i'm trying to work through this, and hoping that writing everything down will give me some clarity. i took the gmat last thursday. i did not get the score that i wanted, freaked out, went home and immediately registered to take the test again.
the thing is, i got a good score (just not the score i *wanted*), so i'm weighing the logic of going through the whole thing again. my entire family thinks i'm nuts and that i should walk away, but there's a part of me that knows i can do better. at the same time, my score is well within the range for the schools i want to go to. so if it goes up (alternatively it could go down) i don't think it would make that much difference.
i really, really don't want to go through it all again. it's just so stressful, and i really enjoyed having a whole weekend off. but at the same time, i feel like i should try to do better, b/c that's what i'm supposed to do. oy, i'm confused. thanks for reading my ramblings.
Grad school is sort of set up to make you think you should always do better - and the pressure starts with the test. You got what you got. If you can get what you want with it, then I think you should not worry about it. The next few years are going to beat you up enough anyway. If you can't get what you want with the score you have, though, then it's worth taking it again. But dont' kill yourself just to look better to the hypothetical grad school audience. That's no way to live...
If the score you received will not affect your acceptance to a school, then you should just let it go. Channel the energy it would take to retake the test into reducing stress. Relax. You worked hard, and got a good score, let this milestone pass. You'll have plenty of opportunity to overachieve in grad school.
Congrats on getting a score in the range you need!! That is awesome. So many people are not that lucky.
That said I would not take the test over again. I have heard and believe that your score will not go up that much if you retake it so I wouldn't waste the $250 to go up 10 points. You won't go up much more than that and I don't know how much more you can prepare for the test since you have been studying your butt off! If it was $25 like the ACT use to be I would definetly encourage you to retake it but since its not I would just let it go.
I did the same thing with the SAT. I did well on it and could defintely have gotten into any of the schools I wanted with it. However, I knew I could do a lot better and decided to take it again. I ended up getting a lower score. I don't even know what happened. I wouldn't take it again. It's not worth the effort and the possibilty of your score going down.
I was tempted to do the same thing, and I'm so glad I didn't. I got into the school I wanted, finished, and it never mattered (accept as a matter of pride, which I decided was silly for me). So unless you think it would really, really bother you, I wouldn't take it again.
Oh, and congratulations!
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Forget, forgive, conclude, and be agreed. - Shakespeare
I don't think you should retake it. I felt the same way as Maddie about the SAT- I could def. get into my school with my score, but I wanted to see if I could get a 1500 just to see! LOL. I guess part of me thought my intelligence was tied to that score, but it really isn't. You did great and the real test is grad school, not the entrance exam.
thanks for all the input. i'm almost 100% sure that i'm not going to take it again. just having the last few days free (without feeling like i should be studying) has been awesome.