I just Beat The GMAT!

I just took the GMAT today... ended up with a 720 (48Q, 41V). My target was 750+, so I am a little disappointed... I am wondering if I should retake the GMAT or just accept my 720 and give it a shot at Stanford, HBS, etc. anyhow. I was hoping to have a competitive application to these top tier programs, but I am afraid that 720 just will not cut it (750+ may have though)... I need to make up for a 3.06 undergrad GPA and 3.2 masters GPA. Looking at the calendar... I am pretty sure I will have to put applying until next year (for fall of 2011) if I decide to give the GMAT a second shot. In hindsight, I recognize that I did not study or prepare well enough (only spent about a month doing practice problems and practice tests, but was doing generally well on them with 49+ on quant and 43+ on verbal), so I think that if I really get serious and prep better I can improve dramatically. Thoughts anyone??

720 is a great score.. why are you selling yourself short?

Congrats btw. I hope I can make what you have today on Saturday.

To retake, for sure.

first of all, congrats on a great score. anything 700+ will automatically put you in a better position for the top 10 schools. From what I've read, the top 3 schools (H/S/W) don't put as much of an emphasis on GMAT scores anyway, so a 720 might not be that much worse than a 750 from their points of view.

Second, most people on here would probably recommend not to retake with a score like that. There's simply too many variables at play when retaking a test, and the fact is you can probably just as easily get a lower score than a higher one. Your time might be better spent working on your app for this year; if you don't get into your dream schools, you can always retake it next year. good luck on the rest of your process