Quant %tile rule me out?

[chasedavidson]

I finished the GMAT for the first time a couple weeks back and scored a 710 overall (V - 42/96%, Q - 44/61%). My ultimate goal is to be a contender for a few of the top tier business schools - Wharton and Columbia are two in particular that I am interested in. I really burnt myself out studying for the test and the idea of having to gear back up for round two isn't all that appealing. I took all 6 MGMAT CAT's and the highest % I got on Quant was 68%, with the rest ranging from the high 50's to low 60's, so while I think I could improve from 61%, my guess is that my score may drop in verbal and my overall score would be around or below a 710. On the flip side, I was an Econ major at UVA, graduated with a 3.5, took upwards of 10 Econ/stat/math related courses and another 5-10 finance and real estate valuation courses. Further, I have spent 3 years as a financial analyst and associate at a reputable commercial real estate advisory firm and will have another 2 years as a financial analyst on the buy side, so my "numbers" exposure is deep in academia and real world experience.

I've heard that Wharton used to have a quasi-firm 80% quant rule which may not still be the case but that they stress strong quant abilities. Will this low %tile, what would be my chances of acceptance assuming all else equal and the quals above? Should I try re-taking to better position myself for a school like Wharton or would you suggest moving on to formulating my story? If I re-took and scored lower, would the fact that admissions folks could see it in the system affect their perception of my abilities, despite them "taking" the highest score?

Thanks,
Chase

[chasedavidson]

As an add on to the question below, I overstated the #of Econ and finance courses I've taken. Econ-specific was probably closer to 7-8 while other business courses were probably: 1 accounting, 2 finance (mostly theory), 2 real estate. I was not in the undergrad business program at UVA but took the handful of courses I could in their curriculum as a liberal arts major.

[chasedavidson]

Last thing that I should add... I got a 7 on IR (82%tile) and a 6.0 on AWA (91%tile). Thanks!

[mbamissionjenK]

Hi there,
Thanks for sharing. Yours is a tough call and reason being-- you are likely on the fence or 'borderline'... which means you don't have to re-take per se, but could.... and ultimately it may depend primarily on the other applicants and how you stack up and stand out from them in the rest of your application. Overall it sounds like you have a solid profile especially with the nature of your work experience and the companies you've worked for. The quant percentile is a drawback, but that said it's getting tougher and tougher to get that elusive 80th percentile given how scores are getting higher. Given all that you've said, if I were you I may just focus on the application... BUT it is also true that if you did bring up that q percentile it would help. And no, it's ok to re-take the schools really do take the higher score. Good luck on your decisions!