I just Beat The GMAT!

Scored a 680 last month on the GMAT but with a weak Quant score (in the 67% range, if I recall correctly) and I am now trying to figure out if I should try again. I will be applying to Yale, Cornell, Duke and a couple of lesser tier schools.

The skinny on my background:

*Pol Sci Degree, Business minor from a State School.
3.4 GPA
Numerous extracurricular activities including, greek leadership, volunteer work, athletics

*6 yrs WE, with 4 in the alternative investment arena, specifically private equity analysis

*community involvment including sitting on the boards of local groups

* Father of two - this is the most challenging experience of all

Obviously, my Quant score is a red flag and there is nothing on my undergrad transcripts to offset this. I make no excuse about this, I am simply not a Quant oriented person, in terms of what that means for the GMAT. My profession has been Quant oriented but I am not confident that will suffice. That being said, should I:

A) Retake GMAT with a focus on improving Quant to 75-80% range
B) Take a calculus class at a local college to demonstrate Quant abilities
C) Both
D) Neiter. Focus my energy on my applications/essays and rounding out my EC activities. Writing has always been a strength (Internet forum posts aside) so I am quite confident in my ability to submit very high quality essays.

Obviously choosing C would be most logical but I would really appreciate any feedback regarding if it would be neccessary to do both. Thanks very much

Hi rc,

From your background and your quant score, I would suggest just taking the calc class; though a stat class might serve you better.

You could study more and see if you can increase your quant score. However, there is no guarantee that you will be successful. Taking a class, on the other hand, guarantees that you will succeed. Sure, you could bum around and get a C in the calc/stat class, but I highly doubt you would do that. Remember, the material tested in the class will come directly from the book and class notes (the surprise is highly minimized, which is not true for the test).

Taking a class will also show your commitment to attending B-school. It also shows maturity - you realize that you have a problem and you are readily attempting to correct it.

Thanks for your thoughts, Aleksandr. Anyone else care to weigh in?

Not sure if this will help or hurt but....

I got a 680 the first time. Figured I could do better and took it several times after that, but only got in the range of 640-670, so the first time ended up being the best. Maybe my nerves just got worse each time.

I only applied to top tier schools and didn't get into any of them...I wonder now if seeing multiple GMAT attempts without improvement was the final nail in the coffin. Of course, I was scoring way better in the practice tests 740 range, which is why I retook in the first place...

That's my experience - your mileage may vary...

You can probably benefit from taking college algebra and statistics at a local community college or university. For Haas school of business, you need 80% or better on the quant or otherwise take a class at a local JC with a B or better. You can still get into a decent school with this score.