Should I Retake? 720 (Q: 51 V: 35)

Question

ugh... my mind is really bugging me out right now.
i just got a 720 yesterday which i AM happy with, don't get me wrong.

but i'm really aiming for the top 10 schools. with such a wide gap between Q and V and a sub 750 score...  is it worth retaking the exam? 

another factor that really weights heavily on my mind is that, i've been searching the internet and apparently i got a perfect math score. will this offset my low verbal score?

i'm currently an engineer and all throughout my life i have greatly feared large amounts of reading and writing... when it comes to things i have no interest in (topic-wise).

should i hit the books and try to raise my total score by raising verbal (and possibly lowering my math score)? or is a low 700 with perfect math score good enough?

any thoughts and advice would be appreciated. thanks!

oh, and if you think i should retake it again, if you can i would appreciate tips on how i can improve verbal.

===============================

Looks like people include how they studied, so i'll include a short piece
--
Honestly, i did not take any classes or use any other books besides OG11. considering my low verbal score, you probably don't want to emulate. i just didn't know how to study. i didn't even know these forums existed until i went online to check out how a 720 fares.

1) 4 weeks before exam, bought the all-famous anywhere you go OG11 book... which is a 100% must have
2) The purple and green books to me looked like a waste of money because the concepts are exact copies as from the OG11, all they have new are more practice problems... up to your discretion...
3) Did OG11 for about 2 weeks, then downloaded GMATPrep
4) Took each practice test twice and did some practice verbal because it was always my weak spot
5) Ate Sausage / Egg Mc-Muffin with Orange Juice and Hashbrown on the morning of the test
6) Went to the test center 2 hours ahead of time with my friend (we were taking together). Practiced 1 essay, drank starbucks and played Brain Age.

*** I played Brain Age for Nintendo DS at least once a day as well... which i honestly think helped to some degree. it gets your mind in the right way of thinking!

--- For math at least... OG11 is more than enough in my opinion. I can't imagine learning anything more than what I did in OG. As long as you can UNDERSTAND the concepts and logic, instead of memorizing things you will be fine. Always UNDERSTAND, NOT MEMORIZE.
--- When reviewing problems you got incorrect... don't review why you got THAT problem wrong and how to get THAT problem right. UNDERSTAND the underlying concepts and logics used.
--- How I see it is this. GMAT uses basic concepts (which are ALL in OG11) and basic logics. They make problems using these in different combinations. mix and match concepts with different logics (types of thinking in a way). Just learn what logics you can use for each problem and understand the logics instead of focusing on getting the problems right.
--- McDonald's breakfast rocks
--- BrainAge is always good and it's fun!

--- As for Verbal, I have not a clue how to prepare. I guess OG11 and GMATPrep wasn't enough.

ncp · Answer

whats your profile like? nationality, work ex, extra-curriculars, undergrad school etc.

HavoK_MAT · Answer

I'm a Korean, but born and raised in the US, yet currently working in a native Korean company in Korea (obviously). I'm in a global company as a programmer for the 3G mobile phone handset division. No, not Samsung, LG, hehe. Been here for 3 years, still have no clue what corporate life in America is like, but I'm sure it's much better than corporate Korea.

Graduated from RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) with a BS in Computer Science. GPA 3.4

hm... Extra-Curriculars, that's a tough one. I don't know if I can say this on my application, but I'm a proficient BlackJack card counter and have made quite a lot by going about once a week. Also i play computer games... i'm not one of those people you read about doing amazing things like solving rubix cubes in 10 seconds or anything. i guess i'm weak in that area. i used to make programs on my own time, but i'm getting really bored of this computer biz.

oh, also, i really want to get into Finance (Trading) so maybe verbal will have less of an impact?

bradcc · Answer

It's gotta be the breakfast!!.. The score I got today was the exact opposite of yours 710(Q:45, V:41), and I had chinese meat bun for breakfast. Next time I'll try to eat both a mcmuffin and a meat bun maybe i'll get a balanced score :evil:

BTW I was in the same situation as you 4 years ago when I gave my first GMAT(Q49, V36). I was having trouble with verbal at that time but it did not bother me that much since English isn't my first language. However, this time around, I found verbal to be less of a problem for me than math is. I think it might have something to do with the fact that I read a lot of technical documents(often boring and monotonous) at work so that the GMAT RC readings seem more manageable now. As for SC, I found going thru Kaplan GMAT 800 was helpful for me since it identifies all the tough tricks that GMAC commonly throws in this section. .. anyways.. good luck to u if you decide to retake.. good luck to myself too :lol:

bsd_lover · Answer

Good man, I want to get into trading as well !!

Which schools are you looking at ?

braindancer · Answer

I'd say no, don't retake. You have a stellar Q and a decent V. The boost you can get from pushing your V is less important than the overall negative impression of "GMAT-obsessed" guy.

