Strong GMAT Score (770 Q49 V47) but low IR (5) - any possible issues?

Question

Hi GMAT Club friends,

I took the GMAT today and was lucky to score  770 (Q49 V47) , however got a  5 on IR .
I had chosen to take IR and AWA at the end, and messed up my timing a little bit which made me guess through the last 3-4 questions.

I have average GPA, so will be using the GMAT score to prove that my "skills/abilities" are good enough.

Do you think a 5 on IR will significantly affect my chances  of making it to a Top 10 US B-School? I don't want to retake the GMAT.

sahilmshah92 · Answer

First of all, congratulations on the amazing score! Regarding your question, in my opinion, NO - an IR 5 should not affect your chances to get admission in a Top 10 B-school. As it is, a 770 is a great score to catch the adcom's attention. I'd suggest that you improve your chances by focusing on your applications rather than retaking the exam. Cheers!

patto · Answer

OMG bro!! How did you manage to score so well!
Please give me some tips on the verbal section haha

Sent from my Moto G (4) using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

AjiteshArun · Answer

With a 770, I doubt you'd have to take the exam again even if you had a 1 in IR.

Congrats, and all the best!

daboo343 · Answer

No, low IR doesn't reduce your chances for admission in any of the top business school.

stoiczoan · Answer

Thank you for weighing in here, folks. Appreciate your guidance.

patto 
will be writing a debrief soon and I hope it can be helpful.

HeadingEast · Answer

While I agree that your score is extremely compelling in any scenario, I must call out one anecdote.

It is yet to be seen how admissions representatives will compensate/react for the differences among those who chose their section order and those who couldn't. It was absolutely an attempt on behalf of GMAC to get admissions representatives to care more about IR & AWA. It is to be expected that on a macro level those who were afforded the right to take quant & verbal first would achieve higher composite scores. Perhaps as a result admissions will begin to look to AWA & IR specifically to differentiate.

HeadingEast · Answer

With all this being said, I think your application timing is choice as I would imagine this reaction would take a couple years to materialize.

AjiteshArun · Answer

It will be very difficult to "compensate" for the select section order feature. Firstly, the GMAC's study on this showed that there is no statistical difference (hard to disprove without another such study), and secondly, the section order is not identified, and the original order is still an option, so it's hard to say whether a recent score was obtained under different conditions.

I'm still very interested in seeing which way average scores move though.

HeadingEast · Answer

Of course GMAC is going to say there is not statistical difference, that's all I will say.

And while they can't see order, they are certainly aware of the change and may begin to view a high IR score as a barameter of "stamina"

Posted from my mobile device

AjiteshArun · Answer

I'm not saying that you're wrong about select section order's leading to an increase in scores. I personally think that it will really help a lot of test takers. What I'm saying is that it is hard for schools to justify taking any action on this. And the second point was that because the possibility exists that even a recent score was obtained under the "original" conditions (because the original order is still an option), a school can't just adjust a score downwards or use IR to measure things like stamina.

HeadingEast · Answer

Right, I'm in agreement an adcom can't look at an individual score and say aww we should take this score with a grain of salt because he/she had a favorable section order. This is why I noted I think this change will take a couple years to take effect. But over time, on a macro level I think admissions reps will care more about the IR score as a differentiator as composite scores continue to creep up as they already have

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

HeadingEast · Answer

At any rate, this thread has gotten completely away from its intended purpose. Stoiczoan, you should be extremely proud of your score and would be crazy to consider ever retaking the GMAT again in your life.

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

ccooley · Answer

Congrats on the 770! I very much doubt that a 5 on IR will change anything. That said, this is a conversation to have with an admissions counselor. Some companies do free consultations where you could get this question answered -  mbaMission , which is a partner of Manhattan Prep, is one of them.

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Strong GMAT Score (770 Q49 V47) but low IR (5) - any possible issues?

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