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Got 710, is retake advisable?

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kstyle
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Got 710, is retake advisable? [#permalink] New post   13 Oct 2012, 02:37
I took GMAT yesterday after a long and tough preparation and scored 710 (Q46/V41) . This is my second attempt (first was in Feb12 630 (Q47/V29). Verbal always has been my weakest area and I focused on it heavily. Meanwhile before the second attempt my Quant score on GMATPrep never was less than 49.
My last GMATPrep:
29.09 Q49 V42 750
03.10 Q47 V40 710
11.10 Q49 V40 720

710 is obviously a good score, but the point is that I scored quite good at Verbal – 41 and less than usual in Quant. Now I feel that by working a little bit on Math (my strong area) I can achieve around 750.
I’m targeting to the top 5 schools including H,S,Ch,W in R2 and I’m 10 years out of college, so I think that high GMAT score is essential for top-3 schools.
Right now I’m considering two strategies:
1. Accept this score and focus on essays. Thus I have enough time for essays and won’t have score less than I have now.
2. Retake the Gmat in mid-November. Possibly higher score, less time for applications.
Couple of words about myself: 34 yo, non-native(Ukraine), currently working as a marketing manager in telecom

Please advise
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ManhattanReview
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Re: Got 710, is retake advisable? [#permalink] New post   13 Oct 2012, 08:33
From an admissions perspective, the difference between a 710 and a 740 is not that great from an admissions perspective. However, the difference between a good application and a great application is huge. Thus, my advice is to move forward and start your applications. Also, the time and energy needed to prepare an outstanding application is huge and I would rather have you use your limited time and energy on the essays and application than studying for the GMAT again. Lastly, although 2nd round deadlines are a few months away, get started as soon as possible as time flies by.

Kimberly Plaga
Senior Admissions Consultant
Manhattan Review
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kstyle
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Re: Got 710, is retake advisable? [#permalink] New post   13 Oct 2012, 08:49
ManhattanReview wrote:
From an admissions perspective, the difference between a 710 and a 740 is not that great from an admissions perspective. However, the difference between a good application and a great application is huge. Thus, my advice is to move forward and start your applications. Also, the time and energy needed to prepare an outstanding application is huge and I would rather have you use your limited time and energy on the essays and application than studying for the GMAT again. Lastly, although 2nd round deadlines are a few months away, get started as soon as possible as time flies by.

Kimberly Plaga
Senior Admissions Consultant
Manhattan Review


Thanks, Kimberly for your reply. Your are probably right.
However I thought that since Quant usually was my strong area I can comparatively easy improve my score to say 49-50. That consequently will lead to more outstanding 740-750.
On the other hand, it is absolutely true that preparation of 3-4 applications will take a lot of time and I will be in a hurry.
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kstyle
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Re: Got 710, is retake advisable? [#permalink] New post   13 Oct 2012, 09:07
Kimberly, could you please clarify whether schools consider my last attempt or my best score in case if I will retake and will have a worse score than current 710?
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Re: Got 710, is retake advisable? [#permalink] New post   14 Oct 2012, 15:26
The majority of schools (90%+) will take your highest score. 710 is a decent score - sure if you retake you might have a good shot at getting the 740/750. But the incremental benefit here of retaking vs getting promoted or having more diverse business experiences, aspirations, or stories is relatively less at this point. If your work experience and applications can't tell a compelling story even if you spent time on it, then in that case your time is better spent retaking the gmat exam. But usually it's the case that strengthening the rest of the application is a better use of your time. Achieving your "max" gmat score is the goal - but 710 ain't bad either.
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aah123
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Re: Got 710, is retake advisable? [#permalink] New post   14 Oct 2012, 17:04
Hi Kstyle,
What all prep material you used for your GMAt prep, please let me know as I am starting to prepare for it so need to know what all material is good so that I can get that.

Thanks in advance.
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kstyle
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Re: Got 710, is retake advisable? [#permalink] New post   14 Oct 2012, 23:41
gmatpill wrote:
The majority of schools (90%+) will take your highest score. 710 is a decent score - sure if you retake you might have a good shot at getting the 740/750. But the incremental benefit here of retaking vs getting promoted or having more diverse business experiences, aspirations, or stories is relatively less at this point. If your work experience and applications can't tell a compelling story even if you spent time on it, then in that case your time is better spent retaking the gmat exam. But usually it's the case that strengthening the rest of the application is a better use of your time. Achieving your "max" gmat score is the goal - but 710 ain't bad either.



Thanks a ton for your reply gmatpill.
I probably will take a symbiotic strategy. I will spend another 2 weeks on my prep and, if my score will be in 750 range, I will retake the exam in mid-November.
In the other case, I will leave GMAT behind me and focus on my application.
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kstyle
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Re: Got 710, is retake advisable? [#permalink] New post   15 Oct 2012, 00:08
aah123 wrote:
Hi Kstyle,
What all prep material you used for your GMAt prep, please let me know as I am starting to prepare for it so need to know what all material is good so that I can get that.

Thanks in advance.



Hi, aah123
Since I was out college for a long time and English is not my native language, I had to spent almost a year on my prep. As a result I went through many different materials, some of them, such as MGMAT SC, several times.
After I will retake or will decide not to retake GMAT I'll post a detailed debrief of my journey.

Briefly:
In Verbal I like most MGMAT SC, Powerscore CR Bible, Aristotle SC Grail, R99
In Math - MGMAT Books + MGMAT tests. Gmatclub tests are really good.
In addition I took many tests
And finally I can assure you that Gmat is hard, but you can learn it with time and persistent efforts.
Good luck
GMAT Club Bot
gmatclubot
Re: Got 710, is retake advisable? [#permalink]
15 Oct 2012, 00:08

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