Should I retake the GMAT?

Question

Hi!

I took my first exam today and scored a 690. V44, Q40 and IR:6.

I'm worried about the big discrepancy between verbal and quant. When I was studying I was scoring Q44 at the highest, so I'm not sure it would be worth it.

I'm planning to apply to schools in Europe like IE, IESE, ESADE, and Bocconi.

Thank you!

aeon86 · Answer

when are you planning to apply? this year? (IESE would be R3 already, not sure about the other schools but i recon the same)

if you're not planning to apply in R3 or R4 i recommend you set up a study schedule and study your ass off for the R1 in sept-dec
otherwise i guess it's depending on your profile i guess.

690 is a good score, but i get where you come from: I scored a 700(88percentile) and I'm studying to see if i can improve it prior to end of january (want to hit the 90+percentile)

I know it shouldn't be that way, but profiles matter. 
I know this is going to sound bad but, as an example, i heard someone say: 680 is a very good score for a woman
and it makes sense: business schools like to boast their % of women they have, so they don't have the same requirements.
same as if you would be an indian male with an IT background, then 690 would probably be considered a low GMAT.

hope this helps.
I think 690 is a pretty good score, but if you are not planning to apply this year, then just study and retake it later on.

paigety · Answer

Thanks for the answer! I'm planning to apply for fall 2019, so I have time to retake it. Do schools think it looks bad to take it multiple times?

My overall score is high enough for my target schools, but I don't know how heavily they weight each portion in conjunction with the whole.

aeon86 · Answer

ok, so, no it doesn't look bad to retake it multiple times (unless you have taken it like 6 times and don't improve)
I took it 2 times so far, scored a 670 on my first and a 700 on my second.
besides. the only issue ofcourse is that the GMAT isn't cheap (approx $300 each time).

as long as you improve between attempts, it's shouldn't have a negative connotation.
also, you can chose to cancel your score and nothing will be sent out to the Schools.
that's my mindset going into the 3rd attempt now: if i have a better score, submit it, if i have an equal or worse score, cancel it.

how heavily each school weighs each portion depends on the school, but you can probably find out more on the schools websites about that (under their FAQ section most likely)

i know IESE only looks at the total score, ignoring AWA and IR, but further in the admissions process they might look at those.
all in all, your GMAT score is depending on your situation. for me, I didn't have that great a GPA, due to studying a new course at Uni which hadn't been "calibrated" yet. so my 13/20, was above average but still, doesn't look like a good GPA. The GMAT allowed me to demonstrate that i'm not a 65% student but at the very least at 88 percentile student.

final advise: if you feel you can improve, it's worth retaking. You have time to study and prep for it.

paigety · Answer

Thanks for the detailed reply. I guess it's something I should consider holistically, since my undergrad GPA is quite high maybe this isn't such a big deal. Or at least not a total deal-breaker.

I do still have quite a bit of time before applications are due, so I guess I might as well...

Admissionado · Answer

Yep! You might as well. Especially since you can cancel scores...

Should I retake the GMAT?

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