I just Beat The GMAT!

Hello beatthegmatters!

Please help: I took the test today... got a Q 44 V 40 for a 690.

Is my poor quant performance going to keep me out of a top 10 program?

Profile: University of Texas - McCombs BBA Finance graduate, 3.4 overall GPA, 3.6 finance GPA, started out in engineering with straight A's in Calculus, physics, chemistry, etc... I am an analyst for a large and well regarded alcoholic beverage company, and have had 4 promotions in 5 years (moving around the country to 4 cities). I managed 6 employees for one of my positions, now I am a category manger. Strong extracurricular activities in college (sports and service organizations) and a little charity work after graduation.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

#1 choice - Berkeley, then MIT (I am an MBA legacy), and Kellogg

Debrief:

BTG has been a huge resource for my GMAT preparation.

I signed up for the Knewton class about a year and a half ago. I took about 80% of the class. Clearly I was not very committed to the GMAT at the time.

I got serious about the GMAT two months ago. I started perusing BTG and developed a strategy.

I completed the Kaplan Math Workbook, Power Score Critical Reasoning Bible, and developed a homework schedule that involved doing 37 quant problems a night from the OG.

Practice Tests from a year ago:
Knewton: 530 (Yikes good thing I am not easily discouraged)
MGMAT 1: 590
MGMAT 2: 610
MGMAT 3: 620
MGMAT 4: 580

GMAT Prep 1 : 710 v 39, q 48
GMAT Prep 1 (second time): 710 v 38 q 49
GMAT Prep 2: 650 (doh!) v 39 q 44
GMAT Prep 2 (second time): 720 v 40 q 49

I realized when i started to study on my own that the actual material is not that tough. To learn the nuts and bolts I studied the "Math Review" in the official guide. I then did the Kaplan math workbook. I was doing very well on the quant section so I moved on to addressing verbal issues. By the time I got back to quant my score had plummeted. In the 9 days leading up to the exam I did 80% of the quant problems in the OG guide again. I took the GMAT prep 2 the second time 3 days before the real deal and got a 720. I figured all was right with the world. I relaxed the day before the exam and then... BAM... I bombed the quant section.

690 is a very good score. GMAT is one aspect of your application there are other things also that are taken into consideration. If you dont feel satisfied with your score and have the energy to go thru the test prep process again + plus gmat fee is not a big burden on your pocket do go ahead and give it another shot.

Bottom line 10 years down the line you should not have a regret that you did not give it your best shot.