Will lopsided score hurt?

[jthomassmith23]

I am attempting to get into a mid-tier business school and just sat for the GMAT. I am thinking that my 540 is within the range of what they require however I am concerned about the score distribution between the two sections. I got a 25Q and 40V. My concern stems from the fact that I would like to have a concentration in Finance. I am currently a commercial banker and my undergrad was in finance so I am no dummy with numbers. Will my low Q score hurt my chances?

Also, I think that I can get my Q up. (Have scored as high as 43 in practice). I might be able to increase the caliber of school that I apply to.

Any comments would be helpful.

JTS

[VP_Jim]

You're absolutely right: if your concentration is finance, you want your quant score to be as high as possible. It could potentially hurt to have such an uneven distribution.

If I were you, I'd work hard to get that quant score up - a 43 would be excellent!

First piece of advice: if you work as a banker, you probably use a calculator a lot. Stop that! Try to get by at work using mental math - of course, you should probably check your numbers with a calculator afterwards, but it's great to get in the habit of using your head instead.

[mbadrew]

YIKES! 540 with a 25 is quant is more than likely going to disqualify you from mid tier B-schools. But, San Francisco State University is a AACSB mid tier school and its requirement is 580 lowest score. SFSU does make exceptions, which means you'll have to take an upper division Math and Statistics class and pass it with a B or better. So, look around and I'm sure that there are other universities that make exceptions as well.

thanks
D

[AleksandrM]

Based on what I have read on this forum, a 38 in quant is a relatively acceptable score, provided that other parts of your application are pretty strong.

[aim-wsc]

You're absolutely right: if your concentration is finance, you want your quant score to be as high as possible. It could potentially hurt to have such an uneven distribution.

If I were you, I'd work hard to get that quant score up - a 43 would be excellent!

First piece of advice: if you work as a banker, you probably use a calculator a lot. Stop that! Try to get by at work using mental math - of course, you should probably check your numbers with a calculator afterwards, but it's great to get in the habit of using your head instead.

I agree with Jim,
& want to re-iterate what he's advised.

If you're opting career in finance, most of the companies even in recruiting season check your GMAT breakdown in order to guage your quant ability. So GMAT's role simply doesn't terminate to b-school admission in such cases.

Looking at the positive side I see you scored incredibly high at verbal section which is rare to see. I think if you could raise your quant score too you'd be crossing 730+