The Application Process

A little less than two weeks ago, I finally took the GMAT after months of intense studying. While my final score was slightly lower than what I thought I should be able to achieve, I am content with a 720 and I have no plans on retaking the GMAT. However, I'm a little worried about my quantitative score since I want to attend NYU Stern, Columbia, Wharton or Harvard. Would an expert please inform me whether my GMAT performance would cause admissions officers at top schools to question my ability to handle a mathematically-intense MBA curriculum?

Here is the breakdown of my score:
AWA 5.5 (81st percentile)
IR 7 (81st percentile)
Q 48 (74th percentile)
V 41 (94th percentile)
Total 720 (94th percentile)

I have two competing thoughts about my quantitative score that I hope someone can clarify. To begin, I'm worried admissions officers at top schools will question my ability to handle the mathematics in their courses because I only scored in the 74th percentile. The most competitive schools in the country probably have more applicants than available seats who have surpassed my quantitative score.

On the other hand, I know the average quantitative score has been rising over the last decade. Ten years ago, my 48 would have likely been in the 85th - 90th percentile. If this line of thinking is correct, admissions officers would assume I can handle the quantitative rigors of their MBA programs (the wonderful "sticky" post above titled 'Do Americans Fail to Measure Up on the GMAT?' somewhat causes me to believe this second line of reasoning is correct).

As an added note, I had a perfect cumulative GPA of 4.0 as an undergrad. While I graduated from an ordinary state university with a bachelor's of science in business administration, the institution is AACSB accredited and my coursework included two calculus classes, one statistics class, and one course in optimization modeling with spreadsheets.

With all this in mind, do you believe admissions officers at the top-ranked MBA programs would question my mathematical abilities since 26 percent of GMAT test takers scored higher than me on the quantitative section?

I think that your GMAT score is really good and you should be proud of that. I have students at the moment with your quant score and some schools are mentioning that it is a bit of a concern. If necessary I would point to other quantitative aspects of your application - school courses and work experience - to remedy any doubt. I wouldn't bother taking the GMAT again as your score is excellent and should place you well for those schools.

Thank you so much for your feedback. I appreciate the time you took to understand my situation and share your knowledge. I'm sure I'm not the only one worried about my quantitative percentile ranking, so I hope this post helps others out as well.