adampaul wrote:
Hi all,
I took the GMAT two days ago and scored 660 (Q47 V34). Disappointing result, considering my goal of at least 700.
Now, my question is: should I cancel my score?
I want to apply to MSc Financial Economics at Oxford, MSc Finance at London School of Economics, Masters in Financial Analysis at London Business School, and MSc Finance at Stockholm School of Economics. The UK schools are my first choice.
I know my score is not good enough for Oxford, LSE, or LBS, so I will have to apply in the next round with a retake.
However, SSE had a GMAT range of 640-770 (median 700) in the 2022 intake. Is it smarter to just keep my score so I know I can apply to SSE by the final deadline on January 15, and then retake the GMAT in a month for the UK schools? I'm just worried that having the score on my record will hurt my chances if I manage to improve it.
About my GMAT:
I planned to take the GMAT online early next week, but I made a dumb mistake in that I missed that Oxford MFE only allows the online GMAT in special cases. I immediately checked the available test center times, and the only available time was 11 hours later. I booked it and took an offcial mock test before I went to bed, which I scored 670 on. My only other
OG test scores are 720 which I took one week earlier, and 640 which is the test I took before I even knew how the GMAT is structured.
On the test day I actually felt pretty good. Not pressed on time at all. I finshed both quant and verbal with 5 minutes left. Got kind of surprised when I saw the results, because I didn't feel like I struggled with a lot of questions. Thinking more about it, I understand that having time over and feeling that the test is easy might not be a good sign.
My profile (if it matters for any of your advice):
Don't know conversion of my GPA, but I have 11.25/12 on Danish scale (10 A's and 6 B's on EU ECTS scale) from Copenhagen Business School, current part-time position in a Big 4 Corporate Finance team, have an ok 6-month internship from a in-house strategy department, exchange at Bocconi.
Sorry if this post was a bit unstructured. Thank you for any help.
Hey Adam,
While there is No one right way to look at your dilemma. Each stand would have its pros and cons, and I think you would be the best judge of what is important for you.
Given the next rounds start becoming more competitive, and assuming the worst, that you maintain your current score, there is a likelihood, however remote, of the next rounds not being productive for you.
If I were you, I would apply to SSE with the current score (and get myself a foothold), and revise my GMAT to improve it parallelly with the SSE Application.
Best case, your score improves, and the AdCom is impressed with your improvement in such a short duration...
Worst Case; it doesn't improve enough for you to aspire for Oxford. But then, that is already the case right now. However, assuming you got an admission into SSE, you could always ask them to defer the admission for 1 year, and try Oxford again next year R1.
Hope this helps..