GMAT Score 710 - Weak Quant - Should I Retake?

Question

Hello everyone,

I've just taken the GMAT, and scored a 710 - Q44 (54%), V41 (94%)

I aim to go to a top business school, and feel the quant score is just not good enough.

I am particularly disheartened with the quant score because I prepared over several months, and did 6 GMATprep practice tests over the course of 6 weeks prior to the official exam, the results of which indicated significant improvement (went from 44 to 49 in Quant). Below are my exam results:

Practice Exam 1: Q44 (63%); V42 (96%); Total 710 (92%)
Practice Exam 2: Q45 (68%); V42 (96%); Total 710 (92%)
Practice Exam 3: Q49 (81%); V42 (96%); Total 740 (97%)
Practice Exam 4: Q49 (83%); V41 (93%); Total 740 (97%)
Practice Exam 5: Q49 (83%); V42 (96%); Total 750 (98%)
Practice Exam 6: Q49 (83%); V40 (90%); Total 720 (94%)
Official GMAT : Q44 (54%); V41 (94%); Total 710 (91%)

Looking at the results above, I feel my official quant score clearly doesn't reflect my capabilities.

So here are my questions:

1) Is a 54% percentile quant score a no-go for top tier business schools? (Consider that my undergrad GPA is 3.9 - Engineering)
2) In light of the the answer to (1), and my performance on practice exams, should I retake the GMAT as soon as possible? 
3) If so, what should I do differently in my preparation this time?

Your feedback is much appreciated!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi abdris92,

First off, a 710 is an outstanding score (it's right around the 90th percentile overall), so you should apply to any Business Schools that interest you. As such, a retest might not be necessary. While a Q44 won't impress anyone, it won't necessarily keep you out of competition either. With highly competitive Programs, it's important to remember that you need a strong OVERALL application AND you need to properly 'market yourself' to each individual Program. Depending on the Schools that you plan to apply to, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile. There's a Forum full of them here:

ask-admission-consultants-124/

Since you listed your prior CAT scores, I have a few questions about how you took your CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)?
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? Had you seen any of the questions BEFORE?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

abdris92 · Answer

Hi Rich,

Thanks for the response.

I am about a year away from applying to any programs, so at this point I'm just concerned with ticking off the GMAT box before moving on to other aspects of my application.

Regarding your questions:

1) I skipped just the essay in 5/6 CATs. The last one was the full drill.

2&3) I took the last 3 CATs at home at the same time of the actual exam.

4) I did pause on a few questions (2 or 3 per exam), and took longer breaks (about 15 minutes).

5) I took all the CATs for the first time using the official GMATPrep software

Sent from my iPhone using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi abdris92,

Test Day is a rather specific 'event' - the details are specific and they matter, so you have to train as best as you can for all of them. The more realistic you can make your CATs, the more likely the score results are to be accurate. The more you deviate, the more "inflated" your scores can become - and that's what happened here. By skipping sections, taking the CATs at home, pausing the CATs, taking longer breaks, etc., you weren't properly training for the FULL GMAT 'experience.' The fact that you scored as well as you did is surprising - usually these types of deviations (such as the ones that you described) lead to much larger drops in score.

This is all meant to say that with a bit more study time - AND a strict adherence to taking your CATs in a manner that 'matches up' with what you'll face on Test Day - you could potentially score higher.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

abdris92 · Answer

Having said that, I think a few things might have thrown me off during the exam:

1) The reusable booklets/notepads. I had never used them before and felt awkward writing on them, especially at the beginning. Also, I had to ask for an extra notepad twice during the quant section (no pauses of course).

2) I had to drive back home and back to the test center prior to the exam; the test administrator required my passport rather than my driving license. Distracting to say the least.

One more piece of information:
I did some Manhattan prep quant CATs after practice exam 3 as I was trying to improve my quant performance. I always scored between 44-45, but assumed that was down to Manhattan's notoriously difficult quants.

abdris92 · Answer

Thanks Rich,

Will definitely focus on strictly replicating the test environment in my future preparation, now that I know what it's like.

Your thoughts and insights are greatly appreciated.

And your signature line is so true

Hope to gain assassin status soon.

Happy new years!

Hope to gain assassin status soon. Happy new years!

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