Ask Stacy Blackman

Hi Stacy,

I have done several searches in the forum to find the answer but I haven't been able to find a consistent message. Could you please expand on the following question: how do universities handle multiple GMAT scores? For example, are the scores averaged or is the most recent score, or higher score considered?

I recently scored a 640. I am looking at schools like Columbia, NYU, Duke and Georgetown. The average score of each school pretty much hovers around 690-700, with G-town being slightly lower. With a cumulative GPA of 3.2 and typical MBA work experience [consulting at a reputable firm], I feel that I should retake the GMAT to strengthen my application. I know that you don’t know the rest of my application but do you think investing time & effort to retake the GMAT, given how schools handle multiple scores, would be wise? If so, based on your experience and what I described above, what would be a solid score to shoot for that gives me a shot at the aforementioned schools?

I appreciate your insight.