Unbalanced GMAT score

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Unbalanced GMAT score

by goodoldnic » Mon Jun 29, 2009 6:04 am
OK. Sat the GMAT this morning and came out with a 720 (Q43 / V47). I want to apply to LBS / Insead. Is the low quant bad enough to make it sensible for me to retake the GMAT?

Pretty frustrating - I got 770 on a few of the mock exams I sat (I probably had a mean average of c. 730/740 on the mocks though).

I have always been better at the verbal than the quant section since I have an arts / law undergrad degree (2:1 Cambridge). Any views? Since I have the "verbal" background, would they be looking to see better maths scores than that on my application? Any thoughts appreciated!
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by Bryant@VeritasPrep » Mon Jun 29, 2009 12:35 pm
What percentile was the 43 quant?
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by goodoldnic » Tue Jun 30, 2009 1:03 am
the 43 was a 68% percentile. The verbal was 99th percentile with overall being 95%. I have seen various different posts suggesting a balanced 80-80 score is a must (which clearly i do not have) or that a 40-40 is a must (although i imagine that would be around a 650 score). any advice is certainly useful here.

the advice i have been given so far from a number of sources is to apply on the 720 as it is unlikely that the quant score would be what would stop me getting a place if the other elements of my application were up-to-scratch. It is possible if I do well in the application that I would receive a conditional offer on re-taking and improving the GMAT score.

would you agree with this approach?

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by Bryant@VeritasPrep » Wed Jul 01, 2009 4:13 am
I would agree that your quant score would not necessarily keep you out of top b-schools, and your profile certainly fits the classic "poet" profile. (have you read "Snapshots from Hell" ?--the author may question why you even want to do b-school with such a high verbal penchant and a less-than-stellar quant aptitude). Having said that, from a purely strategic approach, you should simply try to "make up for" your quant score by demonstrating aptitude for numbers in other ways--taking a statistics course and getting an A or B would suffice--keep in mind that most b-schools will want to see at least one calculus course under your belt as well. Accounting courses would not be a bad idea either. All they really want to know is whether you will sink or swim when flooded by the provebial fire hose of quantitative-heavy courseload. If you can convince them you will be fine, your battle is won. Whether or not you enjoy it is another matter entirely. Hope this helps.
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