Please Evaluate my Profile - Very odd GMAT performance

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I would appreciate it if you could evaluate my profile

Age:26
Asian-American

GMATS
1st Attempt - 640 AWA:6
2nd Attempt - 690 (93rd percentile Quant and 66th percentile Verbal) AWA: 5.5
3rd Attempt - 690 (74th percentile Quant and 89th percentile Verbal) AWA: Just took the GMATs and expect at least a 5

Scores not a typo or mistake!

Never was able to put the pieces together. Disheartening to know that if I put the pieces together (93rd Quant and 89th Verbal) I would be sitting pretty with a 740. All hypothetical though and I am unfortunately stuck with a 690. Should I take it again?? I took it a third time knowing I could perform better on the Verbal section. I knew my Quant could possibly drop, but did not expect it to drop by 20%. Will admission committees see both my second and third attempt and what would the variance in my performance show?? If the variance in my performance is this significant, I personally think the test is a fluke.

Other Info on my Profile
Undergraduate- GPA 3.6 at University of Southern California with emphasis in Entrepreneurship (Business Major)

Work Experience - Worked at an executive compensation consulting firm for 4 years. Promoted after a year and a half. Often have staff that I review the work of.

Volunteer Work - Started to volunteer in a mentor program. I should have 5-6 months in the program before I apply in the fall.

Target Schools: Duke, Northwestern, London Business School, Cornell, Dartmouth, Michigan, Virgina. I would think Columbia or MIT would be a stretch. I just want to get into one school so I want to apply as long as I am competitive.

My main questions would be in regards to my GMAT score. How would they view my performance?

Are these target schools reasonable??

I know that Dartmouth looks at your highest Quant and Verbal scores, which would make me competitive in terms of GMAT scores at Dartmouth. Are there any other programs that look at your best Quant and Verbal scores??

Thanks in advance

[mbamission]

Hello,

I know how frustrating that is!

I am not aware of another program that explicity states that they will look at your best Quant and Verbal score; however your score of 690 with 74th percentile Quant and 89th percentile verbal is a good score.

As it relates to your list - it seems as though you have built a well-rounded list of schools. I agree that MIT might be a stretch. Further, I would probably Columbia and Kellogg in the same bucket at the more competitive end of the range. However, with Duke, Cornell, and Virgina you are giving yourself some balance.

Lastly, remember that the applications are very time consuming and its quality, not quantity that matters. So, if you can, you may want to take some time to narrow down your list a bit - 4-6 schools is usually a good number where you can build a well balanced list of target schools, but not sacrifice the quality of your applications.

Best,
Erin Schuhmacher
mbaMission

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Thank you for your response. It was very helpful!!!!