Advice needed for gmat retake

[jeffrey.k.l.ho]

Hi there,

I currently am aiming to apply to Rotman in 2 years, but I wanted to finish the GMAT early so I took it three times.
First attempt: 620 (just testing the waters)
Second attempt:610 (Got really sick)
Third attempt: 640 (44Q: 35 V) ( Couldn't sleep the night before...)

As you can see, all three times I wasn't performing to my best ability and I've been scoring around 46-47 in practice tests in Quant.

I graduated in 08 from Queen's Life Sciences and have taken the following Quant related courses with the marks in brackets:
- Calculus (80)
- Micro/Mac Econ (76)
- Intro to Statistics (90)

Overall average = 78.3, but first year and last year of uni I was placed on Dean's List with the last year average of 81.

I've been working for 3 years in healthcare and since i'm aiming to apply for admission Sept 2014, I still have quite some time to build up a lot of volunteering activities.

My questions are:

Given that the rotman (and other 2nd tier US universities) cutoff average for GMAT is 650-660, I'm slightly below average, Should I retake the GMAT for the 4th time? or focus on building extracurricular activities, and come back to GMAT before applying?

Can my undergrad courses and graduating from a good uni offset this low GMAT?

Your advice is greatly appreciated.

Jeff

[rachel]

Hi! Since you have the time, I would try to take the GMAT again at some point. Schools typically will take your top score, so if you could boost it up a little higher, it will help your chances of getting in. If you decide to not take it again or can't get your score up, you could write an optional essay where you talk about why you don't think your GMAT score reflects you abilities. In doing that, it works best when you cite examples of your strengths.

Lastly, since you have the time, I would look to boost your extra-curricular activities. That will really help make you a competitive candidate.

Best of luck,
Rachel Beck

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