Huge Quant-Verbal Disparity - Retake?

[MA]

I just took the actual GMAT last week and got a 660 (Q 36, 48th percentile, V 44, 97th percentile; 84th percentile overall). While it's an ok score, as you can see, there's a huge disparity between my Verbal and Quant scores.

I was planning on applying to two part-time programs in my area. One has an average GMAT of 660 while the other has an average of 600. I have a solid background otherwise (to add to the Quant score enigma, I was a finance major and currently work in a related field), but I'm guessing the school with the 660 average would have a pretty easy time rejecting me because of my Quant score alone. What about my chances with the school with the 600 average? Would the 48th percentile on the Quant be a huge enough red flag for them to reject me?

I was also wondering what you recommend for further Quant practice if I decide to retake? The interesting thing is that I devoted 99% of my 2.5 months of study time to the Quant section. It's obviously a weakness for me, but I was very disappointed in my actual GMAT quant score because I felt I had improved so much during my course of study. I know one reason I did worse on the actual exam was nervousness; I seemed to make mistakes on easy calculations. However, I felt my extensive preparation should have prevented that.

FYI, below are my CAT practice results, which are somewhat varied. That last 640 was a little bit of a blow to my confidence:

MGMAT (Free) Q 42, V 42; 700
MGMAT #1 Q 43, V 42; 700
MGMAT #2 Q 41, V 41; 680
GMAT Prep #1 Q 46, V 42; 720
MGMAT #3 Q 42, V 41; 690
MGMAT #4 Q 41, V 41; 670
MGMAT #5 Q 43, V 45; 720
GMAT Prep #2 Q39, V 40; 640

Thanks for your help!

[StaceyKoprince]

You may want to consider retaking the test due to the disparity, but it really depends upon the school. Does their web site say that they look at the individual subscores? If it doesn't address the topic, you can also just email them and ask (a) whether they look at the overall score only or the individual subscores as well, and (b) if the latter, what kinds of subscores they consider competitive. (You don't need to tell them what you actually scored - just ask for the info.)

If they don't care, then don't retake. If they do, and if the quant subscore would put you at a disadvantage relative to what they consider competitive, then consider retaking. You can also mention explicitly in your app that you had a quant major and work in a quantitative field - if your grades were pretty good, this can offset the lower quant score. (The schools are aware that your ability to do, say, a geometry question isn't directly relevant to the kind of quant stuff you'll be doing in b-school!)

How was your timing on the quant section, by the way? Did you work at a pretty steady pace throughout and let go of questions you just couldn't do in a timely manner? Or were you pressed for time by the end of the test and having to rush through?