Hello,
I took the GMAT recently and scored a 660 (Q49, V32, IR 7, AWA 6) after 2 months of prep and working full time. This came as a bit of a surprise, since on my 4 GMAC practice exams I was consistently scoring ~710's (Q49, V40). I accepted this as test day nerves or a verbal fluke, and quickly rescheduled another test for 3 weeks later. I just took that test yesterday, and walked away with a 710. I would normally be very happy, but the uneven breakdown is a bit concerning (Q45, V42, IR 8), and I would greatly appreciate any advice you can offer.
Will this low of a quant score (60th percentile) seriously hurt my chances if i'm only applying to top 15 schools? I believe i've proven my quantitative proficiency through my consulting work experience, engineering undergrad background, and the Q49 I got on my first attempt (although I understand school's only consider the highest score you submit), but i've read some programs have informal 'cutoffs' of 70th percentile.
It hurts to even ask this question, since the thought of more studying while working and traveling transcon every week is miserable, but do you guys think I should consider another re-take to get a Q score closer to the 80th percentile, if i'm only applying to top 15 schools?
For context:
Gender: Male
Age: 27
Work experience: 4 years @ well known mid tier strategy consultancy
Undergrad: 3.3GPA, Industrial Engineering honors graduate
I took the GMAT recently and scored a 660 (Q49, V32, IR 7, AWA 6) after 2 months of prep and working full time. This came as a bit of a surprise, since on my 4 GMAC practice exams I was consistently scoring ~710's (Q49, V40). I accepted this as test day nerves or a verbal fluke, and quickly rescheduled another test for 3 weeks later. I just took that test yesterday, and walked away with a 710. I would normally be very happy, but the uneven breakdown is a bit concerning (Q45, V42, IR 8), and I would greatly appreciate any advice you can offer.
Will this low of a quant score (60th percentile) seriously hurt my chances if i'm only applying to top 15 schools? I believe i've proven my quantitative proficiency through my consulting work experience, engineering undergrad background, and the Q49 I got on my first attempt (although I understand school's only consider the highest score you submit), but i've read some programs have informal 'cutoffs' of 70th percentile.
It hurts to even ask this question, since the thought of more studying while working and traveling transcon every week is miserable, but do you guys think I should consider another re-take to get a Q score closer to the 80th percentile, if i'm only applying to top 15 schools?
For context:
Gender: Male
Age: 27
Work experience: 4 years @ well known mid tier strategy consultancy
Undergrad: 3.3GPA, Industrial Engineering honors graduate
and despair (Q45) 
at the same time.
