Dear Linda,

I just graduated from St anselm college in New Hampshire in May and will start in first job in real estate in January 2013. Just took the GMAT for the first time and scored 730. I plan to apply in 2015, so my most pressing concern at this point is whether to retake the GMAT. I scored 740 and 760 in practice, so I feel that I underperformed the first time. Some people told me not to worry about a 730 since once GMAT score gets past a certain point (low 700s) then top schools will look at other factors. On one hand, I've read some posts on this forum regarding retake strategies and I fall under the "should not retake" category for the following reasons: my score is 700+, the difference between real test and practice does not exceed 50 points, and my score is greater than or equal to the average at all of my target schools. I was also in good condition for test day (physically, mentally, etc). However, GMAT is the only outlet left for me to quantitatively impress the admission officers. In addition, my GPA (3.45), undergrad experience (small regional college) and WE (currently 0) is nothing extraordinary at this moment so the thought of improving my GMAT is pretty appealing. Therefore, I am hoping to get some expert opinions on this matter.

My target schools are: Harvard, Columbia, Kellogg, Darden, USC and Georgetown.

Thank you very much

transinhquan: I has those same exact thoughts, but ultimately came to the conclusion that a possible 20-30 point boost isn't worth it. We have such similar profiles it's scary. I just got a 740 GMAT, 3.48 gpa from a small liberal arts college in Oregon and have been working in real estate for the past 2 years. Couldn't help but notice the similarities. Good luck!

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