Gmat 700 (Q:45;v:40) ranked 92% below overall (78/90)

[aappleton]

Hello,



I did the exam on the 8th of December and got the scores above, I want to apply to Top10/20 schools both in the US (Stanford or Wharton, Kellog 1Y and Darden) and Europe (LBS and Insead).

I'm not sure tough if I should try and retake the exame to improve my quantitive section (ranked 78%). I believe I can do better than this but i'm not sure if my verbal section was just a lucky shot.



I didn't study alot, just did some exams a friend got me and the scores were way below the 700 I got in exam day (Kap.1,2,3 - 550,560,540; Gmatprep1,2- 640,580) and a few other exercises.



Can you help me with this issue?



I don't really know how to convert my GPA (have a BA in Business Administation in a top university in Portugal), but it was kind of lame and I few a diverse work experience since from 2004 I changed jobs 3 times.

Should I wait for the last deadline and try a new exam or just go ahead with this score and try my luck with a few good essays?



thanks,

[beatthegmat]

Hi aappleton:

Congratulations on your score! A 700 on the GMAT is something to be proud of!

Based on your GMATPrep scores, it seems like your performance on the actual GMAT represented a VERY good day for you. I think that it is definitely sufficient to be competitive in the top schools that you mentioned.

If you are concerned about your math performance--this can be compensated by other areas of your application. Do you have a job that has a quantitative focus? Are you an engineer by training, or have done lots of math in college? If so, this background information is probably enough to compensate for your math score, which is still pretty good.

If you are convinced your can improve your GMAT score on a second take, then go for it--otherwise, you should definitely be content with your score.