Score cancellation strategy above 700

To get right to the heart of your question about a cancellation strategy:

-Take a good look at your Quant/Verbal breakdown and determine whether either side could be perceived as a weakness or at least an area you'd like to strengthen. 710 is a great score as everyone here has said, but if it's "unbalanced" particularly toward verbal (with a quant score more toward the middle of the curve) or toward quant (if you're an international student with a freakishly high quant but a modest verbal) you may want to keep a score that's similar overall but that showcases that you've addressed that "weakness" (which is admittedly a tricky word to use to someone who has a 710, but if you're "big game hunting" at top schools you don't want to leave any doubt).

-Particularly if you're concerned about one of your current section scores, don't be so quick to cancel a 700 or 690 on which you boosted that weaker section score up. As an example, I've had students hit the high 600s / low 700s with fairly unimpressive quant scores (in the mid 40s or so). My advice to them is that even if your score goes down 10-20 points but if you get your quant score up to ~47, keep the score. The reason? I've seen quite a few students get dinged with the feedback that "your quant score just wasn't high enough." So if their score report allows the school to report the 710 (albeit with a slightly lower quant score) BUT also shows that they're capable of a competitive quant score (even in a 700 or 690 effort), they've at least demonstrated "don't worry about my math ability."

-And keep in mind that schools are using GMAT score reports as part of a holistic process to assess candidates. It's definitely not "highest scores get in" but more nuanced than that. Even if they're not hard and fast cutoffs, schools often have thresholds on each section that they'd like to see before admitting someone. And schools want to look good in the rankings, so scores higher and higher into the 700s are assets for that reason - they allow the school to report a high average GMAT score and appear more and more competitive/selective. Schools are also looking at the candidate when they look at the score: if you're someone whose profile they love but who gives them pause because they worry about how well you'll compete in finance and stats classes, they may be scouring your score report and transcripts for reason to believe that's not a problem (that's where a lower overall but higher quant could help). Or if they worry about your communication/language ability, they may be looking harder at your verbal and AWA to help assuage that fear.

-Now on the flip side, there's a chance that schools might see your profile as "remarkably average" and see multiple attempts at the test without improvement as a reason not to take you. Or they may see other deficiencies in your application and think "why take the GMAT several times when you already had a 710 and could have used that time to write better essays or volunteer in the community (or whatever)?". I tend to be less worried about that (if that's their opinion of you, you probably weren't getting in anyway), but I'd certainly take that into consideration.

So my overall recommendation is:

1) If your new score provides any new value (higher score on your weaker area, particularly if it's an area you were concerned about) keep it, even if the overall is flat or down 10-20 points.

2) If your new score doesn't provide any new value (it's just lower without any marked improvement on your weakness, or it's a total tie, etc.) then cancel it.

I hope that helps!

Thanks for this! It was really helpful! I scored Q49/V39 with 6's for both IR and AWA, or, in order, percentiles of 78/89/67/91 (Q/V overall 91).Would my score be considered balanced/are there any points of weakness that would constitute a credible risk of dinging my application? If it is leaning more towards balanced than not, should I just be going for an overall score increase on both fronts? Would it appear strange if only one of quant/verbal increases or worse, if one decreases slightly but the other shows good improvement?

I understand that the GMAT is only one part of the application, but just figured if I already have the bookings, it doesn't hurt to try for a higher score especially if lesser scores can be cancelled. Thanks again

Hi olam107

I would advise you to get the Enhanced Score Report first. You will be able to see detailed analysis of how you performed in different types of questions and will help you find out what your "actual" weak areas are as opposed to what you "think" your weak areas are. You can see a sample ESR here: https://www.mba.com/india/store/store-catalog/gmat-preparation/gmat-enhanced-score-report.aspx
This will help you prepare for your next attempt in a more focused manner.

In your next attempt, if you get lower than your current score, then cancel the score. Cancelled scores and exam attempts do not appear on score reports. So, the universities that you apply to will not come to know about your them.

And, last but not the least, 710 might not be as bad a score as you make it out to be. People have got admissions in top 10 B schools with lower scores. GMAT score is not the ONLY admissions criteria.

Hope this helps.

All the best.

Glad that helped, olam107 - and given your Q49/V39 scores, there's really no weakness there to mitigate so I'd say you're in pretty good shape to see anything >710 as a keeper and anything less as a cancellation. There's nothing in your current score that anyone could perceive as a weakness, so there's really nothing to address except for just a higher overall score.

And that's really good news, btw - a 710 with that kind of balance is a really, really strong score, so if you don't improve don't worry too much...your GMAT score won't be what keeps you out of a t op business school at this point (but a substantially higher score could be that much more of an asset if you knock it out of the park on your next test).

Not to hijack, but I’m the exact situation. 710 on first GMAT and scheduled again in a few weeks. My breakdown was Q48, V39. I guess my Q was 1 point lower but still got same score somehow. Would you say mine is still balanced?

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