I just Beat The GMAT!

Hi all. Long time lurker. I would like to thank everyone that contributes to the forum. I started the pursuit of my MBA in February and finally gave my GMAT on July 31. I enrolled in a Kaplan classroom course and for the most part found that it was o.k. I liked my instructor and there were actually some pretty good contributing students in my class. I really do feel that Kaplan is a good starting point as far as test strategy is concerned. Other than that I am somewhat divided. As everyone knows, don’t put too much weight in their test scores. I went into the class thinking that if I learn a couple of things it will be worth it. The one thing that made the Kaplan course worth the money was the Ultimate Practice Test that I took in the testing center. It gave me a real sense of what to expect on test day and took out one unknown. I also used OG 11 and OG Verbal and Quant reviews as if they were the Bible. Below are my practice test scores:

Kaplan Diagnostic Q38, V29, T550
Kaplan CAT 1 Q34, V29, T550
Kaplan CAT 2 Q41, V28, T600
Kaplan CAT 5 Q37, V31, T590
PowerPrep 1 Q46, V33, T 640
PowerPrep 2 Q46, V39, T690
GMAT Prep 1 Q37, V38, T620
GMAT Prep 2 Q49, V39, T710
GMAT Prep 2 Retake Q46??, V40??, T700

GMAT Q41, V40, T670, AWA 5

I was really disappointed in my quant score and was expecting higher based on my quant scores above. I feel that I am a 700 caliber test taker. The week before my test my wife (who was pregnant at the time) was admitted to the hospital because of high blood pressure and I thought we were going to have our first born on that day. Her blood pressure leveled out and we went home. Needless to say I was a little flustered but continued to study and prepare. The day before my test my wife experienced the same problem, and I thought we were going to deliver that day. Needless to say, I was really flaky at this point, but the doctors decided that she would be fine for one more day and instructed us to come into the hospital the night of July 31, my test day. I contacted Pearson to check on cancellation policies due to medical concerns, but after talking it over with my wife she said that I should go ahead and take the test. On test day, I obviously had a lot on my mind. I think I did pretty good considering the situation, but now I am faced with the decision of whether to take the test again to try to achieve the magic mark of 700. I need everyone’s advice on this one.

My profile is as follows. I graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2002 with a Finance degree and a GPA of 3.9. For two years I worked as a Financial Analyst for a small exploration and production company. For the next three years I have worked on the other side of the fence for two financial advisor/investment bank boutique firms. I want to go back to school for a couple of reasons including personal satisfaction but most importantly the chance to land a job at a big investment bank. I am pretty active outside of work with activities including little league baseball coach, elementary education tutor, active church contributor, and food drive volunteer.

I am considering all of the top schools, but my favorites are NYU, Columbia, both Chicago schools, Virginia, Duke and of course Harvard. NYU and Columbia are my top choices.

Anyway, I hope my discourse was helpful and interesting. I would appreciate any advice on my chances as they stand right now for the aforementioned schools and whether I should consider a retake. Stacy, your input would be much appreciated too. Thank you.

I want to go back to school for a couple of reasons including personal satisfaction

I think you answered it yourself when you wrote the above. Given your situation, I am sure that could describe why you didn't score as high as you would have liked on the GMAT until you are blue in the face to an adcomm. (<-- thats a good SC) However, you sound like me in your drive and determination to achieve what you know you can accomplish. I am in the same boat, obtained a 650, gonna retake because I know I can get a better score. I say go for it... and good luck with the newborn!