unbalanced high score with low IR - take again?

[danforthd]

Hi MGMAT team,

Can you give me some advice? I took the GMAT a few weeks ago and got a 760 (47V, 47Q), 6 essay and 6 IR. I plan to apply to schools next year (Fall 2013), and plan to go in Fall 2014. I’m hoping to go to a top 5 school. On MGMAT blog, you said to aim for a 5 or better for applications for this year and generally, that IR scores won't matter much this year. Since I am planning to apply NEXT year, should I plan to retake the GMAT to improve my IR score? On one hand, I feel silly even considering retaking the test since I got such a great overall score, but on the other hand, I don’t want to reduce my chances with such a low IR score and a relatively low quant score. Do you think 47V (99th percentile) /47Q (73rd percentile) is unbalanced enough that I should consider taking the GMAT again for my quant score? I have a degree in accounting and took some math courses in college, so I hope that my application will somewhat make up for my relatively low quant score.

Any advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[StaceyKoprince]

For IR, no, I wouldn't take the test again - at least, not right now. Not unless we hear that, hey, they're going to start taking IR seriously next year and they want a 7 or 8. (I'd be shocked if that actually happened. :)

For quant, that's a little bit of a tougher call. The very top schools often say that they want to see "80/80" (that is, 80th percentile or higher on the Q and V sections). In practice, however, they usually seem to be fine with 70+ - and you did hit that level. If you had good grades in your quant classes in college, then that probably wouldn't be a major concern for them...

However, really, you should be asking an admissions consultant, not me. I'm not an expert in this area. So go talk to a couple of admissions consultants and see what they say. If you took a course with us, then you have a free 30min consultation session with MBAMission (details in your student center), so take advantage of that! (They're really good.) And let me know what you hear - I'd be curious to hear what admission folks say about your situation.

Oh, and finally - fantastic job! Congratulations!!

[danforthd]

Hi Stacey,

Thanks so much for your quick reply! It means a lot to me to hear advice from you personally! I will definitely take your advice and talk to an admissions consultant about both issues (the low IR and low quant scores) and how it would affect my chances. Per your request, I'll get back to you to let you know what they said!

Thanks again for all of your help!

[StaceyKoprince]

Thanks in advance for letting us know what you hear from the admissions consultants - I appreciate it! :)