Ask Veritas Prep Admissions Consulting

I have taken the GMAT exam for four times and my scores are as following:

09/2008 V-26 , Q-49 , total score: 610 , AWA: 4.0
10/2008 V-19 , Q-50 , total score: 570 , AWA: 4.5
12/2008 V-26 , Q-50 , total score: 640 , AWA: 4.0

These are my real exam scores. On the manhattan practice tests I was getting scores around (710 - 730). After my third GMAT exam I gave a break for my study on the exam and 1 year later I took my last GMAT exam with only 3 days of preparation and my score was:

03/2010 V-35 , Q-49, Total Score: 690 , AWA: 4.0

It was surprising to see the improvement on my score since I only studied in the last 3 days before the exam. I only took 1 manhattan pactice exam and I got V-36, Q - 48 and in total 690 on that practice exam. So my real exam performance revealed the same score that I got in my manhattan practice exam.

I think my performance was better compared to my previous exams because I had a better time management and less stress although I did not prepared for the exam.

Now with that score on hand, I wonder whether I should prepare for the test and try improve my score over 700 or is it enough for Stanford, Kellog, Wharton, Sloan or Chicago.

My GPA is 3.53 and my major is Industrial Engineering

In total I have 9 years of work experience , 5 year is in private sector and and 4 year in public sector. My work experience in public sector is focused on feasibility analysis, project finance and project management.

Considering my score and background, could you please give me an advice on what should I do?

Thank you for your help.

A 690 won't keep you out of the top schools, but I do wish your verbal score and AWA score were a little higher. Of course, there's no magic number that will automatically get you in (not even an 800), but ideally you could demonstrate a little more balance in your score.

Without knowing more about your background, it's hard to say how competitive you are at those schools, although I do think you have more work experience than many top schools like to see. (Most students fall in the 3-6 range, in terms of years of work experience when they matriculate.) But, all things considered, it may be worth one more shot at the GMAT to try to boost your verbal/AWA scores.

Good luck!
Scott

Thank you Scott for replying.

My best regards,

mkutlu