And...Done. Maybe.
I took my GMAT this morning. I am very relieved that it's over, but also a little torn about where to go from here.
Let me back up. I took the advice given to me to relax the day and night before the test, and not to study too much. I reviewed my notes and things that I had already seen, and avoided new material completely the day before. I watched a movie (Sex and the City!) last night, tried to keep my mind off the test, and had everything ready to go so I could wake up and go.
My appointment was at 8am so I got up at 6am so I could shower and wake myself up, have some coffee and breakfast, and get to the test center nice and early. I did arrive at about 7:20a, which was only 10 minutes before they say to arrive, so I sat in my car for a few minutes. I arrived, went through the check-in and security process, and got settled at my station. The earplugs that they provided were SO helpful!!
I felt good through the AWA section. The Analysis of an Issue prompt threw me slightly, but I was able to take a side and come up with some points and examples to put together.
I took my break, had a bit of my Coke and granola bar, and went back for the Quant section. It went pretty well, and there weren't any questions that I was clueless on. I did feel a little rushed at the end because the questions got tough and required a few steps to answer. I took my other break, had the rest of my snack, and headed back to finish up with the Verbal. Then it was time to see my score...boy, those seconds while the computer calculates are stressful!
I got a 710. 44V/44Q, which ended up as 97th% verbal / 70th% quant. I'm happy, but I was really hoping to break that 80th% quant barrier. I just did a quick review of the stats of the schools that I'm hoping for (Chicago/Wharton/Kellogg/MIT/Cornell) and 710 is more or less the mean for all of them (except Cornell).
I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to give studying quant a second go to see if I can get above that 80th% percentile. My undergrad degree is business, so not super quant-heavy but also not completely lacking, and I also took a business calc class post-undergrad and got an A. My other glimmer of hope is that my job function inherently has some math to it (I'm an underwriter), so I have that background as well.
At this point, I think I'm going to go with what I've got. I'm going to visit a few of the schools next week, so if I get a chance to ask questions, I may ask what they think about the importance of the 80/80 split. Who knows, I may change my mind and decide to go for it again later after I haven't just studied like crazy for a few months, but for now, I think I'm good with my 710.
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Hey!
Congrats!
your score's quite good, dont worry too much about your Quant, as long as you can handle your business calculations, you'd be fine.
Go out, have some fun! give urself the time off..
concentrating on school visits would be better now I guess, and do post about ur visits...
Adios.
Felicitations. 710 is an excellent score.
Hi,
If I may offer an opinion, 710 is an excellent score. You broke the 700 barrier and that puts you in a strong place to move on with your applications. I would think that taking the test again with such a score is a loss of time. The overall score is what matters most, especially if you had good grades in quant classes as an undergrad. You do not want to appear as obsessed with your GMAT score, and retaking it could be overkill. Start thinking about your goals instead!
I was in your shoes just one year ago and that's the advice my admissions consultant gave me. I followed it, and everything worked out perfectly.
Good luck!
I think 710 is a good score. Congratulations. :)It is best if you concenterate on enhancing your profile and working on your application.
Read this: http://www.totalgadha.com/gmat/2009/01/i-dont-have-a-perfect-800-gmat-score/
May be this would help you get answer to your questions. :)
Congrats on the GMAT score!
If your quant grades as an undergrad are good and your current work requires quant skills, I don't recommend retaking the 710 GMAT because of the 70% quant.
You might want to bring out quantitatively demanding projects on your resume or ask recommenders to comment on your quant skills.
Best,
Linda Abraham
Accepted.com
Best Linda Abraham
That's a really impressive verbal score. I can never understand how people manage to do so well on verbal.
As you may have seen this weekend, your MBA applicant blog has been nominated for consideration in this year's Clear Admit Best of Blogging awards. Congratulations!
If this is news to you, feel free to visit the nominee announcement post at http://blog.clearadmit.com/2009/04/best-of-blogging-nominees-2008-2009/ for a bit more information.
By design, the BoB results are based largely on the input of the nominees themselves, so we'd would love to have your opinion as we compile the ranking. To receive your BoB Ballot please contact bob@clearadmit.com.
Ballots are due April 24th, so don't delay!
Congratulations again!
congrats!!
All - thanks for the kind words!
DG - I feel the same way about Quant.