GMAT 710 - Should I retake?

Thanks! I will probably stick with the score but would love some more opinions and recommendations.

The score you need depends on a lot of factors, such as but not limited to your profile, target schools, target programs etc. However, 680+ should be a decent enough score for most schools assuming you have a decent profile. In case of MIM, there are many good schools such as Warwick, UCD, TCD, etc that do not require GMAt scores.

Hope this helps. All the best!

hey ash,

Great score man ! Although you are lil disappointed but a 700+ always warrants a congrats so congratulations !

can you share some of your strategies about each topic as well as your experience to help me. Few questions I had are:
1) what was the distribution of questions in each category ?( rc- how many , sc , cr )
2) did you see your first question as RC ?
3) were the questions off different nature than asked in gmat prep ?
4) length of RCs ?
5) quant difficulty - more than gmat prep, less ?

anything else you want to share please.

also..I am wondering how come 49Q, 38V gave you 710. at least 720 expected.

Hi biyania,
To answer you questions,
1. I think I had 4 RC and overall the distribution of each category was pretty even.
2. No. Unexpectedly, the first RC I came across was around the 10th or 12th question.
3. I wouldn't say they were different necessarily, I did find some answer choices more difficult to eliminate.
4. 2 Long and 2 short.
5. I was scoring in the range of 49-51 on the GMATPrep tests so I am fine with 49. Two questions were were very lengthy but easy to solve so I simply chose to make a wild guess and move on(after trying to solve them for a good 1.5 mins) since I didn't want to waste any more time.

Hope this helps.

Yeah that was a bummer, but I don't think there is much that I can do about it. So why think about it? haha

hey thanks ash.

so you are saying u saw almost 12 , 12 , 12 questions of SC, CR and RC ? normally people are saying they saw 9-10 CRs and 13-14 SCs .

Sorry but I don't remember the exact number of questions from each category.

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No worries..thanks buddy for all the help. anything you'd want to share to guide me ? I am planning to take gmat on 23rd august.

I do have some suggestions.
1. Take your time and read slowly so that you don't have to re-read RC passages multiple times. You might actually end up saving time.
2. Don't get stuck on questions. Sometimes you just have to take a guess and move on. Do try to narrow down the contenders though.
3. The most important one. Do not be nervous(I was very nervous and that could possibly be another reason that hampered my performance). At the end of the day, GMAT is just another exam and you can always take it again. (This is something I should have realised and regret now. I'll make sure I remember this during my next attempt, if i take one.)

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Thanks for the valuable suggestions. I think I can do 1 and 2 but the 3rd one is situational. I will try not to be nervous. are u planning to order ESR ?

I haven't decided yet but I will if I decide to retake the exam.

It's very likely you'd get a 740-760 on a retake - your diagnostic tests prove that's your true level, and you faced issues this time (with the pens and blurred vision) which you're very unlikely to face on a second attempt. Those issues likely explain the lower-than-expected score.

In that position, I'd usually think a retake is a good idea, just because you wouldn't need to invest time beyond that required for a quick review of your notes and the time you need to take the test. You don't need to do any further preparation to improve your score. Whether you genuinely need a better score to secure admission is a question for an admission consultant familiar with the programs that interest you (it sounds like you probably don't, but I wouldn't rely on my advice about that). But a higher GMAT score might be useful to you for other reasons - if you decide to apply elsewhere, if you are seeking a scholarship, or if a potential employer is interested in your score, for example. If your time is really at a premium now, that might be a good reason to move forward with applications, but if you had the time to retake, I think it's worth considering.

Hi Ash1251,

Given how well you scored on your practice exams, and given the bad luck you encountered during the verbal section, I don't think it would hurt to give the GMAT one more shot. If for some reason you don’t break 710, you can just cancel your score.

If you end up retaking, let me know. Good luck!

710 is a decent score and probably sufficient for MIM programs. If this were for MBA, then you would need to consider several other factors since you would have much more competition.

Re: the poor quality of the pens. Can you try to raise this issue with GMAC? Too many testtakers are having to deal with poor exam conditions. It is high time something were done about this issue.

Re: blurred eyes and possible need for spectacles. Well, you should know before you go to the test whether you have need for spectacles, or am I missing something? And yes, please put eye drops much before the test as they will hinder your vision.

People should not underestimate these supposedly external issues, including anxiety which can be both helpful and can detract, on test day. Cheers.

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Thanks for your input. So I spoke to an admissions conaultant and after evaluating my profile he doesn't think I need to take the test again. He says I should focus on getting my applications ready for round one. However, Once I'm done with my applications (and if I have extra time left after that) I might just decide to go ahead with the retake.

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Thanks for your input and time! I'll go for a retake if I need to and if find the time.

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