GMAT for the sixth time - Is it worth?

Question

Hello All,

I am average Indian applicant with nearly 6 years of work experience in IT industry, I have more than 3 years of experience in leadership roles and have decent international experience as well. I have also been involved in many sales and client engagement activities. I have written GMAT 5 times and below are my scores

Nov 2013 - 510 
April 2015 - 590
Dec 2015 - Cancelled (it was 590 or 600)
Jan 2016 - 640 (Q47 V30 , I guess)
March 2016 - 680 (Q49 V33, I guess)

Despite being suggested not to apply this year, I applied to 4 universities in last round this year and got only one interview invite (finally got rejected). I want to apply again in first round this year but I not sure if my profiles is good enough for selection (especially with such low scores against my name). My essays are obviously ready but I am concerned about GMAT score.

Would you suggest me writing the GMAT again for the sixth time or will it go further against me? Goes without saying that I have also completed many materials (eGMAT, OG, GMATClub and Manhattan) over the time.

Thanks

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi sank,

With a 680/Q49, your GMAT score is likely NOT why you were rejected. If what you say is true, then applying during the last application Round (when there are considerably fewer 'spots' remaining) - and having an overall application that just did not "stand out" - is likely why you did not receive an invite. In the case of the School that interviewed you (your application was clearly strong enough for the Schools Representatives to be interested in you), it's possible that you screwed up the interview in some way. This is all meant to say that there could be a number of other areas that you need to improve besides your GMAT score.

1) What Schools did you apply to? And are you planning to apply to the same Schools again?

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

HiLine · Answer

Yes you should re-take if you think you can score significantly better. Hire a tutor - it's worth it. A 750-range score can translate to 100k in scholarship.

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AjiteshArun · Answer

Taking it again cannot "go further" against you, because you have the option of canceling your score (schools will not get to know). You should take the GMAT again if you can, as long as you don't go in thinking that a higher GMAT score will make  all  the difference.

Going from 510 to 680 is amazing, but there is no way to know whether your score increase stops here. You'll also have more experience both professionally and with the application process this time around. Have you thought about applying to less selective schools as well?

HiLine · Answer

While we're at it, I don't know if AjiteshArun is accepting new students, but if I were you I would reach out to him to inquire about his tutoring service. He knows what he is talking about, and I believe he is in India. Is the latter right, AjiteshArun?

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

sank · Answer

Thanks for your reply, Rich. I applied to following schools -
1. GWU (Got the interview invite) 
2. wisconsin - Reject
3. Scheller - Reject
4. Simon - Reject

I don't know if my school selection for last round was good enough or not; it was more out of desperation honestly. I am targeting a Top 20 - Top 30 school (with scholarship) but not confident if it's possible. So might end up applying to Scheller and Simon again. 
Regarding the interview reject- I though I was decent but probably I must have goofed up. 
My question regarding sixth attempt comes from the fact that many schools say that "Writing GMAT more than 5 time is too many" (Attended a session at Simon and it was mentioned there). But I guess if I write again, I must get sufficient improvement else its useless. 
What do you suggest?

sank · Answer

Thanks a lot for the reply. 750 will be a dream score. I am just concerned how will my profile get affected if I end up with a 680-690 or even 700 (since it will be a sixth attempt).

sank · Answer

Thanks for the reply, AjiteshArun. 
I thought even cancelled scores show up on the GMAT report. It doesn't state the score but says "Cancelled". And I was under the impression that it will count as an attempt even if I cancelled because the report will show that I wrote again.
Regarding schools, I will be applying to few safe and less selective schools in the first round as well. Not sure how much score boost I can manage as I have exhausted some resources and unlearning will be major task. Though I believe there is significant improvement opportunity in Verbal atleast. Quants, I am not sure, how I got only 49.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi sank,

If you're planning to apply to some of the same Schools again, then it would help if you had something "new" to add to your application. There are several areas that you could potentially improve on - if you have some new/leadership-related/interesting Work Experience then that would likely help, as would "better" essays and/or a significantly higher GMAT score. Business Schools Admissions Officers are savvy people - they know that a GMAT Score is within +/- 30 points of actual ability, so scoring a 700 won't be particularly meaningful if they already know that you scored 680. Thankfully, if you take the GMAT again and cancel your score, none of the Schools will know about it (the record will exist in your personal GMAC File, but not in the Official Score Report that is given to Schools).

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

AjiteshArun · Answer

The attempt will count, and you will be able to see the cancellation on your copy of the score report. The schools you apply to won't

Yes, but I'm more interested in interacting with test takers on this site. It gives me a slightly "wider" look at what test takers go through, even if the interactions here aren't as deep as with students.

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