Should I retake or should i apply?

[confusiontakesover]

Hi all

I have not been an active member in this wonderful forum, yet I find this forum really active with a lot of active contributing members. In fact, this is my very first post. I am in two minds whether I should retake my GMAT - and I ll need you guys to help me clear my mind.

My background :
Im a Chartered Accountant (CA) from India and have about 5 years of post CA experience in Singapore that includes 3 years with a big four audit firm and one year with an oil and gas company in a finance role. Im a 28 year old male working in Singapore;

Prior to my CA i have about 2-3 years of internship experience with another big four in India.

I scored a GMAT score of 680 (Q48V35) the last week. I consistently scored about 680 (in 4 manhattan prep tests) and about 730&680 in the two Gpreps.
I would be busy for the next two months and I cant think of studying hard during this time due to work commitments.

I always dreamt to score in excess of 700 as I know that being an Indian Im almost "expected" to score above 700. My dream schools are ISB, HKUST and Insead - all one year programs.

Could you guys please advise me if my score is decent enough to be considered for these program or any other top 30 (non-US) program?
Or you think I should I should improve a bit on my score?

your inputs and posts on your experience in related areas would be greatly appreciated

Thanks a lot Guys
Cheers

[rishi raj]

Given your profile, I think 680 should be a good enough score. Being a Chartered Accountant, you don't fall into the over represented segment of the applicant which is from the IT sector. I am sure that you wouldn't have any issues with a 680 if you apply to HKUST and INSEAD, but not very sure about ISB because the average GMAT score there is a little high(around 717). I think you shouldn't be looking at the question of re-taking taking into account how much far do you think you can go if you were to re-take the GMAT. If you think you can take it to a 720, then it makes sense, otherwise a 690 or 700 is as good as a 680. And I think it is very frustrating when you prepare again and then land up with almost the same score which you had on the first attempt, so think about it for sometime and then decide.

[confusiontakesover]

Hi Rishi,

Thanks for your quick reply. I was in similar lines in terms of whether I can really push my score up above 720.
Do you have any schools in mind that you suggest where I could apply.

I would like to hear from a few more people as well

Thanks a lot guys

[vineeshp]

Even I wouldnt recommend Retake.

Your profile is very different from the usual Indian applicant. You have a different profile and good international experience.

I don't think it is worth it to retake the GMAT.

I would recommend working on other parts of the application. You can do something to improve your extra curriculars for example?

Otherwise your profile is good enough for a top school.