should I retake? 620

Question

Hi Everyone!

My first post!!!!

So I took my first GMAT today and got a 620, I'm not very happy with the result. I scored 36 on the Quant and 40 on the Verbal. I have a science background so the Quant score is sooo bad. I scored 670 on the free practice exam but everyone scores higher on them. I don't think I finished the Quant in time so maybe I was docked for that? The wheels fell off with the timing. For the Verbal score I actually finished with time to spare but I'm really comfortable with it.

Anyways, this was the latest I could write for the 3rd round of the school I want to get in. The thing is that the average of the entering is 625 so I'm not like everyone on here that wants to get into a top school and needs a 700. I just feel I could do better and would prefer to have a score above the average to feel comfortable with my application. The last round deadline is Jan. 1.

I just emailed the program with my scores to see what they think but like everyone else on here, I was hoping to get a score I was happy with and more importantly, hoping to stop freaking studying and just getting my life back. I also asked if they would look at the Q and V scores separately. Also, with the weak Canadian dollar, I really don't want to shell out for this again. I know everyone can say it's your future etc etc, but the issue for me is that I'm not happy with myself for the result but it's not bad enough that I should clearly re-take it unless I only accept being an overachiever. I also have no idea how you guys write it so many times. I think maybe it's because tuition is so much more expensive there that you just factor in the testing costs. In any case what the school says will be the most important. I'm here more to share my experience and interact.

What are your thoughts people?

Thanks for your time.

OptimusPrepJanielle · Answer

Hey WayneHam,

Retaking the test or not is completely your wish. I think you are very close to the average of your target schools, so things should be fine there However if they want a higher Quants score then you might have to retake it.

A reason that you did not score well on the Quants part is that you did not finish the section. There is a huge penalty for not completing the section as is clearly stated by GMAC. If you retake, bear in mind that come what may, you have to complete all the sections

All the best

WayneHam · Answer

Thanks for the feedback Janielle,

I was aware of the penalty for not finishing but I'm not sure if I finished in time or not, I basically hit the confirm key on the last question as it hit zero. I think with 2 minutes left I should have just gave up and guessed on them all.

AjiteshArun · Answer

With a Q36 (that score puts you in the 35th percentile), you're probably looking at some really easy points in quant if you take the exam again. And a higher GMAT score should help, even if your school tells you that it encourages applications from candidates with a range of GMAT scores. That's a standard response that does what they need it do (encourage applications) without really getting into what an individual candidate's chances are (to be fair, that's not something that they could get into over email, even if they wanted to). Also, I don't normally come across people applying to only one program (it's riskier). If you don't mind, why  are  you really focused on only one program?

About taking the GMAT again: maybe you could ask yourself whether you feel that putting a little more time (and money) into getting a score that is higher than the average score at your target school(s) is going to help you justify the (probably greater) amount of time (and money) involved in applying to your target school(s)?

Finally, what was your GMATPrep Q/V split?

WayneHam · Answer

Thanks for you advice. I found it very insightful and I'm most likely going to do it again very soon. You made it sound like I couldn't do worse which I sort of agree with. However, I doubt I'd do as well again on the verbal so my score will probably be better but not by that much because I'm sure my verbal score was an exception.

I contacted the school and they said they recommend a re-write if you're below 600 and their average GMAT entry is 625. I asked if they look at the scores separately and they said they do and they like to have a high mark in both components. So that part does make me think about re-writing it in case they think I have zero quantitative skills. So basically I think it'd be hard to do worse considering the quant score, as you said. Also I don't want them to think that I can't do any better. The reason I'm only applying to one school is because I'd like to stay in the city I'm in and it's the only program I want to get into as it is one year, highly ranked and the tuition is very very reasonable. There's another program in the city that has a lower ranking and needs about a 560, for the same price and same length of time, that I'll probably apply to as a plan B. There's another program that is ranked slightly higher than my main choice but the tuition is literally over 25x more (still less than a US school).

For me the main thing is really the money and the time but I'll probably re-take it in a month so it's not a huge loss of time. For the money, part of it is the principle of these standardized tests, particularly since it's my first ever standardized test. It's not that I can't afford it, I just don't agree with it. I guess sometimes you have to just play ball. If you're talking about paying a few hundred thousand in tuition, 250 USD isn't that much but that type of tuition and even 250 USD for a test is absurd to me.

