710 on GMAT (48Q/40V) - Should I retake it?

Just took the GMAT yesterday, comes down to a 92 percentile overall but the quant percentile was horrendous, only 78. The verbal was a 90 which was probably my saving grace.

My study prep was the OG 13th edition, OG Quant 2nd Edition. I'm an avid non-fiction reader and run a blog for my school's investment club so I guess the verbal wasn't much of an issue, although more on that later. What sucks is that I literally spent all my study time on quant, and only pulled off a 78 percentile, I've only taken two practice tests (GMATPrep software and a GMATClub practice exam) and got a 720/690 on both so it's within line of what I got.

As for the verbal, I'm confident I can easily score above an 80% especially if I have some focused study in sentence correction. My reading comp passages on the exam were chemistry, and another one on futures. I used to be a chemistry major before jumping to finance, so while the test says that you don't need to know the content to do well, I flew through those passages pretty quickly.

I'm currently a senior in UG right now, I took the GMAT just to get it out of the way and maybe to put it on a resume (it is 700+, so I'm happy with that). The main issue I have is that quant is below the 80% ranking, and I'm just unsure if I can really break that barrier without the extra study taking away from my CFA prep in December. On the same note, what kind of sick fuk algorithm test gives me 3 Probability and Combinations problems in a row?

Cliffs
- 710 (48Q/40V) GMAT - 92% Overall - 78% quant - 90% Verbal
- worried about how quant subscore will look
- am interested in a top 15 2-3 years down the line but I'm a senior in UG, eventually want to work in distressed
- take a step back, dedicate a full 2-3 months of study with good rep, and have at it?
- Should I stop worrying, be a senior, #yolo??

 

I will try to put it as politely as possible: You are not very bright at life...

Why on earth would you take your GMAT if you don't intend to go to b-school yet!!!!? gmat scores are "perishable", and some schools will only look at your GMAT scores if they are 2-3 years old or something like that. You never know when you will ACTUALLY go to grad school. Well done for wasting your time. Whatever amount of studying you are doing now will be absolutely worthless in a few years time when you will have to re-take it. I could go on and on about why you are such a muppet - but just to answer your question - no you don't need to re-take it. And no - I don't care about your gmat score on your resume.

 

Grad school is a given part of my life, its expected in the family and to be honest I go to a nontarget, figured it couldn't hurt given I'm networking as much as I can at the moment. As for the life comment, thanks for making a total character judgement based on me asking for advice.

My logic was that most scores are good for 5 years, I wanted go for an MBA program in my mid-20's as soon as I can rack up the experience for a CFA charter. I'm going to be the best damn drone there is (notsrs).

Maybe srs.

 
Best Response
Disjoint:
I will try to put it as politely as possible: You are not very bright at life...

Why on earth would you take your GMAT if you don't intend to go to b-school yet!!!!? gmat scores are "perishable", and some schools will only look at your GMAT scores if they are 2-3 years old or something like that. You never know when you will ACTUALLY go to grad school. Well done for wasting your time. Whatever amount of studying you are doing now will be absolutely worthless in a few years time when you will have to re-take it.

Ummm....no. Just no.

This is so wrong I can only conclude you are trying to actively mislead the OP.

For the record, GMAT scores are valid for 5 years and they do not "decay" or lose their influence over time.

 

Many colleges require GMAT taken in the last two three years because longer the waiting period, lesser the college intellect retained. What GMAT allows doesnt matter coz you have to meet individual requirements of each college.

 
Disjoint:
I will try to put it as politely as possible: You are not very bright at life...

Why on earth would you take your GMAT if you don't intend to go to b-school yet!!!!? gmat scores are "perishable", and some schools will only look at your GMAT scores if they are 2-3 years old or something like that. You never know when you will ACTUALLY go to grad school. Well done for wasting your time. Whatever amount of studying you are doing now will be absolutely worthless in a few years time when you will have to re-take it. I could go on and on about why you are such a muppet - but just to answer your question - no you don't need to re-take it. And no - I don't care about your gmat score on your resume.

What a fuckin hardooo

'Before you enter... be willing to pay the price'
 

gmat scores last for five years. I don't feel that it is stupid at all to do GMATs your senior year if you plan on going to business school within those five years. Plus everything you learned is fresh in memory so i think it is actually smart.

 

Just a quick comment, if you are looking at some of the top programs you will want a quant score over the 80th percentile...

