Should I retake the GMAT if I got a 710?

Hi there! I'm a college senior trying to decide if I should retake the GMAT or not. After studying for four months, I received a 710 (V41, Q45). I will be working in investment banking for two years and have a 3.9 GPA from a top-20 private university in Economics and Political Science. Is it necessary that I take the GMAT again if I intend to apply in 2-3 years after graduation to the top 10 business schools (my ideal school would be Columbia)? Does a 710 still give me a shot or do I need to get it up to remain competitive? I really do not want to have to take it again to just get my score up 10 points and should also note that I have spent so much time studying for the GMAT already and am not even sure if I can get my score up.

4 Comments
 

I would advise you to retake at some point, albeit not necessarily right away. If what you say is true and you have studied for so long you've probably hit the point where studying even more will hardly (if at all ) lead to a higher score. The average scores have been on the rise lately and I believe they will continue to do so. You should probably aim to get 730/740+ in your future attempts.

710 is a solid foundation though, in case you do retake the exam it will be a strong sign of striving for excellence.

 

Columbia is known as a GMAT-whore, and it's true that GMATs have been steadily rising, so both those count against you.

But with your profile, if you apply Early Decision to Columbia, you'll probably get in.

The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd.
 

Why not? Spend another month or so on it and take it, if you do better keep the score if not throw it out and boom you're done. That way in the future if things don't turn out exactly as planned you won't be upset for not spending the extra month. If your score doesn't improve on this next time I would just cancel the score and call it a day a 710 isn't terrible you have an incredible GPA to balance that out.

 

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