710 Retake

[dbjornson]

Hi there,

I am a senior undergrad student and will be working in mgmt consulting for the next three years then planning to go to B-School. I'm a Finance major with a 3.9 (Big 12 midwestern school). Given the test lasts 5 years, I took the GMAT recently and got a 710 (92%). My breakdown was Q 44(63%) v 42(96%) AWA (4.5) and IR (8). The list of schools I might apply to include MIT Sloan, HBS, Stanford, Kellogg, Stern, Wharton, Ross, Booth, and Fuqua. I was wondering if it was advisable to retake the test given my profile and my goals? Any help you might have would be great.

[dbjornson]

Also,extensive extra curricular a in college. Did an internship in I-Banking for a Bulge Bracket (turned down full time, was more interested in consulting). Looking to do some
Volunteer work post grad in Economic Development.

[mbamissionjenK]

Hi there,

First of all congrats on a strong GMAT score over 90th percentile, your great GPA and the fact that you are taking a serious look at the coming 3-5 years while you are finishing up your undergrad experience.

The question of re-taking when at a 710 is borderline as it is a very strong score. Given that you have time though and more importantly that your quant percentile was on the lower side, it could be worth one more shot in the near future if you are up for continuing to put in the effort and study and prep for it. In many instances it can be better to work on GMAT prep while you are still fresh from 'study mode' in undergrad and also perhaps doing more quant work more frequently than might be the case in the coming years. That said, plenty of people work for a few years and then take the GMAT, so a re-take later isn't out of the question either.

One consideration may be how you were doing on your practice tests leading up to the exam; if you scored above 710 and/or higher in quant then there is more of an incentive to re-take sooner and aim to beat those scores. Either case the b-schools will take your higher score.

Good luck on your future endeavors and be sure to check back in for MBA admissions advice about 18 months before you plan to start b-school! The application deadlines are generally in the fall, so it's good to start prepping in spring/summer where possible.

Jennifer Kedrowski
MBA Admissions Consultant
www.mbamission.com
jen@mbamission.com

Visit the mbaMission Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog

Follow mbaMission on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mbaMission

Like mbaMission on Facebook: www.facebook.com/mbaMission

Read the mbaMission Insider's Guides (16 individual school titles): www.mbamission.com/guides.php?category=insiders