Low GMAT - What to do

Question

I know that time is short, but I would strongly recommend taking the exam again. There is no reason to let such a (relatively) easy to correct issue dictate which schools you apply to. As you probably already know, the vast majority of schools take the higher/highest score. 

It is dismaying to receive a low score on any test (standardized or unstandardized) but the key to any test is to identify your weaknesses and correct them.

minhthel · Answer

I highly recommend you take it again. Spend another burst of energy on it and retake it. I know time is of the essence but it is worth it to give it another shot. And this time you are a pro, you have gone through the experience once already. It will come easier.

good luck to you.

richardj · Answer

I think you should retake it.

If I was an admissions tutor at a college which would take a score of 520, I would still want to know if you underperformed on the day or not. And I would wonder why you didn't want to know that, given you have the time.

If you work on what went wrong, but without getting stressed, with test familiarisation, you should manage to do 550.

I think that 550 (>50%le) would look a lot better than 520 (<50%le).

I don't think there is any point in retaking more than once.

richardj · Answer

Reading the reply something else has struck me about the opening post.

I am English and I would never write something like :

" I'm incredibly bright, funny, motivated and driven "

to start with, whether it was true or not.

I say that not as a criticism of the poster, nor of the American system, but as a cultural observation. For anyone dealing with English people, or planning to apply to British business schools, a vital attribute for impressing the English is modesty and preferably a self-deprecating or ironic sense of humour. A sarcastic insult is the most likely reply for failing to comply with this cultural norm in this country.

coffeeloverfreak · Answer

Yes, and us Canadians are modest without the wit or irony. I often think we could use a dose of your sarcasm, Richard.

richardj · Answer

(Thanks coffee. We love Canadians, even if we can't always tell you apart from Americans. We even let you vote in our elections, if you live here !)

On reflection, I think it would have been better to have this discussion on another thread, rather than get confused with gfetner's genuine query on his personal application circumstances. I apologise to him for that, and wish him all the best.

coffeeloverfreak · Answer

Yeah, sorry for getting off-topic as well. I also meant no criticism to you, gfetner. I don't think you sounded immodest, it's just a cultural difference thing.

By the way, I'm no expert on this, but my thinking is that an MBA is an enormous investment - in time, in money, in effort and energy. If the rest of your stats are good enough to get you into your dream school, and the GMAT score is the only thing holding you back, then why not try again and bring up the score? What's the point in settling for your second or third choice if you can achieve your first choice by writing the test again?

That's just my $0.02. Probably not worth very much. (Actually, at today's exchange rates, it's worth exactly $0.0171136 US.)

richardj · Answer

Is that with or without the incomprehensible Canadian sales tax ? Let the American discussion continue here : https://www.gmatclub.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=20264

coffeeloverfreak · Answer

OK.

Andrea_ · Answer

agree with you-that's what we europeans would never understand about americans. i'm surprised that the author didn't wrote about his/her sport achievements.
(no offense, just another cultural observation)

terp26 · Answer

talk about reviving a 4 year old thread lol

JoeSchmo · Answer

Been there done that. You just have to keep studying.
I got 400 the first time and I was devastated. 
What kept me going was my desire to reach 500, since I had a good GPA.
Instead, I got 650 the second time. 500 is attainable if you at least spent 10hrs a week
for 3 months.

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