Please view our tremendous GMAT resources at http://gmatprepster.com
 

I think you were smart to take the GMAT during senior year, when you are used to studying. That's what my friend the GMAT teacher says, and made his son take it about five minutes after he graduated from undergraduate school.

I think the 710 is fine for the resume. If the subscore comes up in interviews, and you find yourself explaining yourself, then take it off.

Three years from now when, or if you apply, anything can happen. You are fine for now. Retake it only if it's a point of pride and you need it for bragging rights.

Also your overall GPA and grades in STEM courses matter too. I've seen people get into Harvard with 75% on quant, but a 3.9 GPA in biochemistry

Betsy Massar Come see me at my Q&A thread http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/b-school-qa-w-betsy-massar-of-master-admissions Ask away!
 
FutureBanker09:
I'd retake 710 is still below average for a lot of top 15s. You should be able to get a 740+ without too much more effort.

Sure, but 720 is above average for a lot of top 15s.

I'd say there is nothing wrong with 710 - you can probably improve your apps more with essay work/picking up some good ECs. That said, you have plenty of time - maybe another crack at it would be valuable.

 

The GMAT is a joke test, just take the damn thing again and get a 740, no need to hold yourself back or give adcoms a reason to put someone with a similar banking background who is above their average in your spot. Your quant is fine, it's your overall that is low.

 

Are you in a quantitative major, or do you have good grades in quantitative courses? If so, that can counterbalance a 78 quant percentile. Even if not, 710 is plenty competitive for a top 15 school.

Regardless, I would not recommend taking the GMAT again as a senior, especially since you're not certain yet that you want to apply. YOLO. Seriously. If you make up your mind later, just take the GMAT again then. Your mental abilities will not degrade after working full time for two years.

I don't really understand why you're even taking the CFA right now. What's the rush? Even though I knew I was going to apply to business school when I was a senior, I ignored the GMAT until two years after graduation. I'm so glad I enjoyed my last year of college instead of studying for a test I could have taken later. Still got a great score that I probably couldn't have beat as a senior anyway.

 

Thanks to everyone for advice.

seamless: Yeah I'm pretty standard as far as it comes to major for business (finance/accounting). I AP'd out of my quant courses (Calculus/Statistics), and haven't taken any since then. The closest quanty course I've taken was only a summer school at LSE The closest thing I have to counteract the gmat quant would be a CFA.

As for the mental abilities thing, I can understand, but it's really more about the studying habits for me. When I worked last semester at a MF while taking classes, I would go to work in the morning, sit in class, go back to work through lunch, and come back for my last class in the afternoon. The place was about 15min walk or a 5min train ride in Boston to get there and the difference in mentality was stunning. I definitely learned more in the work place but it was just a different style of prep. A lot less structure is difficult for me, although for the CFA I have a group of co-workers who took me in as an intern to study the CFA with them.

In the end, I'll just take it another year or two out, maybe actually spend some money on more materials. Thanks again everyone.

 
shorttheworld:
FYI when everyone is 'oh, 78th percentiile bad', a 78 is still a 48Q which a year ago was at 82nd percentile -- its a very solid quant score but as more indians/asians take it the V percentiles go up and the Q goes down.

Exactly -- a 48Q is a very good score. The only reason why he should retake is to bring up the verbal section, not the math.

A 48Q/48V is far, far better than a 51Q/40V, percentiles be damned.

 
holla_back:
A 48Q/48V is far, far better than a 51Q/40V, percentiles be damned.

Not a very controversial statement. A 48Q/48V would probably get you a 770, whereas a 51Q/40V might only be 740.

But yeah, I agree that 48Q is good enough. It also doesn't leave much room for improvement, and it definitely isn't worth re-studying and retaking the GMAT just to get a 49Q.

If you do decide to retake, aim for a higher verbal score... even if your quant score stays the same, a 48Q/45V would probably get you to a 750. Which, in case it needs to be said, is without question good enough for any business school in the world, let alone the top 15.

 

As short alluded to above, don't focus on the percentile so much. You still got a 48 raw quant score, so do you really think you should study for another month to maybe get a 49?

With that said, some would say your verbal score is lacking quite a bit and you could make up some points on the 800 point scale fairly easy by bringing that verbal up just a little bit.

