Retake GMAT? (680 first time, 670 second time)

[srlu44]

Hi there,

I was hoping for some guidance in terms of deciding on taking a third GMAT. I took my first test back in May and received a 680 (47 math, 35 verbal, 5.5 AWA). I was quite disappointed in my verbal score although not totally shocked. After taking all 6 MGMAT and both GMATPrep tests, I was scoring very consistently between 670 and 720, so this was obviously on the low end of my range.

I took about a two month hiatus from all things GMAT, and then signed up again for a late August exam. This time around, I completed pretty much every single problem in the official guide (I had only half completed the book prior to taking my first exam) and took five more practice exams with scores as follows:

MGMAT 1A: 710
MGMAT 1B: 740
Veritas Sample Exam: 640
GMATPrep 1: 710
GMATPrep 2: 720

The first two were MGMAT tests which recycled old questions that I had seen before. I didn't give much weight to these scores since I knew a bunch of the answers already. The later 3 practice tests seemed pretty accurate though (a lot of careless mistakes on my Veritas exam).

Feeling confident that I would at least reach my goal of breaking 700, I strutted into my exam center only to walk away with a devastating 670 (42 math, 41 verbal, 5.5 AWA). The bright side was that my verbal had jumped from 35 to 41, as expected. However, my math dropped from 47 to 42. This was particularly frustrating because even prior to taking my first GMAT, my math score on practice exams was ALWAYS at an extremely consistent 45-48 (more often than not, 47). As I was taking the test, I definitely sensed that the math was tougher, and I was forced to guess on a lot more questions than I was used to.

So here I am, armed with a decent but below average 3.42 GPA from a top 25 university, 4 years of great WE (as of matriculation) at a quant intensive international trade consulting firm, and two GMAT scores of 680 and 670. I'm hoping to apply to UPenn and Berkley (obviously reach schools) as well as Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, UCLA, and Georgetown(somewhat more realistic).

My questions are as follows:
1) Considering my practice test scores and actual test history, should I take the GMAT a third time? Prior to my second exam, I was confident that I could at least break 700, if not hit 730, but my scores on my real exams have definitely shaken my confidence.

2) I did a bunch of volunteer work and extracurriculars in college but have done next to nothing since graduating 3 years ago. How worried should I be about my overall lack of post college volunteer work? Is there anything I can do about this (aside from the totally transparent volunteer work right before applications are due)?

3) If I do decide to take a third GMAT, what are some of the more accurate sources for practice exams aside from MGMAT and GMATPrep? Also, I've gone through each of the MGMAT strategy guides and all of the official guide problems. Where can I find additional practice problems that don't skimp on difficulty?

Sorry for such a long-winded post and thanks in advance for any insight you can offer!

[mbamission]

Hi srlu44

Thanks for writing in and sharing your details.

1) As you know preparing for the GMAT can be a time-intense process, and at this stage will likely require to invest time that could be spent on your applications. It may not be worthwhile to invest this time if your practice work only indicates a 20-point increase, but if you're consistently going up 40 points in your practice tests and have the time to take the GMATs again, you may want to consider it in order to be more competitive at your top choices.

2) Extracurriculars are only one part of your candidate profile, and many candidates have limited post-college volunteer work. If you have anything that's not volunteer work but shows leadership outside of work (captain of recreational sports team, volunteer on condo board, etc) you can include those activities.

3)MGMAT is the official GMAT partner of MBA Mission. Besides the official guide problems, they post a "Quest For 700" quant problem on their site each week, which we also repost on mbamission.com/blog.

Best of luck,

Daniel Richards
http://www.mbamission.com

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[srlu44]

Daniel,

Thanks very much for your time, I appreciate it.