Just took first official GMAT - results + questions

[mhasson33]

Hi all,

I just took my first test and came out with a 720. This is good but unfortunately it was a really whacked out split - 64 math 99 verbal. On my practices I got my quant up to 75-80, but every once in a while during a practice i would stumble and waste time and then be rushing and guessing and my score would drop into the high 60s. Unfortunately on the real test today, I stumbled on the first question which was a very easy algebra substitution and I wasted 5 minutes because I forgot to divide a solution by 2. So from there it was downhill guessing and rushing and my score was one of the lowest quants I've had.

So i was going to ask whether I should retake, since this overall score is actually my best, but i think I definitely am going to. Too bad I wasted the verbal performance which was definitely my best. However I wanted to know if schools take into consideration the split or do they just look at the overall score?

[mohit.khemu]

Hi. That is a good score. Congrats for that.Regarding your query about splits it is a school specific question. Yes some schools do consider splits in the sense that they do not want a huge gap between the scores. On the other hand some schools do not have a minimum GMAT as a requirement but prefer a minimum 70 percentile on either sections.
It is better you contact the admission committees for the school of your choice before making any conscience decision.
Cheers and all the best.

[StaceyKoprince]

A 720 - that's fantastic! (Yes, I saw that you're not happy about the quant subscore - but still, 720 is great!) :)

Unfortunately on the real test today, I stumbled on the first question which was a very easy algebra substitution and I wasted 5 minutes because I forgot to divide a solution by 2.

No - you didn't waste 5 minutes because you forgot to divide a solution by 2. You wasted 5 minutes because you didn't cut yourself off when it became apparent that you were lost on the question. If you are going to take the test again, you've got to fix that problem or there's no way to guarantee that the same thing won't happen all over again next time.

Read this; do what it says:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... anagement/

Re: whether to take it again, talk to a couple of admissions consultants. Officially, most schools will look only at your overall score - but most schools also only care about your overall score. There are some schools that care about the sub-scores, and some of those schools might be willing to look at a different test and say "oh, ok, this student did better on the quant here, so it looks like s/he can handle the quant work at b-school." But some might not - it's up to the school.

So talk to some admissions consultants and see what they think. (And tell them where you want to apply, if you know.)