Since you aren't in a rush to apply to a school right now, I would spend an extra month or two studying up on the verbal and taking some practices tests in an effort to see where you might be coming up short on the quant side...then just focus on that specific area...but spend the vast majority of the time on verbal.

At this point, it seems like you've put in enough time to justify not leaving the score the way it is. If I was you, I would do it now and get it out of the way. No sense in accepting a 'questionable' score at this point. It seems likely that 3 years from now you will probably decide that you could do better, at which point you would probably spend a substantial amount of time studying to just get back to the level of competency you have now.

Regards

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
 

The "you must score 80th percentile in quant" notion is a huge myth. The 80th percentile has been rapidly increasing but the "quant ability" that a score indicates is exactly the same now as it was ten years ago. Meaning, if you were 80th percentile five years ago that score now indicates the same level of ability but you woild be 70th percentile based on the huge increase of foreign test takers. Adcoms know this and adjust accordingly.

I've got friends from 58th percentile quant scores to 80th getting all the interviews/acceptances that you would expect based on their profiles. I've got three M7 interviews in R1 with a 60th percentile quant score. It's not a big deal these days as long as you have something else quantitative on your resume/in your background.

The overall score is what matters and I do believe there is a big difference between a 710 and a 730/740 in terms of how you are viewed. So that would be my concern if I was you.

Edit: just saw the date of the OP. Nvm.

 
  1. how long did you study?
  2. do you think you're 750+ material (so to speak haha)...i mean, from your knowledge of the test, do you think you can do significantly better given more practice?...and if so, do you think you'll study hard in the following 5-6 weeks to get to the next level?
 
islandoffmorocco:
1. how long did you study? 2. do you think you're 750+ material (so to speak haha)...i mean, from your knowledge of the test, do you think you can do significantly better given more practice?...and if so, do you think you'll study hard in the following 5-6 weeks to get to the next level?

I studied about 6-7 weeks. Do I think I am 750+? Maybe, maybe not. I feel like I could have done better on the quant portion based on my practice tests. Also, I think if I devoted 3 solid weeks to verbal, I could sigificantly improve that portion. Overall, I'd say with the 3 weeks I could get to a 740... maybe a little higher.

Would a 740/750 be that different to admissions compared to my current 710?

 

A 710 will definitely not keep you out of those schools by any means. That said, if you think you had a bad test day, or think with just a bit more studying you could hit a 750 or better, then why not do it. If, however, you really put your hard work in, cranked away and don't even want to think GMAT anymore, don't both taking it again to maybe get a 720...or maybe get a 690. A 710 is a solid score and with H/S/W and any other top 5-10 school, there is a lot more to an admission acceptance than your GMAT.

Check the GMAT box and move on to strengthening the rest of your candidacy.

 

Everyone's advice is solid assuming you surpassed the 80 / 80 quant/verbal split or thereabouts. GMAT is a check the box kind of thing. If you score above 700, adcomms check the box and move on to the next item. A lot of scholarship money is driven by acamdeic background and GMAT score and future employers (primarily MCs) look for candidates with GMATS of 700+.

If you think you can crush the test by taking again you should re-take. Otherwise, just enjoy the rest of your senior year and relax before the real world begins.

 

idk for sure obviously. what was your ugrad gpa? where'd you go to school? what major? how much aid do you need. etc. etc. so many things that determine whether a 750 odd is worth retaking a 710 for. but if it's just a matter of 3 weeks, and you can get to a 740 (or higher), then why not? (btw, for H/S, i personally think a 750+ IS better than a 710 if you come from a traditional background).

also, when did you get this 710? how much time will there be between the two tests on your score report?

if it helps, the folks at gmatclub would give you a formulaic "there is no difference between a 710 and 750" answer. in their defense, i am sure that you'll be competitive with the 710. it is, after all, a good score. 94th percentile or something.

this is a tough call obviously. personally, i'd go for the 750. but please don't make any decisions based on anonymous advice on the internet; seek professional opinions. also, i want to take the test a second time with my >750 someday, so my advice might be retarded...i mean if i posted "should i retake?" anywhere on the internet, i'd be heralded as king fucktard.

ps, i didn't say it previously, so: congratulations on your job offer and your gmat score.

 

what were your practice scores? like 700-730s? personally, i would need a big improvement to justify taking it again. As you have probably heard many times before, the b-school app is a 'whole-package' application rather than GPA+standardized test like law school. don't sweat it too much.

 

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