparing for the GMAT a second time does not necessarily mean you will end up with crappy essays; and also that devoting substantial additional time to essays doesn't necessarily mean they turn out any better. Each person knows how much effort they must spend to produce quality essays but at this point, it's just too late in the application season to work on anything else.

SimaQ · Answer

I don't know... I know my collegue who got accepted into Insead with the score of 640. Thus do not get obsessed with Gmat, you have already done great, reinforce other areas of your application.

venky1979 · Answer

Thanks all for the ggod piece of advice I am leaving alone my score at least for this year apps

I am concentrating on writing reall good essays and resume for now. will retake GMAT if I am not accepted anywhere this year and try next year again Thanks a lot

londonluddite · Answer

i had a **** day when I first took the test and scored 640, I had become too stressed and was taking sleeping tablets as I could't relax. Little more than chilling out and sleeping well enabled me (i.e almost no extra study) to score a 750 the second time. Obviously this is quite an exceptional case, but it puts it into perspective.

kidderek · Answer

Well, a 730 is usually at the very top of the middle 80%, making it about top 20%.

I think admissions-wise, if a school rejects you with your 730, you won't do much more convincing with a 770. Step back and look at the big picture: it's a 40 pt and 2 percentile difference.

I do concur with consulting/IB "rumor/truth." A 760+ (99%) looks very nice on a resume.

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