Scored 720, should I retake? All mocks are +750

Hello sebgutur22 hope you are well

With your prior experience in mbb, top grades, pedigree, and an underrepresented nationality I do not think you are at a disadvantage in applying with your current score. However, no expert here can guarantee you success, and therefore in order to put forth your "A" game, you could consider retaking the exam if you feel confident about doing better. At the same time, I cannot emphasize more the fact that a 750+ score alone would not get you into the school of your dreams, therefore, work on presenting a stellar narrative intertwining your personal stories and professional achievements and motivations to come across as a highly differentiated and deserving candidate.

Best wishes

Hi sebgutur22,

Considering you have the capability to improve your score as well as the time at hand, we would suggest that you give the GMAT another shot. Needless to say, you have a fine overall profile and the MBB experience will definitely be a value add. However, since you are looking at top-notch programs, the spike in GMAT score will help a lot.

Good luck!

Hi, sebgutur22,

Thank you for your post!

First, I would like to say you have a very interesting profile in terms of relevant work experience and did a great job backing a score of 720 on your GMAT; Moreover, it seems you are confident about your overall GPA; hence I would say you are good on the academic front. Coming to your question, first, I would like you to analyze what went wrong and how you slipped 30-40 points on your GMAT. Furthermore, since you are targeting the top five B-schools, it’s essential that you score around 735+ in your GMAT to increase your chances.

About your work experience, I see a lot of potential in them; all you need to do is elaborate more about your responsibilities, crucial projects assigned, examples of leadership, skill-set developed, all about promotions & professional accolades, and the impact generated during your three-year tenure. Moreover, it would also allow you to quote relevant international experiences as they are greatly valued at this stage. Furthermore, I would say add some ECAs to your profile, preferably your military experience or any volunteering experience/community work, and elaborate on your contribution, new challenges faced, leadership roles played, and the impact generated to bank upon them in your B-school essays.

Overall you have a decent profile and rightly stand a chance at the top five b-schools. However, a lot will depend on your retake; give your best shot, and don’t let the opportunity slip out. Finally, I would say your profile is still brief at some points, and I would like to know more about your post-MBA goals and ECAs in detail in order to assist you better. Hence, If you'd like, we are happy to hop on a call with you sometime this week to discuss your profile in length and further help you with your profile building strategy, feel free to book a free session with us at your convenience.

Cheers!
Neha Hadke
Profile Analyst & Channel Manager, MBA and Beyond
Testimonials
Email: neha@mbaandbeyond.com

Hey all,

Thank you again for your responses.

I wanted to update in case somebody stumbles upon this post.

I retook the gmat through the online version today (a week after my 720) and scored a 740 (Q48, V44). I was still disappointed with the quant score but I feel much better about the 740 than I did with the 720. I will actually retake again as before I figured out I could do the only gmat straight away I actually booked a test center gmat for 2 weeks from now and I guess might as well do it if the money is already spent.

I basically did zero studying this week, worked 90 hours during the week, including 15h yesterday (yeah on saturday, awesome job), slept <5hours, played golf and took the test at 7pm and did better. I think this just shows that despite all the advice you get about gmat day routines sometimes the best thing that you can do is just not think about it.

Thank you again for everyone who commented and hope this eases people who got a score below what they expected, sometimes it just happens and its ok to take it again.

Best,

Seb