Should I retake a 700 (Q42, V44, IR8)?

Question

Dear GMATClub and experts,

Today I took my second test and scored  700 (88th percentile), Q42 (45th percentile), V44 (98th percentile), and IR8 (93rd percentile) .
This is an improvement of 80 points from when I took it a year ago.

I am very unsure of whether or not to retake it, and would love your advice .
The following may be important:
*  Aiming for top 5 schools 
*  Have excellent work experience 
 - Will apply with 1.5-2.5 years experience from top tier consultancy (MBB) (European and African offices)
 - Worked with private equity in sub-saharan africa (whilst still studying)
 - Worked directly with top-management of fortune-500 level company for 1.5 years (whilst still studying)
 - Ran own investment firm w. good results (>250% ROE)
*  Have good academic record 
 - Graduated valedictorian from most selective programme in my country
 - Studied (at university level) in Europe, Asia, and the US
*  Limited study time 
 - I studied intensely for ~2 weeks (only studied quant. Fortunately, the verbal comes easily to me)
 - If I choose to retake, I have another exam scheduled two weeks from now (and have two weeks off work to continue studying)
*  From over-represented deomgraphic 
 - I am a white male from a Nordic European country

Should I retake, and will I be able to meaningfully improve my quant score in two weeks  (given that I have already given it a solid crack)?

IanStewart · Answer

It will depend where you're applying, but for more Quant-driven programs, you'd usually want at least a Q45 score. Your Verbal score is outstanding, and while your overall score will be slightly below average at top schools, a 700+ is normally acceptable.

So if you have reason to believe you can get a higher Quant score in two weeks, I think it would make sense to try. Hopefully you've taken some of the official GMATPrep tests, and if so, you'll have some impression of your level in Quant. If you were normally scoring above Q42 on GMATPrep, then you'll very likely do so on a test in two weeks. If the Q42 was higher than most of your diagnostic scores, then you'd need to make some genuine improvement before retaking to be confident of a higher Q score.

It's certainly possible to make a lot of progress in two weeks, but you'd need to identify quickly what you need to do to improve. Without more information about your Quant performance, I'd just be guessing what you need to do - it might be that you're making some careless errors on easier questions, or that you have some gaps in your foundation, or that you're getting all the easy and medium questions right and just need to learn some methods for medium-hard questions.

I'm not an admissions consultant, so if you want to know about specific schools, and about how well your profile compares with those of other applicants, it would be best to direct that question to an admissions specialist. Good luck!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi crosenvold,

First off, a 700 is an outstanding score (it's just shy of the 90th percentile overall), so you should apply to any Business Schools that interest you. Unfortunately, a Q42 will not 'impress' anyone - and in certain Programs (such as Finance and certain Specialty Programs) it would likely be seen as a 'red flag.' Depending on the specific Programs that you plan to apply to, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile. There's a Forum full of them here:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admissio ... tants-124/

1) What study materials did you use over the last few weeks?
2) Is there a reason why you're limiting yourself to just 2 additional weeks of study (with 4-6 weeks, you could potentially score into the mid-700s or even high-700s)?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Madavco · Answer

OK obviously not an expert here, but from my understanding the pool of applicants from MBB is an extremely competitive cohort. If you're targeting a top 5 school, then I would compare myself to similar applicants. So... are your achievements as impressive in that context? Is your "good academic record" still good in that context? If the answers are "maybe" or "no" then I would definitely retake the test to at least get to the average score of your target school(s), especially since you yourself say you come from an over-represented demographic.

AjiteshArun · Answer

I think you should take it again. An 80 point improvement in score with limited prep is excellent, and it's likely that there are more points there to be picked up. Try to get all your quant concepts in place (Q42 indicates that you're not yet very comfortable with the basics).

ozrider · Answer

Thank you all very much for your advice.

I decided to retake, as I had already booked the test date and taken time off work.
This Thursday, I sat for the GMAT again and got a 740 (Q49, V42, IR8). I am so relieved and happy that I went for it (and made it)!

Thank you for the wonderful support you all provide here!

AjiteshArun · Answer

That's great news! Congrats on the 740 :-D

Madavco · Answer

Good job! If you have a moment, think about dropping in on some of the other threads where people are having the same problem as you and sharing your experiences. I'm sure it will be greatly appreciated.

IanStewart · Answer

Congrats on the great score!

Should I retake a 700 (Q42, V44, IR8)?

Should I retake

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