Even with a high quant, a GMAT retake may be necessary.
Hi Kate,
I took GMAT recently and got an unbalanced score with 49 in quant and 31 in verbal. Will I be able to get into a top 20 B school? Or should i retake the exam? Currently, I have 2 years of work ex which will become 3 by the time i go to a school.
Thanks in advance.
R
Good question!
The 49 in Quant is fine. But the 31 in verbal means your overall score is well below what most of the top 20 programs would like to see. The Verbal is a bit of a problem. If it is your first take, definitely retake. Even if this were your second take I’d suggest a retake. But don’t rush yourself. Improving your verbal score substantially requires the right kind of effort. You will probably need to work with non-GMAT texts to improve your critical reasoning and reading comprehension skills. It can take several weeks for new habits to form.
Be patient with your study. You have plenty of time. It is at least 1-2 years too early for you to apply unless you have very, very unusual work experience.
Put in strong work for verbal exclusively until you are performing strongly, then add back the quant for 2-3 weeks before you take one more time.
Good luck!
-Kate