Thank you in advance for evaluating my profile. My primary questions regarding my profile are:
1) Would you recommend I re-take the GMAT a 3rd time, and
2) What are my chances at my target schools / are these targets realistic?

My target schools are Harvard, Wharton, Stanford, Chicago and Columbia

GMAT Scores:
720 - Quant 42 (62nd percentile), Verbal 47 (99th percentile), AWA: 4
730 - Quant 45 (74th percentile, Verbal 45 (98th percentile) AWA: 6

GPA: 3.75 (from a small, regionally well respected state school in the Midwest)
Majors: Finance and Marketing

Work Experience:
- 3 years strategy and operations consulting at a Big 4 firm
- Consistently received above average evaluations, year-end ratings and raises
- Work exclusively in financial services industry
- Plan to continue FSI strategy consulting after MBA
- Relatively strong extracurriculars (leader of several community service initiatives, elected to management advisory boards at my firm, etc.)

Since I will not be applying to b-school until January of 2011, I am considering taking the GMAT a 3rd time. Based on my practice exams I think I can reasonably expect to improve my quant score from the 74th percentile to the 85th - 90th percentile. I expect my verbal score to stay the same (98-99th percentile). This would put my total score in the 750-760 range. I also expect that my AWA score may decrease slightly (from a 6 to a 5 or 5.5).

My main motivation to re-take the GMAT is to get over the 80-80 hurtle that some schools publically say they look for (over 80th percentile on both sections). I am rather confident that if I re-take I will clear this hurdle. It is also my understanding that since Adcoms outside of the Midwest will likely not be familiar with my undergrad institution, I will need to use the GMAT to clearly demonstrate that I can handle the quantitaive rigor of a top MBA program.

Based on my profile, please advise if you would reccomend re-taking the GMAT, and if you have any overall advice regarding my application.

Thank you!!

mbamission -

An evaluation of my profile would be greatly appreciated. Please evaluate at your earliest convenience.

Thank you!

Hello Peter,

Thank you for your inquiry. I do think that you should retake the GMAT if you believe that you can increase the quant percentile to the 80th percentile or better. Your composite score is great, but since you scored considerably below the 80th percentile on both of your previous GMAT exams - and you think that you can improve it, I do recommend taking the GMAT a third time.

Though you have strong grades from college and you seem to have done well professionally and have good leadership experiences outside of work, I think that HBS, Wharton and Stanford will be stretches. They are stretches for most people. I do think that you will be competitive at Columbia. When deciding on which schools to apply to, I would think about the criteria that are important to you and then think about your application strategy. You may decide to apply to three stretch schools knowing that it is possible that you will be rejected from all three of them. Some people choose to do that, while others choose to apply to additional schools for which they would be more competitive. There is no right or wrong strategy – it’s really about your personal goals and how risk averse or risk-loving you are. Hope that helps.

Sincerely,

Akiba Smith-Francis

MBA Mission
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Akiba,

Thank you very much for your feedback. Your insights regarding retaking the GMAT and my application strategy are very helpful. I am confident I can improve my quant score and will be re-taking the GMAT this month. I will also be applying to a couple less competitive schools in addition to my target schools, as I know there is a chance I could be rejected at all of my top choices.

Thanks again for the feedback!