For my GMAT prep I scored a 670 on the first try and 660 on the second try. So 620 sounds about right from what I read here with the prep tests, however my 670 I scored a 42 quant and 40 verbal and for the second I had a 42 quant and 38 verbal vs. 36 quant and 40 verbal on the real test. The second test I probably should have scored higher considering a lot of the questions were the same but I studied like 4 hours before that so I learned that I need to be fresh like the first prep test. Also I only studied by myself with the official guide for like 4 weekends and sparingly the month before that so I could definitely do better with more studying.

Based on those scores do you still think I should easily improve or is the 620 about right based on the test scores and their split? Keep in mind I'm not like the people on here that have taken 5 real tests and 25 practice tests.

So thanks again for your advice. You made a very good point. Also the school only takes the highest score anyways. I don't want them to think that 620 is the best I could do. The other thing is that the quant is pretty easy to study for and is the part that you can definitely improve upon. I imagine it would be very hard to improve on the verbal and on all the tests, I finished with a lot of time to spare and didn't even study for that section so I'll spend very little time studying that and just focus on the quant.

AjiteshArun · Answer

Thank you for the detailed response.

If you got Q42s on both your GMATPreps, you should be able to do better than a Q36. The GMAT is a statistical tool and there is measurement error involved, but I really think you got something that represents the lower end of what you can do. I definitely wouldn't want you to think that a Q36 is natural given 42s on the GMATPrep. Your verbal, on the other hand, has been remarkably consistent: 40, 38, and (on the actual test) 40. You're absolutely right that a V40 is an excellent score. Even more amazing considering that you had time left on your verbal section.

Coming back to your main question: maybe you should look at your GMAT score in the context of the overall application process. Your schools are  not  going to think that you have zero quantitative skills. But that's probably because you will include other evidence that you have what it takes to get through the quant they need. But there is a limited amount of information you can send them (in whatever form). A slightly higher score on the GMAT quant would allow both you and your school to just completely bypass that. You want to spend as little time as possible on having to go back and forth with them on something this basic. Less  does the candidate meet our minimum expectations  and more  these are the ways this candidate stands out .

WayneHam · Answer

After taking the weekend off I've decided to re-write it but to do so relatively soon, probably Nov. 2. I could write it as late as early December but I don't want this to eat up so much of my time. Also I'll just study the quant sections which should make it easier. In the end I can most likely do better so I'd rather be the student that they jump to accept rather than the student that they make an exception for. I still think I could get in since I think I'm a strong candidate but taking the risk isn't really necessary since I don't think 620 is my max. My current plan is to do all of the quant questions in my book and make an error log. Hopefully by then I know the types of questions and I'm ready to answer them quickly.

WayneHam · Answer

I've rebooked the test for Nov. 7. Did all the PS and DS questions in the Official Guide over the last month and I'm feeling good since I put in a good amount of work and feel much more confident answering questions. Barring catastrophic failure, I'm confident I'll beat my 620 from Sept. 17th. I think my verbal will go down though since I haven't touched it. The next week I'll work on IR to avoid my dismal score last time and review verbal a bit.

WayneHam · Answer

I just wanted to update that I scored a 710 on the GMAT today. Thanks for your input on this thread as it made some good points and convinced me to re-write despite the high price of the test and the amount of time spend on studying. Most of the responses to threads on here are of the copy-paste type so I appreciate having had your feedback.

AjiteshArun · Answer

No problem. 710 is a great score, and the 90 point jump is just amazing.

All the best for the applications process!

farrous13 · Answer

WayneHam, good job on getting that score. How did you study during the day and for how long? I believe your main focus was on the Quant section.

Overall. it's a fantastic jump in just a short period of time.

WayneHam · Answer

As most of us are working full time, I was mainly only able to study on the weekends, I studied between 6 and 13 hours per week. Less than 5 of those hours were from mon to Fri. I studied the quant exclusively using only the og questions. Then I redid gmat prep 1 before. I made another thread on that test with some tips.

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should I retake? 620

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