Leave GMAT alone, go work on other parts of your app.

RLM · Answer

Agreed with the rest of the posters here - most top schools say their average is 710 and I think that means they accept a wide cluster of students whose GMAT is around that .. in your case spot-on :wink:

riverripper · Answer

Your Q is perfect and essays will display your ability to communicate in written english...so as long as you put together good essays then I wouldnt be worried about your V score. If it was the other way around it would be a tougher question to retake or not to.

HavoK_MAT · Answer

thanks everybody for your encouragement.
i would like to be a regular on this forum because it seems like a very nice and healthy community.
it seems from this forum as well as other people i've asked that retaking would just be a waste of time and i have decided not to.

if anybody is having trouble with the quantitative section, i would be glad to help out with personal strategies i made up for different types of questions.

bsd_lover:
heya, a big part of my decision on schools is location as well as the program. the top 5 i would like to go to are
1) UC Berkeley
2) MIT
3) Harvard
4) UPenn
5) Cornell

how about yourself?

salr15 · Answer

Great score! Don't retake! I will be coming to you for assistance with that Q 51!! :wink:

I am a really bad with the number property questions, I would like to see how you tackled these. Also really bad at probability and combinations. I will be beginning my studying late August so hopefully you are still around..

kryzak · Answer

CONGRATS on the score. I wouldn't retake it again myself, and I definitely want to know how you got Q51. I got a Q50 on my GMATPrep, but I'm afraid stupid errors will drop that score.

seofah · Answer

when you show motivation in trading in your school essays, adcom will mainly look at your quantitative score.
You have nothing to worry about.
Just consider schools that are strong in finance (Columbia, NYS, Chicago, Wharton)
good luck

bsd_lover · Answer

I figured that for Sales and trading I needed to get into a Finance heavy school. Initially I wanted to do an MFin from Princeton, however I gave up on that idea after they said my quant was "on the lower scale of acceptable" . (I had a 48). Now my main targets are : Columbia - J-Term Wharton Chicago MIT In that order. Columbia J-Term because it starts early (and I want to start early). Wharton and Chicago because well.. they are finance powerhouses. MIT because I have always wanted to meet someone who's gone to MIT

.

HavoK_MAT · Answer

To be completely honest with you, I haven't really thought about the schools that much. I told myself to only start researching IFF I got a competitive GMAT score and gave myself a maximum of two times this year to take it. I didn't know whether I'd get a 400 or an 800 so I just kept a cool mind and took it. I guess now it's time to research which I will start within a few days (even though it was only 4 weeks, those 4 weeks of study was pretty intense) because I'd really like to take a little breather with the little free time I do have. For the list I posted, it was a pretty on-the-spot made up list mainly looking at locale and I guess, the rank... pretty superficial I know.

From your post and another post before, it seems I need to re-evaluate my target schools. How do you know if a school is a "finance powerhouse"? What is the best way to find out more about a specific school's strengths/weaknesses? Google? The school's website?

bsd_lover · Answer

I am just going by my own research and general reputation. Wharton is reputed to be the #1 school when it comes to finance teaching without doubt. Although recently University of Chicago has caught up in this department. Columbia is great for networking and industry contacts because of its location. The type of things I researched were general employment statistics, rankings in various web sites. Look into the business school information forums in GMAT club. They are very informative as well. Good luck. Remember selecting a school to aim at is very easy, getting in not so easy

kidderek · Answer

no

unless you can get to 760+ with very little effort (25 hours max)

HavoK_MAT · Answer

just got my official score report today!

5.0 on AWA!

seofah · Answer

awesome!

simonsanchez · Answer

Thanks for the study insights!
I would not take it again if I were you. You got a magnificent score, my friend! Also, from an admissions standpoint, you mentioned you are Korean...the fact that you have minority status with that high of a score gives you a great shot at getting into one of your top choices. You even have great potential for scholarships at that level.
I mention this as your typical white boy married to a minority (Hispanic). In our undergrad, we had the same grades, yet she went through on scholarship and I'll be paying off student loans for some time! :lol:

Just present well on the essays and interviews...and avoid the blackjack scandals, i.e. I believe it was the MIT grads who got caught up in the card counting scandal in Atlantic City...Google it! I saw it on Dateline or 20/20 or something!
Great Job!

Just present well on the essays and interviews...and avoid the blackjack scandals, i.e. I believe it was the MIT grads who got caught up in the card counting scandal in Atlantic City...Google it! I saw it on Dateline or 20/20 or something! Great Job!

pelihu · Answer

Just for reference, Koreans are not really considered underrepresented minorities (for the purposes of bschool admissions) - certainly not to the extent that Hispanics are. Being a minority isn't enough, in fact it could hurt you (for example Chinese and Indian applicants have it tougher than your typical white boy). The key is whether or not your demographic is underrepresented.

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Should I Retake? 720 (Q: 51 V: 35)

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