Nailed Verbal and Quant but Bombed IR

[GregoryL861]

Hello,

I just finished taking my first GMAT. I did really well on both the quant and verbal (about 40 points higher than the 50% average of all of my choices for business school) but completely bombed my IR (I only got a 3). I don't know how I did on my essay but I feel really good about it. I know that IR is not counted as much, but should I be worried that this will really hurt my chances of getting into my choice of schools?

Thank You Very Much!

[mbaMissionKrista]

Hey GregoryL861

Ah the IR score. So the GMAT IR score was added in June 2012. Most schools require GMAT scores to be valid for five years as of the application date. While in the past, I would have told you that the IR doesn't matter too much because not all applicants have it given that the IR was only added in 2012, this is the year where all applicants should have an IR score. However, we still don't know how schools are taking into account the IR. (Although to be fair, if you had a 0, 1, or 2 in the past, I still would have urged you to retake the GMAT.)

Here are my suggestions for you:
1. Ask each program directly about the IR and if they are considering it this year. The worst that can happen is they give you a broad answer that doesn't address this head on but it may give you some ideas on next steps.
2. Retake the GMAT and try to get that IR up. At the end of the day, schools care the most about your overall GMAT score. So let's say you have a 760 + IR 3 and then you retake and get 710 + IR 6, they still will take the 760, but they will see the IR of 6 which mitigates the 3.

I hope that helps!

Krista