just took my GMAT today / Looking for advice!

In your optional essay, attempt to convey why verbal is a weakness. Talk about how your quant scores have always been higher than verbal because quant is objective, where as verbal is subjective. Explain that you do not think in the same way as the test makers so you struggle with inference questions, and things like that because they are subjective and bias. Things like that. It may not work but its worth a shot. If you don't get in, you can just focus on verbal and reapply next year.

That's a very good reason that I can add to my personal statement. Thank you very much for your input. I really appreciate it! ^_^

Hello, alwayslulu:

Osirus has some pretty good advice there, and I'd have a few things to add:

-Because the less-than-qualifying verbal score will most likely raise some concern about your communication abilities, I'd try to use your application to demonstrate your communication skills. If you have public speaking experience, or have written for a publication, or anything like that, you should highlight it. If you can add a communication-skills direction to your application - start a blog about your MBA journey, join a Toastmasters class, etc., that may demonstrate that you're working on those "verbal" skills and making strides toward where they want you to be.

-Honestly, I'd say the odds of getting past the "minimum requirements" barrier are pretty slim, especially because that low verbal score keeps you under the overall score minimum, too. You may well need to take the GMAT again, but keep in mind that you only need a slight improvement on verbal to hit that threshold. See if you can just find one question type - CR, RC, or SC - and become an expert on it, and that should be more than enough to move the needle for you on both scores you need (verbal and overall). If you do choose to retake it, keep the community posted and we can provide advice. You're not far off at all, so don't be discouraged!