Got 700 on first try, but should I take it again?

Question

Hello,

I'm looking for some good advice as to whether it would be worthwhile for me to take the GMAT again.

The bottom-line is that I think my score from my first GMAT try (700) is probably decent enough for the programs I'm applying to. Therefore, would it be worth it to spend the time and effort to take the GMAT one more time? (especially considering that I have a lot of other obligations on my plate right now)

The only possible reasons I can think of to take it again would be:
1) A higher score might give me a slightly better shot at getting in.
2) Scholarships? (I'm not betting that there are many available for me)
3) My quant score was weak, which might raise concerns.

Here is my situation in a little more detail:
- I'm applying in the 3rd round for a mix of part-time and executive MBA programs at three California schools - U.C. Berkeley, UCLA and USC.
- I just took the GMAT for the first time and got 700 with very little studying.
- My verbal saved me, as I got only 58th percentile in quant but 96th percentile in verbal. I was able to shoot from the hip with verbal, but my lack of doing practice problems in quant clearly hurt. Therefore, I'm sure I could improve a lot in quant if I devoted time to practice problems.
- My 700 is at the median or better for the programs that I'm applying to.
- I have just enough time to take the GMAT one more time for this round if I want.
- I'm pretty busy with work obligations, so study time is hard to come by.
- The strength of my overall application seems decent without any huge holes in grades, work experience, activities, etc.
- I really don't want to waste time studying and taking the test again if there isn't much upside to doing so.

Thanks in advance for any insights you may have.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi goingwest,

First off, a 700 is an outstanding score (right around the 90th percentile overall), even with a stronger Verbal performance (than Quant performance). As such, you should have no reservations about applying to any of the Schools that you listed. The 'short' answer to your question is that you don't *need* to retest.

Since you're really asking an 'Admissions question', you might want to pose your specific questions to the Experts in the Admissions Consultants' Forum here:

ask-admission-consultants-124/

You're probably going to have to provide more specific information about your overall profile than you've listed in this post, but you'll receive more pointed advice about your situation in that Forum.

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

shoaib16166 · Answer

Hi there,

Here are some of my brief observations based on your profile.

• Your profile would fit into the top 10 percentile of all applicants to US B-schools.
• Extra curricular activities are decent. A right mix of academic/work-related + community activities. This will be well appreciated by US b-schools.
• The most important thing in any top international B-school would be to put together a cogent and tight application. If you are able to showcase your strengths to the schools through a strong application, you can have excellent chance. You may also take help of professional consultants to draft and review your essays. Showcase your achievements and extracurricular activities you have in your essays and B-School application.
• Now coming to your three questions
• Your GMAT score of 700 is good. It would fall above or in the ball park of average GMAT score of all major US B-schools. Please note that HBS, Stanford, Booth and a couple of others would have slightly high average GMAT scores. While you need not sweat about it, it is a good idea to improve the score if you have the bandwidth.
• Your scholarship depends only on your entire profile,
• We could split your target US b-schools into three buckets
• Reach(1-2 schools) - Wharton, Kellogg, MIT, Tuck, Chicago (Here, keep in mind that it's much harder to get
• Fit(2-3 schools) - Duke, Darden, Berkeley, Cornell, Michigan, NYU, Yale, UCLA
• Safe(2-3 schools) - UT-Austin, Emory, Indiana, Purdue, Carnegie-Mellon, Kenan-Flagler plus others

You may also try Chance of B-school tool https://goo.gl/jtBrQy to gauge your chances for top B-schools.

Please let us know how you want to take this forward and we can get cracking. Good luck

Cheers!
Shoaib
https://www.genedmba.com

Cheers! Shoaib https://www.genedmba.com

alexau · Answer

Based on some of the items mentioned above, it definitely doesn't seem like you "have to" retake the GMAT. You seem pretty confident in the other aspects of your application (which are just as important as the GMAT component).

It will always great to boost the score, as it will make you more competitive for any school, but as you mentioned, you need to know if its "worth it." Based on all of your obligations, it seems like you may not have much time to study over the next month. Even though you didn't study much leading up to this exam, every notch above 700 requires more and more effort and studying. Without much time to prep (or even just unfocused prep), you may just find yourself spinning your wheels for another month with limited benefit.

If you had a full month to focus on dedicate yourself to GMAT, then I could see you wanting to retake the exam. But given your current status with a GMAT at or above the median for every program, decent grades and work experience, and a ton of obligations at work, it may be more beneficial to spend your time on the actual application (as those always take more time than one expects). Crafting a good story for your essays may have the higher ROI over the next month.

The last thing I can say from my experience with a retake is that you are going to want to work on stuff almost every day. For the month between my original exam and my retake, I was doing at least an hour each day to make sure everything was fresh in my mind. Based on your current score, you probably don't have any glaring weaknesses but rather its probably a bunch of nitpicky issues that trip you up, which are ultimately the hardest to diagnose and address. I think if you can commit to a month of studying (while working on applications), then go for it. You seem to have the upside to move the needle in your favor. But if you are swamped at work (or even just don't want to retake it, which is totally understandable), I think you are in a pretty good spot right now.

GMATPill · Answer

700 is a great score -- just keep in context your overall application profile. You may not be the candidate that stands out with a 700+ score, but if you feel confident you can stand out in another way -- your background, your story, your career path -- then this should be a good-enough score for the target schools you want. If you have a clear story/path/reason for business school and can differentiate yourself based on your work experience, then you got a lot going for you.

Remember, optimize for your overall application profile - not just one local maxima.

Remember, optimize for your overall application profile - not just one local maxima.

RichEconomistGMAT · Answer

Hi goingwest,

I have to agree with everyone here so far. Congrats on your score! A 700 on your GMAT is a huge accomplishment.

You also mentioned that study time will be hard to come by with your work obligations. I think that's also important to consider. You already know the amount of time and commitment you'd have to invest to raise your score, so with your 700 in tow, let the rest of your profile speak for itself. Of course your GMAT score is a big part of your application, but it doesn't tell the whole story. Since you're confident in the rest of your profile, you can also be confident in your score, no matter what the split was.

Best of luck!
Rich

goingwest · Answer

Thank you to everyone for all the great advice. I take it from all that you've written that I am probably okay going without a second GMAT attempt, especially if the rest of my application is tight and I'm not applying to, say, the "top 5-ish" schools.

Granted, a better score could raise my overall chances of getting in. However, improving from a 700 "unstudied" to a 720-740 "studied" on the GMAT might entail a lot of work that probably won't yield much incremental benefit.

Again, this has all been very, very helpful. My sincere thanks to each and every one of you for taking the time to respond.

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Got 700 on first try, but should I take it again?

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