Advice Needed Should I Re-Take My GMAT

Question

Just wanted to share my GMAT experience. I just took the exam yesterday, and I managed a meager 690. I nearly aced the quant section (50) however got very low score in verbal (34). I have never scored below 700 in any MGMAT exams or GMATPrep.

GMATPrep1: 710
GMATPrep2: 730
GMATPrep1 (Repeat): 770
GMATPrep2 (Repeat): 760
MGMAT CAT1: 710
MGMAT CAT2: 730
MGMAT CAT3: 780
MGMAT CAT4: 770
MGMAT CAT5: 770
MGMAT CAT6: 750
Actual GMAT: 690 :cry:

Would you suggest I retake the exam or should I rather concentrate on my essays?

Would you suggest I retake the exam or should I rather concentrate on my essays?

walker · Answer

Focus on essays and retake almost without preparation. You already have a good score and next time you can concentrate on Verbal without result pressure.

greenoak · Answer

Hi Abhijit_sen, It seems that you just had bad luck with verbal…

Sorry that it happened to you… 690 is a good score; it’s within 80% range for most of the top programs, but I can see why this may be not enough. Whether to retake, IMO, depends on the other aspects of your profile and on your school choice. If you have smth. unique or really strong in your profile, it’s better to leave it as it is and concentrate on the applications. But if not, and if your pool is highly competitive, I would advice to take it once again. Your CAT scores show that you are very well prepared; so there’s no need to spend your time and energy on additional practice. From what I’ve read on the forums during the last months, I can say that the verbal is to a considerable degree a matter of chance. And you have good chances of scoring higher on your next attempt, especially if your practice scores in verbal were consistently in 42+ range (however, if they were not, it’s another story…). So basically my advice would be the same as walker’s: schedule your next attempt, but don’t spend much time on your preparation, and concentrate on your essays instead. Best of luck to you!

PatrickBateman · Answer

hmmm....based on your practice cat scores I can understand that that is a disappointing score.

Mind sharing what went wrong during the test? Did you run out of time? Were you nervous?

abhijit_sen · Answer

Nothing wrong. I finished my verbal section 4 minutes before. I was not nervous and who can be after receiving such wonderful scores in mock CATs. Above all I did receive 2 long RCs. I think, I was ex scoretop member (not the VIP one) and that may be the reason that I was punished.

PatrickBateman · Answer

I'm not sure what you mean by punished.

What were your Q and V breakdowns in GmatPrep and MGMAT?

abhijit_sen · Answer

GMATPrep1: 710 (Q50, V38)
GMATPrep2: 730 (Q51, V42)
GMATPrep1 (Repeat): 770 (Q51, V44)
GMATPrep2 (Repeat): 760 (Q51, V43)
MGMAT CAT1: 710 (Q50, V39)
MGMAT CAT2: 730 (Q51, V40)
MGMAT CAT3: 780 (Q51, V45)
MGMAT CAT4: 770 (Q51, V45)
MGMAT CAT5: 770 (Q51, V44)
MGMAT CAT6: 750 (Q51, V42)

M83 · Answer

690 is solid, not necessarily 'meager', but I would retake the test based on your practice scores. Best of luck.

PatrickBateman · Answer

def. looks like you had a bad day on the actual gmat.

good news is that you should be able to get a score closer to practice scores on a retake with minimal studying.

This is a bit worrisome as my practice scores look the same. I'm taking my exam this week and aiming for a 750. =/

terp26 · Answer

as been discussed before, you are not going to get an accurate verbal score from gmatprep anymore.

mbawaters · Answer

if this was your first try then I don't see any harm in retaking and obviously you just had a bad day. For precaution, you may wana send your score to all your potential schools first and then when you take it do not report it to any school unless you get your target score. BTW, congratulations on a good score!

zonk · Answer

What were section breakouts for the practice tests?

x97agarwal · Answer

I strongly believe that GMATPREP is no longer an accurate representation of one's verbal score and the verbal section on the actual GMAT has become more difficult since the Scoretop scandal. The answer choices in the CR's and the RC's are very close and it is extremely difficlut to choose b/w two close choices.

However, the SC's have not increased in difficulty when compared to Sodenso's GMATPREP document and MGMAT.

Another thing - MGMAT Verbal section is much easier when compared to the real thing. The RC's and CR's are far more straight forward in the MGMAT CAT's.

zonk · Answer

Actually, if you take a look at his original, non-repeat GMATPrep scores (710 and 730), his 690 is slightly low, but well within the range of reasonable statistical variation, esp. given the higher stress/pressure of the real thing.

It's the MGMAT scores and the re-takes that are nowhere close...

zonk · Answer

My advice would be to concentrate on the essays. On the flip side, if I were in your position, I would re-take, because I'm a perfectionist.

690 won't sink you if the other parts of your application are strong. I had a friend get into Sloan and HBS with a 680.

durgesh79 · Answer

Hi Abhijit, almost same story as mine.. i was lucky to cross 700 barrier...
regarding retake, I'm not going for it.... becuase i can see that GMAT prep is no onger an accurate indicator of verbal score.. Reason ??? ... may be the questions have become difficult or there is some change in scoring logic ... we dont know and probably will never know....

i dont want to retake without a solid preperation in verbals...so even if the questions have become more difficult, i can ensure a better score with enough margin from current score....

So, if you think that you can increase your verbal score by 8-10 points without studying... go for it...
if not, focus on essays, what i've seen till now, the task is more demanding than scoring V45 in GMAT :wink:

did you skip AWAs during mock tests, .. i did and paid for it

solaris1 · Answer

that's what I was going to ask too, did you time your MGMAT CATs and complete the AWA in each test? you know average scores at the top schools are around the 715 mark this year, so unless you have really strong work experience and demonstrated leadership capabilities, I would think about a retake.

FN · Answer

i say re-take.. i felt verbal was at par with gmatprep..exam day anxiety gets the best of us

abhijit_sen · Answer

I did take exam with AWA sections. I never felt nervous about the exam. I think, I prepare well and the mock CATs do tell that. As far as GMATPrep scores are concerned, I took them way back when I was not good at RC and thereby scored pathetically but since then I did improve a lot in the area. Today I received my AWA score as well and I received 6.0 in that (The only solace with the dim number). I think, it was just a bad day. I might end up re-taking the test, however, for time being I am zapped. Not able to decide what to do, but most probably I might take the exam in 1-2 months time. Thanks for all your reply. As you can see I did have good score in quant, so feel free to ask me related questions in the area.

gmatnub · Answer

sorry to hear about your score, it looks like you got short changed, durgesh79 got a 50/35 and got a 710, you should get at least a 700. It seems likely you had a bad day on verbal. Your verbal skill appeared to be way above 34. I would reschedule the test immediately if I were you.

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