Hello,

I gave my GMAT today and absolutely blew it up (Q50, V32, 680). I miscalculated the break by 38s and that has somehow adversely affected my verbal score. I have been scoring 730-780 both in MGMATs and GMATPrep. So the real score is my biggest shock. I prepared for 2 months, gave GMAT today, expecting to apply for B-Schools before Jan 2012.

My targeted schools are the top 10 schools. And I am confident that I can really improve my GMAT score but will go in after some more preparation and retake in Feb, if advised. Could you please provide me some direction what I need to do?

Work exp: 4 years in Finance IT with Lehman Brothers, Nomura, Barclays Capital and UBS.
Background: B.Tech Computer Science & Engg. (Indian Institute of Technology)
GPA: 3.44/4
Extracurriculars: Moderately active. Part of wide variety of employee networks.

If I retake, I will be postponing my admission by another year :-( Also, would a retake score be considered low in the eyes of the admission committee (not that I have a choice anyway)? Please evaluate my profile and help me decide. Much appreciate your help!

Thanks!

Hi Cyprus,

Sorry to hear you were disappointed in your test performance. A retake is not an issue in the eyes of the adcom, they typically only look at your highest overall score. You may want to consider finishing your applications now, then taking the test again shortly after the deadlines and submitting your new score after you've submitted your application. That way if you do improve your score significantly, you don't have to suspend your applications for a full year.

Best of luck,

Daniel Richards
http://www.mbamission.com

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Hi Daniel,

Thanks for your reply. Do the schools look at the overall score alone or individual scores too? I am worried that there is a quite some gap between my quant and verbal scores. I got my AWA yesterday with a score of 6.

I'm aiming at the below schools:
Stanford GSB
London Business School
Harvard Business School
Wharton
Booth

Please do let me know if you still think I should go ahead and give it a try this year? Just making sure I don't waste my resources of recommendation letters, etc for this shot. Please let me know your thoughts.

Many thanks in advance!

Hi again Cyprus,

Schools do indeed look at the breakdown in scores -- making sure that you're quantitatively strong as well as able to communicate well through the Verbal section. A good standard for top-tier schools is you want to clear the 80% hurdle in both parts of the test. The schools are unlikely to look down on a retake. If you truly believe this is best year for you to go business school, I would consider my previous advice of submitting your application for R2 deadlines, alerting the school that you are retaking the GMAT, and then following up with your new score. You would want to make sure to take the test within January still to make sure you still get considered for R2.

Best of luck,

Daniel Richards
http://www.mbamission.com

Read the mbaMission Insider's Guides (15 individual school titles)

Download mbaMission’s Free Personal Statement Guide

Visit the mbaMission Blog

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