Post GMAT advice - heavily skewed score breakdown

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Hi Lisa,

I'm currently applying to Haas, Columbia and Wharton with a view to specializing in Real Estate.

While I appreciate the GMAT isn't the be all and end all, I'd really appreciate your advice. I just sat the GMAT and scored 670 which was pretty disappointing but, even worse, it's horribly skewed. I scored 45 in the verbal (98%) and just 36 in the quantitative (46%). Not quite sure what happened with the quant section but I'm really keen to apply for this sitting and re-taking isn't really option.

Obviously this isn't great, but I'd appreciate your views on whether it's still realistic to apply to these schools with that sort of score.

In terms of other academics, I got the equivalent of GPA 4.0 in both my undergraduate and post graduate degree (the post grad included several finance and corp finance electives) from top UK colleges. I also have 3 years of work experience in Real Estate, 2 of which have involved daily quantitative skills.

Is there any way this quants score will be seen a "blip" or do you think it's more problematic?

Thanks very much for any help,

Bertie
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by Lisa Anderson » Fri Jan 02, 2009 6:40 pm
Dear Bertie,

While I understand your concern, it is hard to know how much it will hurt your application. With strong transcripts from your previous degrees, it might not be much of an issue. However, if you took limited quantitative coursework, then your raw quant GMAT score will be more problematic. At this point, you need to get your applications in and they need to be as strong as possible. It is imperative you present a strong rationale for why you want a MBA, how it fits into your overall career plan, and why the school you are applying to is a good match for you. Likewise, you must distinguish yourself from the competition and demonstrate successful leadership experiences/evidence of leadership potential. Finally, you are applying to three schools in the top 5. It is prudent for any applicant to have at least one safety school as a backup plan.

Best of luck,
Lisa
Lisa Anderson
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