The Application Process

Hi guys,

I haven't been around BTG in a while, as I took the GMAT a year ago and ultimately decided against an immediate retake, for which I'm kicking myself now. I got a 720, which is undoubtedly respectable, but lower than I was expecting. Also, it was pretty horrifically skewed: I got a 50V/99% and a 40Q/56% (5.5 on writing sample). I also decided against applying last year to get some more work experience. So here's my situation: I've been out of college for over 3 years (4 years come fall 2011), I work at a very respectable economic and financial consulting firm that specializes in litigation support, and I had a 3.775 GPA at Boston College (thus I have plenty of quantitative experience to try to offset the low quant score). I was planning on applying to six top schools this first round, then a few more schools for second round. Basically, my dilemma is this: should I continue to apply first round (i.e. continue my current path), or should I stop now, start studying for the GMAT, retake it, and try for second round for all my schools? My initial plan was just to retake the GMAT and reapply next year if I was rejected, but do schools look particularly unfavorably on re-applicants? Everything I've read says no, but I find that hard to believe. Also, does anyone have experience with long periods between retakes? I expect that I'm very rusty after a year, but I have no idea how much effort would be required to bring me back up to speed. Sorry for the whining post, but I'm sort of up a creek here, and I know you all have far more experience than I do in these matters. Thanks in advance