Gmat score interpretation

[Guest]

I took the GMAT a second time and scored 610 both times.

Should I take a third time

1st time: V 80%-Q 56%
2nd time: V-52%-Q80%

As you see I got the same score but the individual breakdowns were the opposite.
Will top schools average both or should I take again and go for the 80-80

[RonPurewal]

wow, that's an insane turnaround. what happened the second time? did you just get really tired at the end of the exam?

as far as i'm aware, no school will average your scores.
most schools will take your single best performance; that's a troublesome concept in this case, though, because they'd have to somehow decide which of your two 610s is a better score.
some schools, such as tuck @ dartmouth, will take the best individual components (v80q80 in your case) and slap them together to make a portmanteau score. this is ideal for students with your profile (of whom there really aren't that many).

i'll see if any of our other moderators can weigh in on how schools that don't normally isolate quant and verbal would decide between your two 610s.

[Guest]

The exams were also 6 weeks apart so that's why I feel the scores aren't really representative of my potential. I guess I can always retake a 3rd time and shoot for the 80-80.

I was getting 80-90 on quant and 80 in verbal on practice exams so that's why I'm kind of hoping for a 3rd exam to even things out.

To answer your question. I just lost concentration in the verbal.

[StaceyKoprince]

There's got to be more to it than that! The more you can figure out about what happened, the more it will help you to decide whether to go with it or take the test again. (Or - just apply to Yale. A user in another thread just mentioned that Yale will look at the highest quant and verbal scores you got even if you got them on separate administrations of the test! *Note: I'm really just making a joke here but if that sounds of interest to you, just make sure to confirm the fact that Yale really does this.)

Given the disparity in scores on the first test, I'm guessing you spent almost all of your time on the weaker area (quant) and then that improved but you forgot things on verbal b/c you hadn't been keeping those skills up as much. Unfortunately, it's really easy to forget the stuff for this test once you stop studying it regularly.

Anyway, if you want to try to think about what happened in more detail and post here, we'd be happy to try to help you figure out whether it might be worth it to try to take the test again!

[Guest]

Stacy,

Funny you mention it but Yale is my top choice.

I purchased your Self-Study plus course so maybe I should set up an appointment to discuss this matter in more detail.

After the 1st exam, I was really disappointed because like I said I had been hitting 80-90 on quant. I was dead on with the verbal at 80 as that was what I was hitting in the OG and MGMAT materials. After the 1st exam I realized the problem with quant was timing. I ended up guessing on at least 8-9 questions. I then enrolled in the Self-Study Plus. After much practice, I was finishing GMAT Prep quant with almost 10 minutes to spare. As you alluded to, I didn't work on verbal. In the 2nd exam I got my first reading comp question and felt like my brain went dead. Couple that with being mentally fatigued. Both a recipe for disaster. I'm scheduled for exam 3 in a few weeks so now I know to practice both quant and verbal. Any other suggestions are appreciated.

[StaceyKoprince]

Oh yeah - doesn't the self-study package include a post-exam assessment? If so, definitely sign up for that - email studentservices@manhattangmat.com right away! That way you can discuss in detail what to do with an instructor!

[Guest]

How much is AWA weighted?

1st Exam: AWA 4.5
2nd Exam: AWA 6.0

[StaceyKoprince]

Usually not so much - both scores are fine (though obviously 6.0 is better!). I really don't know what to advise here - you're really right in the middle. I'd go ask in the admissions consulting thread; they deal with stuff like this all the time and should have an idea about what to do (or at least what to think about as you decide what to do). Let us know what they say.