Took GMAT three times, should I take once more?

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I aim at the top tier B-schools.

I took the GMAT 3 times already.
1st time: 640
2nd time: 710 (Quantitative way better)
3rd time: 700 (Verbal better this time...)

I aim to get 730+ so that my score is competitive in schools like HBS/CBS.

But if I take once more, does it look weird to the admissions board?

Do schools take the average score or just the highest score or just the recent one?

Any insight??
THANKS!
Source: — GMAT Strategy |

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by wharton750 » Wed Jan 19, 2011 12:12 am
To be honest I don't see why you would take it again. If you have a solid application, you should be fine.

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by Brian@VeritasPrep » Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:28 am
Hey Urbanist,

They'll take your highest score, so you're applying with a 710 (in most cases you actually self-report the score on your application, and then they go back to the file to double-check it for accuracy).

As far as retaking, my advice is this - if you know for certain that you can improve (say, you worked so hard to pull up your verbal that you know you blew your quant pacing and on any other day you'd have been at at least 740), then it may be worth one more crack at it. But only if you know that you left some "easy" points on the board - if you were to take another month and go back in for the same score, that investment of your time and energy isn't really worth it - you can get a lot more mileage out of putting that time and effort into your application essays and into other facets of your application (community involvement, extracurriculars, etc.).
Brian Galvin
GMAT Instructor
Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep

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