680 - Good score for marketing programs?

[gmat_fairy]

Hey everyone,

I took the GMAT recently and made a 680 (Q44, V36) and am applying to marketing programs that accept either GMAT or GRE scores. My scores put me in the 86th percentile. This is my first attempt and I have been studying for the past 6 weeks.

I was disappointed with my showing in the verbal section because Verbal had always been my strength and I had been making consistently over 41+ in all my prep tests.

My dream program, Northwestern's IMC program which is housed in the journalism department, attracts more business and journalism undergrad students and thus it is more likely to have a lower GMAT average than traditional b-schools. So if I were to benchmark these scores with Kellogg, I would fall barely in the mid-80% GMAT scores range (650 to 760).

So with all that, should I retake the exam to be very competitive for admission? Or is this a decent score for the IMC program?

Any input would be highly appreciated!

[aj5105]

680 is a very decent score..

[dnkcdnguy]

That's a great score!

Other parts of the application are important and I would consider focusing on that vs. retaking the GMAT.

I'm in Marketing and I'm writing the GMAT Tuesday. I'd also like to receive a 680 score but anything above 600 will be fine too

Either way, a 550 or above is the benchmark for most schools I'm applying to (i.e. these are respectable and top b-schools in Canada). Work experience, references, and so forth also make up a solid application and not just the GMAT.