Retake GMAT with a 750 (but low quant)?

[lee.bollinger]

Hi all,

I recently took the GMAT and scored as follows:

Overall -750 (98th percentile)
Quant - 45 (72nd percentile)
Verbal - 48 (99th percentile)

While I’m pleased with my overall score (98th percentile), I’m very disappointed in my quantitative score (72nd percentile). As such, I’m wondering if I should re-take the GMAT.

My low quant score is particularly problematic because my background is actually quite technical: I currently work for a highly-quantitative management consulting firm in Chicago (we do a lot of econometrics, statistics, and data analysis); prior to that I worked as an investment banking analyst at a bulge bracket firm in New York. In terms of academic background, I have a BA in economics from the University of Chicago (with coursework in econometrics, statistics, multivariate calculus, and linear algebra), with an overall GPA of 3.9 and a major GPA of 4.0.

Therefore, I find myself in a bit of a dilemma - on the one hand I feel as though I can convince the admissions committee of my quantitative skills in spite of my GMAT score; on the other hand, I worry that my GMAT score will cast doubt on the rest of my application (i.e., "if this guy is so smart, why couldn’t he do better on the GMAT?")

For what it’s worth, I’m targeting the top tier of business schools (Harvard, Stanford, Chicago, et al.) - and I'm a white male - so any weakness at all in my application is problematic.

However, at the risk of sounding too whiny - retaking the test will be fairly hard for me: (1) first of all, I’m spending the next few months working as a fellow at a social investment firm in Sub-Saharan Africa - so studying for, let alone re-taking, the GMAT is logistically difficult; and (2) I still have a lot of work to do in terms of business school essays and recommendation letters - so every hour I spend studying for and re-taking the GMAT is an hour I don't spend on these other (potentially more useful) pursuits.

Again, any help at all with my situation would be appreciated. I’m really at a loss as to how to proceed, so any advice or perspective would be a great help to me.

Many thanks in advance for the help!

[StaceyKoprince]

I would ask an admissions consultant - we're just GMAT experts around here. :) We have a folder here called "Ask an Admissions Consultant."

If you're applying this fall, then your primary concern needs to be the applications - it won't do any good to take the test again when you already have an amazing overall score if it takes away from the quality of the rest of your app, right?

Also, your low quant score is actually LESS problematic because of all of the evidence that you cite. They know that this test is only a proxy for quant ability and most of what's tested on the exam is NOT what you actually need to know for the business world. If you can demonstrate a very strong quant background in other ways, then they are much more likely to overlook a slightly lower GMAT quant score.

Again, talk to an admissions expert. My guess is that they're going to say that you're fine, but they're the experts on this topic, not me. :)

[lee.bollinger]

Thanks Stacey. I'll repost in the forum you suggested. But I'm glad to hear your thoughts -- I definitely would rather not take the test again!

If anyone else here has thoughts, though, I'd be glad to hear them...

Thanks again!

[StaceyKoprince]

You're welcome! Oh, and I forgot to mention, you can also ask the schools directly. The admissions department is happy to answer questions and they won't lie to you. They may not really answer your question if they don't want to give some part of their admissions process away, but they won't tell you "oh, it's fine!" if it's not, or "oh, you better take it again!" if you don't need to. :)