Should I re-take the GMAT?

[JCMurray]

Hi-

I took the GMAT for the first time on Saturday. I got a 620 (Q36, V39), which surprised me for many reasons. Initially, I was excited with a 620 because I felt that it was a great jump from my initial CAT which was a 550. Looking deeper I was very surprised to see a Verbal score of 39, unofficially the 89th percentile. After a few CATs I knew that Verbal would be my strong suit, but finishing up my undergrad degree in Accounting, it threw me for a curve ball. My Quant score was extremely depressing. With my background in accounting I was expecting to do decent on this portion of the test, however I was a minute late getting back to the testing center after my first break. I knew from my CATs that the Quant section would take me the full 75 minutes, this caused a fairly large amount of anxiety and then to me running through questions extremely too fast. I ended the Quant section with 25 minutes left over.

My goal is to go to Europe (specifically the U.K.) for a MSc in Management. I am planning on taking the GMAT before rolling applications open in October and had two quick questions.
1.) I understand that a majority of admissions departments take the highest overall score. My only reservation of taking the GMAT again is my high Verbal Score. I would hate to bring up my Quant and end up with a 620 again because a dip in my Verbal. My question is if admission departments would look at my overall score, and then look at the individual scores on all my past scores.
2.) On my CATs, I have yet to break the 50th percentile on Quant. The 60th percentile has been the ceiling on Verbal section for my CATs, and I far surpassed that in the official GMAT. With this being said, is it worth taking the GMAT again? My number 1 program is the London School of Economics Master of Science in Management, Organization, and Governance. Unfortunately, LSE does not report their median or 80% range for GMAT scores. Minus my freak out on the Quant section of the GMAT, I feel I work well under pressure. I also feel very motivated on my score, as it was my initial goal. I now feel that I could score higher than a 620 if I have the time to study, but my classes have begun this week for my final year of undergrad. Or would it be better to focus on my final year and keeping my grades up?

A little background on me: GPA is currently 3.78 (hoping to bring it up to at least a 3.8 before graduation). I will be 22 when my preferred program begins. I will have my undergrad in Accounting from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (not a very well-known program, but is #5 for CPA pass rates among mid-sized schools). I have accepted an offer for an internship with PwC for Summer 2015 as an Audit Intern. I worked 2 years at a bank, 1 summer at an American Century Investments (doing data entry) and currently work in a Behavioral Research Lab focusing on researching leadership, negotiations, and other organizational behavior subjects. I have conducted multiple Organizational Network Analysis (ONA) with a large well-known Fortune 500 company in the tech industry. This ONAs have been for organizations from India, Canada, and the United States. I was accepted into a MBA Global Consultancy Cap-Stone course consulting with a start-up in Kansas City, MO to expand their operations to Shanghai. I spent time in Shanghai and Beijing to research and meet with entrepreneurs and business leaders. I am currently the Treasurer of Mortar Board National Honor Society, and was the President of UMKC Enactus ( a worldwide organization focusing on using entrepreneurship to help solve problems in the community. ie. Foster Care, Environmental Issues, Economic Development, Homelessness) which had membership of 100 students.

Thanks for your help!

[mbamissionjenK]

Hi there,

First of all apologies for the delay in responding- somehow I must have missed your post and it got buried.

Yes I fully support a GMAT re-take if possible. Yes schools do take the highest score, and it's quite common to take it more than once so not much to lose by giving it another shot. Certainly that timing scenario you experienced was very detrimental to your performance and I'd bet if you literally went and took it again tomorrow you'd do a lot better, so I'd suggest re-taking sooner rather than later. Yes schools can see past scores so if you really feel concerned about a specific section maybe that will help you feel a bit better, but in general I believe you can improve across the board. And yes anxiety can really bring down your performance as well!

You have some other strengths in your profile such as your GPA and experience with PWC; I encourage you to stay positive and give the test another shot and go from there. Good luck to you!