Guidance on GMAT re-take

Hi Vigneshwaar,

First off, a 760/Q50 is an outstanding Score, so you can comfortably apply to ANY Business Schools that interest you. As such, a retest is NOT necessary. Since you are interested in some highly-competitive Schools, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile. Those Experts should be able to answer your Admissions questions and help define the specific areas of your profile that could use some improvement. There's a Forum full of those Experts here:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admissio ... tants-124/

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

HI Vigneshwaar,

760 is a great GMAT score! Although I would never stop you from retaking the GMAT, I don't' think it's a necessity given how well you've already scored.

Congratulations!! I wonder where does this determination come from!! Just a suggestion from a fellow applicant - devote more time on applications as GMAT hardly matters after a certain threshold. Spend that time attending events, talking to adcom and alumni. Even those that offers scholarships on GMAT scores would have a threshold of 740. So you will be eligible for those in any case.

Whatever you decide, all the best!!!

Posted from my mobile device

Thanks for the kind words, folks.

AndrewN and EMPOWERgmatRichC - Thanks for the suggestions, I'll definitely ask the consultants to get their POV before plunging headfirst into another attempt

shameekv1989 - haha, it's primarily because I know I'm capable of more. Can you shed some more light on the >740 logic for scholarships? This is the first time I'm hearing about it.

The primary assumption I'm proceeding with is that a re-take, coupled with a 20-30 point increase, might cost me ~$300 (50 for the exam pack, 250 for the test) but if it gets me even a $5k increase in financial aid, that's a 16x ROI. While I'll be asking this to the admissions consultants, I'm wondering if anyone here can give me data to make/break this hypothesis - i.e. increasing my score by 20-30 points might net me a greater aid package.

I remember seeing few of the German colleges offering high-GMAT scholarships. Of course, the top most colleges might not offer such scholarships as they don't need to. But my point was even those that offer has a cut off at 740 or so. I don't think the top colleges would need to offer scholarships with 780 and not with 760 to attract you. After a certain threshold, GMAT score just stops to matter imo.

In anycase, I respect your determination and your confidence. But I would still suggest you to work harder on your applications instead as essays matter much more than you would think.

All the best!! And keep us all updated!! Cheers!!

- Shameek

Hello again, Vigneshwaar. I cannot argue with your potential ROI figures, but in my seven years in the field as a full-time tutor, I have not known anyone to get a greater merit-based scholarship at the schools you listed for 20-30 extra points within the 99th percentile. I also think the words you should heed the most from your entire scenario are primary assumption—you are assuming you will earn those 20-30 extra points in one more sitting, apparently based on nothing more than practice test results, even though you yourself wrote in your initial post that you found the exam to be harder than my mocks. To be honest, again speaking from my experience as a tutor, many students who rush into a retake earn a lower score, and some earn a different mix of sub-scores with the same outcome in total score. This process of retakes and score cancellations can be frustrating, to say the least. Far be it from me to tell you you cannot earn a higher score, but I do not see a compelling reason for you to take the hot seat once again. (Even if you wanted to become a GMAT™ tutor, you would already have earned your wings, so to speak.)

Best of luck to you. I hope, as Shameek has already expressed above, that you will keep us posted on further developments.

- Andrew

Thanks again, Andrew. I just got the chance to reply to your comments.

I guess I was just being a bit paranoid given the over-representation! I shall certainly keep this thread posted on developments.

I'll also start working on my de-brief over the next week as you'd suggested. Time to start giving something back to the community.

Vignesh