Help pls: Harvard summa. McK BA w/ 680 on GMAT

[ksadhah]

Hello,

I wrote on this blog earlier before taking my GMAT. Took the GMAT last week and was disappointed with my final score. I landed a 680 (85%) though my practice tests were in the 730s, with the following split: 44 in Quant (66%) and 39 in Verbal (87%). I'm stressed b/c I know the quant is low.

Here is my overall background:


EDUCATION
- Summa cum laude from Harvard College (GPA 3.92), studied History
- Won award for best History senior thesis, best LatAm-related thesis, and Hoopes Prize for senior thesis
- Was President of the largest student group on campus for students interested in politics, and drove several initiatives to the Board of Overseers at Harvard

WORK EXPERIENCE
- Business Analyst (and former summer BA) at McKinsey & Company in Dubai, distinctive (top 1%) performance rating in last review cycle
- Have served clients in all over the Middle East (including Bahrain, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and Israel) as well as in Mexico, London, India, and the US

PERSONAL BACKGROUND
- From Argentina and grew up all over Latin America
- Currently living in the Middle East out of Dubai
- Gay

Thoughts? should I retake the GMAT or focus on essays instead and hope my GPA/McK track record will overshadow my GMAT?

Thanks in advance

[Bryant@VeritasPrep]

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that you may be fine with a 680. The reason is because you hail from one of the most competitive undergrad instututions in the country, you offer a non-traditional background and you are gay. Yes, b-schools love diversity and offering a different perspective from the mainstream can really score points for you with an admissions committee. Your time would be best spent crafting thoughtful, persuasive essays that reveal your story in a compelling way to the adcoms rather than scrapping for a few more points on the GMAT. A 680 is a great score, one that demonstrates you can handle the academics and one that will most often fall within the 80% of most top schools. Let us know if you can use help crafting your package for an ideal presentation to your target schools.