730 (Q48, V41) 97%

Question

Just got back from the test center a little while ago. This score is a little lower than my practice scores. The Q is within range my practices (48-50), but the V is much lower than in any of my practice tests (45-47). I think that 730 is probably the low end of my personal range, and that if the test broke differently I could improve to my practice average.

I think 730 is a good score, but I really think that I might be able to do better so I'm not quite sure what to do now. The reality is that 730 is good enough to be competitive at almost any busines school, but I was hoping that the GMAT would be an area of strength in my applications. I guess I'll decide within the next few days whether to sit for the test again.

Overall, my day went pretty well. I got a decent nights sleep last night, and I felt pretty good heading to the test center. I got there 1/2 hour prior to the start of my test, but sat around and waited for 20 minutes because a woman registered under a different name than her ID, and held up the line as the people waiting piled up.

The Q section was similar to the GMATprep tests. The questions seemed to be very difficult, but I ended up with a score right in line with my practices. I did panic a bit when I got to the 35th question. I had about 6 minutes on the clock and felt pretty good about my time, but when I saw the question, my heart sunk. It asked me to pick the median out of a list of 7 numbers. With the CAT, I thought I must have been doing poorly, but the seciton closed out with 2 hard questions.

I will say that the pens & pads that the provide are ATROCIOUS. I could barely get my pen to write, and midway through I ran out of ink. How asinine is that? There should simply be no reason why anyone should even have to mention the types of pens and pads used, but these were so bad that I can't help but mention them. Ultimately, I don't think they affected my score, but they did frustrate me.

I went on to the verbal section, and it seemed that the questions were in line with what I had practiced. I felt pretty good most of the way through, but towards the end I did begin to feel a little fatigued. I don't know how my score broke down, but I suspect that I might have missed a few towards the end of the V section because I was feeling pretty darn tired by that point. I had 3 separate long RC passages that required a good amount of scrolling off the bottom of the page. I also got hit with a boldface CR on question 11.

In hindsight, I really felt like I was struggling on the Q section, but I felt pretty good through the V section. Of course, the score came out completely opposite to how I was feeling.

Going in, I was thinking that 730 would be the cut-off for my retaking the exam. I have heard that you should re-take the test if you think you can improve by 30 points or more. Most of my practices were 750-770, so I'm right on the edge. The good thing is that I enjoy interacting with the people here at GMATclub, so it wouldn't be that much of a chore to prepare for the test again. Thanks to all who have helped answer questions and have offered encouragement. I'm going to sleep on it, but I think I might be hanging around for one more try.

sgrover · Answer

awesome ! great score.
Calls for a party !!

buzzgaurav · Answer

Great Score Pelihu :-D

. It's time to take a break now and raise hell. :wink:

Generally, your experience with Quant section is what others also say. It seems tough but turns out that it went pretty well. Best of Luck for your Apps.

CHEN · Answer

Awesome! <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_cool.gif" alt="8-)" title="Cool" />

haas_mba07 · Answer

Great Score, Pelihu!!! CONGRATULATIONS... You did awesome... Have a great party!! :beer

microjohn · Answer

I hear your reasoning, but complaining about a 730? Yikes!

Congrats. 730 is an awesome score.

zoom612 · Answer

Congrats buddy!! :band

ps_dahiya · Answer

Congrats.
Party hard!!!!!!!!

Retake on a 730?? Oh come on.....pelihu....

willget800 · Answer

Congrats!!!!!

All the best for your apps!

Professor · Answer

good job. congrats buddy.

all the best...

rdw28 · Answer

My man!!


Congratulations dude, there was no doubt in my mind that you would score 700+...

deepak232 · Answer

Awesome score man!!! :-D

I have no idea why would somebody want a retake after 730!!! Please write more about how you found the Verbal Section as compared to the level of questions in OG 11 and GMAT Prep..

u2lover · Answer

congrats pelihu... good score with such short preparation!!! I don't think you need to retake with 730 :wink:

best of luck :band

pelihu · Answer

What I really wanted to do was report back that I got an 800, and then announce that I was going to go camping

But someone already did that this week. Regarding the verbal section, I actually thought it was easier than the OG & GMATprep questions I had worked on. My conclusion is that I must have made some stupid mistakes early on, and the result was that I was given somewhat lower level questions. Thanks to all with well wishers. It's truly awesome to have some people to chat with about this test.

