All,

Bit of a long post, so please bear with me. Been reading these boards for a while now, and they are super informative and helpful.

I just finished sitting for my first GMAT. I have a pretty technical background and was scoring anywhere from a 710 to a 740 on GMAT Prep tests with higher scores on the quant side (which was what I had expected). Studied off and on for the week leading up to the exam, but I felt pretty confident given what I'd seen in all the practice tests.

Got to the exam, felt like I did well on the AWA. Started the quant, and about halfway through I convinced myself that I was moving too slow. Rushed myself through the middle 15 or so questions, and ended up finishing with 10 minutes left. At that point I knew I was in trouble.

Destroyed the Verbal in about 45 minutes. It was a piece of cake, even compared to the practice tests I'd been doing.

I got my score and I was disappointed (thought not surprised) to see a Q44 / V44. I completely bombed the quant. Was scoring in the 48-49 range with consistency on all my practice exams.

My question is this - if I am targeting only top 5-7 schools, should I consider retaking to up my quant score? I would have been fine with a 710 if the scores had been a little more balanced, and I truly don't feel that the Q44 represents my abilities. My job is extremely quant focused (financial services analyst), and I have an undergrad Finance degree with a high GPA. Does the rest of my profile "make up" for my low Q score? I have heard of the 80/80 rule, and would hate to think my app gets trashed before a review because of the low Q score.

I have to wait a month to retake anyways (if that is what I decide to do). Could work on the essays for the next few weeks and brush up on the quant a week before a retake. Would the "official" scores even be available to schools in time for R2 deadlines? What would you do in my position?

Would appreciate any suggestions!

Just found out I got a 6 on the AWA, which makes this even more frustrating.

Any other opinions?

See my first post - my Q score was pretty low (44).

If your background is highly technical and you tell them this, then they won't question your quantitative ability. In fact, your high verbal and awa score will be a breath of fresh air from other applicants with similar backgrounds and high quant/low verbal scores.

On the other hand, if you think you can improve your cumulative score by 30 or 40 points while not affecting the quality of your application then I say go for it.

You have nothing to really lose by retaking except the extra time that you might spend on the application.

Think about all of these factors and decide what's best for you.