710 but trying again: Thank you everyone!!!!

Hello Everyone

This is my first post, and to begin with I would like to thank the founder for this amazing forum and everyone else for the quality of their contributions. Some bits about myself:

Male; 31; BA (Top of the class from a well known Asian university), MBA (3.74/4.00), MS (Research degree from a well known UK university); work ex:6 years; currently working full time; GMAT:710 (V-42, Q-44). I am interested in pursuing a PhD in management / strategic management / Public Policy.

I applied this year to a few, more as a test of my candidacy: Dinged by all (US & UK). But I did manage to get interview calls from a both the US business school I applied to (T10 and T30). Their feedback (unofficial): Improve your quant score (I had 72 percentile) and try to publish your Master's thesis (which is a separate discussion).

So I have decided to give GMAT one more shot. The views and plans shared by several contributors have been a great help, especially the ones on quality of study material. Unfortunately for me taking leave is not an option. So I am working on a 16 week plan. I will keep you posted on my experience and progress.

Cheers

Horrible score:>> Isn't it basically luck to score more than 710? How much more can you know?

Hi Golfpro

I know there is lot of debate in this forum on retaking if you have 700+ score. But we need to decide for ourselves, based on strengths and weaknesses. I will try to convince you why I should:

1-GMAT requirements for a PhD are relatively stringent, vis-a-vis an MBA.
2-My target schools are extremely competitive. e.g. one of the schools (T10) had 330 applications for strategy (my area), interviewed 20 and gave 3 offfers. I have allready mentioned their feedback in the earlier post.
3- The PhD admission committee expects strong quant ability. As I dont have a economics/maths undergrad, GMAT is my only chance to showcase that.
4- There is an imbalance in my score (95 v/s 72).
5- I gave my 1st GMAT 6 years after undergrad and studied in a one week leave. Bad planning. So I do think that my quant score is not representative of my ability.
6- Finally, I am working full time and can afford $250 fee . Rest of the inputs (time and concentration) are entirely mine to give.

Yes, I do agree that there might be a bit of luck in scoring. But it's worth it anyway. What other choice do I have, as per the feedback.

Hope I have touched upon many of the issues relevant to quite a few of us.

Cheers