720 Overall but low Quant - Should I retake?

Hello,

I just wrote the GMAT and got 720 overall with 46 in Verbal (99th percentile) and 43 in Quant (52nd percentile). I have a strong finance background (CFA Charterholder / passed all exams the first time, majored in finance, spent 4 years working as an investment analyst). I'm wondering if these other achievements can make up for my poor quant score or if should I write again. My target school is Berkeley for fall 2017.

Other relevant info: BCom from a top Canadian school (3.7 GPA), 5 years experience working in commercial real estate in Toronto for top (Canadian) firm with promotions, female, not URM, American despite my heavily Canadian profile.

Any thoughts are much appreciated!

 
Best Response

Q is more of a mindset thing, very logical. Repeat practice questions and instincts come quickly. If you can grind out the CFA you should be able to raise that performance.

Sometimes it just doesn't work out.. my Verbal did just that... just let it go into optional essay.

With that said, I would suggest to focus on the application first, unless you can knock out Q quickly and decisively. It's a minor issue that isnt as problematic as a not perfected application... you can become a very hot candidate with successful personal branding. Checkout Forte fellows / Consortium and see if you can get some pull... plan seeds for some leadership/community talking points since CFA eats away a lot of free time.

 

i would be worried about duplicating a 46V...can you pull that off again? I was fairly comfortable with verbal and consistently scored 41-43 on the CATs. I got a 46 on the real thing and was totally shocked. that 46 will help you stand out. and as a CFA they know your quant is good enough.

 

It probably checks the box but it certainly is not going to be enough to differentiate you. I was in a similar boat 44/46 720 last year on my first try and seriously regret not just buckling down on quant.

The rest of your profile is very solid. CFA definitely helps to show quant aptitude, female factor also helps.

If it were me, I just wish I had left absolutely nothing on the table.

 

The only other school on my list is Anderson. I'm originally from the west coast and would like to end up working in San Francisco. I've heard real estate recruiting is very local so it makes sense to pick a b-school location based on where you want to work.

 

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