680 to 700 GMAT, does that help? Reeval Por Favor

Question

Hi folks, I asked for some guidance a month or so ago and the consensus takeaway was I needed to improve my GMAT to be a solid contender to any top 10 school or rather, to have confidence of being accepted to at least 1 top 10 school I needed to raise my GMAT.

So, I did just that but in a weird way. I went from 680 to 700, but did so by suffering a harsh drop in my quantitative score and sharp spike in my verbal (45-verbal, 41- quant). Needless to say, I'm the happiest, angriest 700 score receiver. My quant scores were usually 47, 48, 49 and I pull a 41? Anyway, I digress and with that being said, could you please evaluate my profile again with the new higher GMAT, keeping in mind lower quant? Should I take it again (my 4th time), hoping I can do something respectable on quant and keep the verbal up, resulting in a score potentially much greater than 700? Here's my profile:

-Went to a Top 5 public university - Majored in Business Administration with a Major GPA off 3.6 
-Minored in Mandarin Chinese, which was tough, which pulled my overall GPA down to 3.3. 
-Did I-Banking as an analyst in NYC at one off the usual suspects 
-Recruited from the bank to a small start-up building the business from pre-revenue into to $10mm+ (SAAS business)
-700GMAT  680GMAT  (took it three times) 
-Strong Community Work & Co-founded an active charity in the community, have a broad impact
-Will have a total of 5.5YR WE
-White male

fxMBAconsulting · Answer

Hola Señor 700,

Your profile looks solid from a hypothetical point of view. That is a real bummer for your quant score but the good news is you increased the overall score. I would not retake the GMAT a 4th time. The schools can see all your test dates and scores. You want to come off as someone who is busy with work and extracurricular activities - I have a little hesitation....that you might appear to be obsessing over the GMAT (in the Adcom's eyes) if you go another round. But it is your call and I'm sure others (candidates & consultants) might advise you to take it again.

If you want to do consulting you could always retake the GMAT after you are admitted to push your score up for recruiting - the top firms do ask for it.

Best,
Leah Derus
fxbmaconsulting . com

Kathmandu2013 · Answer

Thanks - It's been over a 5 year time period that I took those GMATs but I understand your point and who's to say I won't do better on quant and drop in verbal. From what I hear though, 700 meets the cut-off for consulting firms when they recruit from a top 10, no? Do you know if they ask for the split? And if so, am I allowed to put my much better Quant?

fxMBAconsulting · Answer

Hi 
I assumed you had taken the GMAT 3 times in the last 5 years given your work history of 5.5 years to date. If only 2 of those tests are going to show up on the official report, I wouldn't have any qualms of trying for it a 3rd time.

I think you would be fine with 700 for consulting. You could be asked for the split at some firms but overall you are a great mix of left & right brain skills (foreign languages + banking).

If you did take the GMAT again you could certainly go into it with a totally zen attitude! It's up to you really. We are nearing the beginning of August and if you are planning on applying 1st round I would start working on my apps as well.

Best,
Leah 
fxmbaconsulting . com

CriticalSquare · Answer

Hey there,

I agree with Leah that if one of those attempts is off your record, a 3rd attempt is totally fair game. But, that said, I don't think it'll make much of a difference. Unless you've been prepping or something went against you the last 3 times, I'd say you're pretty triangulated into your GMAT performance, no? 680 to 700 is a pretty tight performance band. Also, not only is a 700 good enough for recruiting, it also makes a huge difference in terms of admission - a score that starts with a "7" is solid.

In all honesty, my opinion is you should focus on your applications at this point. Unless, of course, you aren't planning on studying and are just thinking about sitting for another test cold in which case go for it if you can pull off another 20 points or so!

Bhavik

Kathmandu2013 · Answer

Thanks guys for the feedback. I decided to stick with the 700 and focus on the essays and applications. All the best.

680 to 700 GMAT, does that help? Reeval Por Favor

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards