720 GMAT, low quant % -> retake?

Thanks for the comments.

TimothyBryce:

I think that is fine. Most of the top schools look fr you to be in the 80th percentile on each, but I don't think that 75 is so low that you need to worry. Do you have other things that will demonstrate quant ablity? work experience? quant courses on undergrad transcripts? etc?

I have good grades in quant-heavy courses in college (Econometrics, Calc, etc), but not much quant work experience. A comparatively higher verbal fits with my story, actually, but I still feel the low quant will not do me any favors

I was asking about this with respect to MBA admissions, not post-MBA hiring. However, you're right in pointing out that it will be a factor in post-MBA hiring; my GMAT is bound to come up, and a 75th percentile quant score will need some explaining at finance interviews - even if it's a good MBA program.

I feel I can do better on the quant if I drill problems for a couple of months this summer, so I'll probably give it a shot. If other stuff takes priority, hey, I'll go for it with the score as is.

Thanks again.

Since there are other factors at play, (ie: GPA) it's hard to say what you need. If you have shitty grades, you should probably shoot for 750+, but if you have good grades from a good school, you should be fine.

Isn't the average like 680?

a 720 will put you in the competitive stack at LSE, so stop panicking and focus on other stuff pertaining to your app. You cleared the GMAT hurdle.

Hi, thanks for the replies. My undergraduate degree is in business and economics from the leading business school in one of the nordic countries. I have a 3.7 GPA with a 4.0 GPA in finance and economics courses. I don't have any relevant internships, though I will most likely have one for this summer by the time I send my application.

Honestly, probably not unless you were consistently scoring like 740+ on your practice tests.

You'll definitely be competitive at all of those schools with your background and a 720 gmat score. Your personal statement and references will matter significantly more than a minor score increase

agreed with seinund - really depends what you were getting on your practices and where you think you can realistically be. i think a 760+ could help given you're in a super competitive bucket in finance but going from a 720 to a 730/740 prob won't move the needle much. That said, you have tons of time until apps are due so there's not much downside in taking it again.

Depends how seriously you want Harvard/Stanford.

With a PE background, 720 probably won't be high enough - It's below their average GMAT, and in general, finance people are above average on the GMAT (you're compared to other finance people - they put people in buckets). You should be fine for Booth and Columbia though.

There is no need to retake the GMAT. You hit the important milestones: (i) 700+ overall and (ii) balanced Verbal/Math scores. If you scored 720 with a poor math score (e.g., Q45 and a high verbal) or scored 50+ on quant and sub-40 on verbal, then maybe it would make sense to retake. You are golden on the GMAT portion.

Don't underestimate how important your essays and other aspects of your application will be. You need to craft your story and know it inside and out, so that your goals come through genuinely during your interviews… just like when you interviewed for your first jobs out of undergrad.

Good luck on the applications.

I'd say it depends on your practice test scores. If you were doing significantly better on practice tests, then you should be ready for a retake with a bit more studying and working to make sure that you are calm on the day of the test. If you hit around your target range, then I wouldn't retake unless you did not put in much studying. For the GMAT, I think it gets exponentially tougher to inc score after a certain amount of studying. I started to plateau at 30 or so and felt as though even a 10 pt increase would have taken exponentially more studying by the time I hit 50, so I just took the test. If you put in a lot of study hours and hit around your target scores, it's going to take a whole lot more to increase significantly.

If you could hit 750 it would really help at those schools. Especially Wharton and Booth. They just don't care about a 720. It's a big deal at NYU though.

If you could hit 750 it would really help at those schools. Especially Wharton and Booth. They just don't care about a 720. It's a big deal at NYU though.

If you can do better, then take it again.

720 is roughly the average at the M7 schools. So if you're an asian/white male coming from finance, then a 720 is below average. Are you comfortable enough with the rest of your application to have a gmat score below competing applications? Use the official practice tests as a gauge for where you should have topped out score-wise.

Keep in mind that your GMAT score not only matters for getting into these schools but also for applying for jobs once you get in.

I pretty much maxed out my score, at least to the point where I think breaking 730+ would require a significant investment. I put in roughly 40-50 hours of prep initially, and that led to an increase from 640 to 710 on my practice CATs. Not sure that it would be worth my time to continue studying in hopes of increasing my score only 10-20 points.

Is there any data to support the claim that successful applicants coming from an IB+PE background have gmat scores well above the average at the M7 schools? I've seen that suggested repeatedly here.

At 720, it all boils down to networking and luck, unless you get an 800 or maybe 790.