500 to 690, retake?

[agresj]

My first practice test was a whopping 500. First GMAT attempt - a 570. Second was a 580. I almost gave up.

Just finished (about an hour ago) and scored a 690 but with a big quant/verbal split (59th pct quant/92nd pct verbal). I am a native-English speaker who suffers from tremendous test anxiety and scored in the high 70s/low 80s percentiles on official practice tests. I have taken post-grad math courses in order to prove my ability (straight As, btw) but am concerned this split might be a deal breaker for the top 10s. I have a really unique work situation (took over family business six months after college when my dad passed) and have tremendous leadership experience and 3.4 undergrad GPA from a decent US university. Anyone care to weigh in? My targets are Columbia, UCLA, MIT, and Northwestern.

Thanks in advance!

[NextGreatLeader]

I'm not an expert, but I think that getting over your 59th percentile in quant is going to be a hurdle; although, your post-grad math classes will help. What was your undergrad major? Is your current position quant-oriented? You are going to need to really prove to the adcoms that you can handle the math.

I don't think your score is a deal-breaker, as long as you can alleviate any concerns your low quant score may bring. You're good at verbal, so just write some awesome essays.

[Jim@StratusPrep]

Your quant score is a challenging one to overcome... You should likely spend some time improving that Columbia and MIT will be a stretch.