Got a 680 (Q43 / V40) - do i re-take?

Hi everyone,

Took the test on Saturday and scored a 680 (Q43 - 71%, V40 - 91%) for a 90% overall. I was shooting for 700+, but I am fairly content with this score. The test started out well, the AWA section was relatively easy. Have a template prepared and know general argument flaws for the Analysis of Argument section, as I have found the same logical reasoning flaws occur through almost every essay prompt. Went into the Quant section feeling confident, but was shaken when the first question was a relatively hard (I thought) geometry DS question. I am almost sure I answered it wrong. Second question was a probability question, which I had studied a lot for off of this site, but again it threw my confidence. In the math section, I got 2 probabilities, 1 combination, a fair amount of geometry, algebra questions. I really had no idea how I was doing on the section. It alternated between what I thought were really really hard questions, and then some really easy questions (like simple algebra) and weird things I had to calculate given a certain equation. I had to guess on a lot of questions, as I was crunched for time. But I was used to having timing problems in the Quant section, so I knew how to adjust my timing and guess on certain problems. GMAT quant has always been the tough one for me, so I ended that section honestly having no idea how I did when I usually have some clue.

As my confidence was shaken after the quant section, I went in feeling nervous about verbal but also very determined because I knew I had to remain focus and pull it together on the verbal to not blow it completely. The verbal was not so bad. Lots of SC at the beginning. I didn't even get a CR until like question 11. The RC passages were LONG! RC has never been my forte and it was hard to remain focused when the passages were so long and boring (2 were science ones, which I am weak at with all the technical jargon). But I felt good throughout it, although some CR's made me think, "what?!". I got 2 bold faced CR's which were really tough and I more or less had to guess.

I studied for about 4 months. I did all of the OG (except RC) and I did many of the quant problems over and over. I kept a pretty good error log and always reviewed my errors. I focused 80% of my time on quant, because that was my weakness. I especially focused on prob., combinations and permuations. I also used Kaplan's higher score CD and did the tests and quant part, but not the verbal sections. And towards the end, I was running out of test material, so I bought Princeton Review and did the tests only. I generally found Kaplan math to be very hard, but good practice and Princeton Review to be good on verbal but too easy on the math. I thought the actual GMAT was harder than PR, but on par with the difficult questions in OG and with Kaplan. I took practice tests on the weekends and studied pretty hard during the week. My practice tests were as follows (in order):

PP1: 570
PP2: 600
Kaplan 1: 550
Kaplan 2: 550
Kaplan 3: 550
Kaplan 4: 540
PR 1: 600
PR 2: 720
PR 3: 690
Gmatclub Quant Challenge 1: 80 %tile
PR 4: 710
Kaplan 1: 640

As you can see, I started off badly, but really felt to get it towards the end. I suppose now my delimna is deciding whether to re-take or not. This is more of a question for Linda, who I will ask too, but do you guys have any input as to what I should do?

I am not so concerned about the overall score, since I fall into the middle 80% range of all the schools I am targeting (top 15 schools minus H/S/W), but what concerns me more is the low quant score, as it does not fall in the above 80% that tops schools supposedly want. The thing is I really don't want to take it again, and will not take it again unless it would significantly deter my chances. I don't necessarily think I would do any better on the quant section (quant score was in line with the practice tests I took) and I really did study hard for the quant part. I have heard that the GMAT matters primarily in the sense that it demonstrates whether or not you can handle the coursework and I do have a strong quant background and W/E, but just suck at GMAT quant! I am on the fence right now guys and leaning towards not taking it again... any advice? Is my low quant score a dealbreaker?

Thanks so much for all your help here with this website, it definitely helped prepare me... the breadth of info on this site was extremely helpful.