gmatornot · Answer

Congrats, pelihu ! 97%ile and a retake sound like an oxymoron :-D

necromonger · Answer

Pelihu,

C'mon!! 730 - what are you complainin' about. Go out, have a party, and do whatever you planned to do next (except retaking GMAT again...). You've been a strong performer in your tests - a couple points here and there is always OK. So what's your target school list?

on a completely unrelated sidenote - You're a lawyer right? I've always wanted to ask a real life lawyer if their life is anything like what they show on TV shows like practice etc. :D

agsfaltex · Answer

Way to go Pelihu! I'm taking mine at the end of this month.

pelihu · Answer

Hi Necromonger,

Thanks for the compliment. I'm still trying to narrow down my target schools. I currently live in the Bay Area, so Berkely and Stanford would be ideal in terms of location. I think Wharton, Chicago & Columbia would be ideal in terms of what I'd like to study. I have past connections with UCLA and Michigan, so they are currently on my list as well. After that, I don't know, but I think I'll probably revise with some additions and subtractions after I do some more research and eventually apply to 5-6 total because none of these schools are sure things, even for people with great all-around qualifications.

Yes, I am a lawyer, but I gave that up about 4 years ago to start my own business. My life as a lawyer was nothing like The Practice. I was a capital markets & finance attorney, so my life consisted of reading, negotiating and drafting huge (hundreds of pages) contracts and agreements. On the other hand, my life as a summer associate was like a big party. Unfortunately, it's no party after they reel you in and you start work for real.

rhyme · Answer

First of all, HUGE congrats!

Honestly I dont understand why people with 730's talk about retaking. Sure, a 740 or 750 would have been nice, but you have to realize that it wouldn't make a difference on your application. That is, no school is going to accept you because you got a 750, and no school is going to reject you because you got a 730. Similarly, and most importantly, no school would change their view of your application between a 730 and 750. Sure, you could go 730 to 780, thats possible, but the odds are slim, and even so, I still don't think it would make a tangible difference. 

There's also the question of diminishing returns. Is it worth another 100 hours to increase by 1% percent? 2%? 3% .... No not really. Your time is far better spent working on your essays.

From my experience, the GMAT pales in comparison to the essays in terms of difficulty...

You need to write outlines for your 2-3 recommenders. You need to have a backup recommender if someone flakes. You need to confirm titles, salary, dates of employment, bonuses, number of employees, addresses, phone numbers, names, annual revenues -- everything about each employer you've ever had so you dont make any mistakes on your app. You need to revamp you resume completely. You need to go back and remember what you did in college and what dates you were part of what clubs. You need to do the same for post-college. You need to get transcripts from schools, transcribe them into excel, confirm and reconfirm them. You need to think of your key accomplishments at each job. You need to think about interesting personal stories. You need to attend open house events. You need to go to classes. You need to reach out to existing students and get material for your essays. You need to take notes about the schools, research them, develop thoughts around them. You need to order your GMAT scores. You need to develop timelines for your application. You need to confirm dates, sign up for events, reconfirm deadlines, and recheck them again. You need to prepare statements explaining gaps in your history. You need to address any poor performances. You need to think of leadership examples and examples of weaknesses. You need to write essays that demand 2000 words in 400 words. You need outlines for your essays so you stay focused. You need to proofread them. You need to re-proofread them. You need to fill in exact dates at school, matriculation dates, exact dates for each term too. You need to create folders for schools and manage each process. You need to have checklists for each one. You need to order transcripts for some, for others you don't. You have to keep on your recommenders to keep working on it, but you have to do it politely. You have to prepare for interviews, refine thoughts and ideas and ensure you can communicate an effective idea. Worst of all, you get to reread your essays again and again always questioning if what you are saying is good, or if there is a better story, or a stronger example, or if its too cheesy, or if its not cheesy enough, or if its too personal, or if its too business like, or if its too long or too short, or too flattering or too whimsical or lacks enough humility, or reads strange, or has spelling mistakes, or has grammar errors, or has run on sentences. You need to check the font sizes, as some schools specify both font size and type. You need to triple check word counts. You need to sign up for the sites, identify interesting courses, weave information about the schools into your apps, customize each application, tailor each essay, massage each word and you have to do it all by October.

In other words, use your time wisely.

willget800 · Answer

rHYME,

YOU ARE SCARING ME!

arghhhhhhhhhh

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730 (Q48, V41) 97%

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