Hi,
My first pass at the GMAT in July 2009 yielded a 650 (Q46 V34), with the verbal being a lot lower than I was getting in practice tests (usually 40-44).
I just re-took my GMAT yesterday and upped my total score to 690, but with an interesting split - Q42 (62nd percentile) and V42 (95th percentile). I know there is some talk that too large a split between quant and verbal can be considered a negative. I think my overall score is competitive for the schools I am applying too (laid out later in this post) but the low quant score worries me a little bit.
The problem is I actually am very capable with quant-related material! I graduated from Ross (Michigan) undergrad with a 3.8 GPA, and my transcript includes:
3 Finance classes: As in all of them
Business Statistics: B+
Calculus-based Microeconomics: A (considered arguably the hardest Econ class at my school)
Applied Economics: A
I have a little over 3 years work experience (will be 4 when I enter school in Fall 2010) with a boutique new product development consulting firm where I do a fair amount of quantitative analysis. Not so much running regressions and heavy statistics, but more analyzing survey data to understand consumer attitudes and behavior.
I'm applying for full-time MBA programs in round 2 at Berkeley, Northwestern, Texas, and UCLA to switch careers to high-tech marketing. Given all that I've laid out here and that I'm focusing on marketing instead of something more quant-heavy like finance, should I bring up my low Q score in a supplemental essay and note quant-heavy classes and work experience to reassure the admissions committee, or should I let them put it all together when they look at my transcript and resume?
I am hesitant to take time away from essays and spend it studying to re-take the GMAT since it's so late in the game, and my quant in my practice tests was consistently around 44-46, so I don't think I would improve that much. I just wish I could take that Q46 from my first test, ugh!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks very much!
My first pass at the GMAT in July 2009 yielded a 650 (Q46 V34), with the verbal being a lot lower than I was getting in practice tests (usually 40-44).
I just re-took my GMAT yesterday and upped my total score to 690, but with an interesting split - Q42 (62nd percentile) and V42 (95th percentile). I know there is some talk that too large a split between quant and verbal can be considered a negative. I think my overall score is competitive for the schools I am applying too (laid out later in this post) but the low quant score worries me a little bit.
The problem is I actually am very capable with quant-related material! I graduated from Ross (Michigan) undergrad with a 3.8 GPA, and my transcript includes:
3 Finance classes: As in all of them
Business Statistics: B+
Calculus-based Microeconomics: A (considered arguably the hardest Econ class at my school)
Applied Economics: A
I have a little over 3 years work experience (will be 4 when I enter school in Fall 2010) with a boutique new product development consulting firm where I do a fair amount of quantitative analysis. Not so much running regressions and heavy statistics, but more analyzing survey data to understand consumer attitudes and behavior.
I'm applying for full-time MBA programs in round 2 at Berkeley, Northwestern, Texas, and UCLA to switch careers to high-tech marketing. Given all that I've laid out here and that I'm focusing on marketing instead of something more quant-heavy like finance, should I bring up my low Q score in a supplemental essay and note quant-heavy classes and work experience to reassure the admissions committee, or should I let them put it all together when they look at my transcript and resume?
I am hesitant to take time away from essays and spend it studying to re-take the GMAT since it's so late in the game, and my quant in my practice tests was consistently around 44-46, so I don't think I would improve that much. I just wish I could take that Q46 from my first test, ugh!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks very much!
