I recently took the GMAT and scored a frustrating 690 (Q44, V41,
). This is frustrating because I was scoring 710 on mock tests and feel I didn't execute as well as I could have. I'm debating whether it would be better to re-take the GMAT to boost my score (overall and/or quant) or focus on a quant class such as micro economics or calculus (which, if admitted, I would need to take anyway). Or maybe both re-take and class? I would like to competitive at Sloan and Tepper. While I'm roughly at the 35th-percentile GMAT of accepted Sloan students and the 50th-percentile GMAT of accepted Tepper students, I feel I could do better. My sense is that I fit the innovative, passionate, and collaborative character of Sloan but have too much uncertainty regarding my academic viability for either school - Tepper being top-20 and Sloan being top-5.
My undergraduate GPA is 3.0 from a top-50 liberal arts college where I majored in a social science with a minor in German and Business (did well in accounting and stats), with a clear upward trend from 2.5 (first year) to 3.5 (fourth year). After graduating I taught English abroad. When I returned to the states I worked in marketing for a year then in renewable energy/financing as an operations analyst for a year. For the last three years I've been working in financial services where I started as a data analyst, was then promoted to a business analyst, and recently moved laterally to be a software engineer, all within the same company. As far as volunteer experience, I serve as co-president of a non-profit soccer league (as well as manage a team), serve on the board of a non-profit chess foundation, and have volunteered as a chess tutor for several years.
So,
do I need to re-take the GMAT to be competitive at Sloan?
would a 720 be sufficient, or is it more important that I specifically raise my quant? I ask because I did minimal studying for verbal and suspect I could raise my V score to 44
(maybe a no brainer) should I contact AdCom at both schools and ask for their recommendation?
Thanks!