660 - 2nd Attempt. Help Needed

Hi,
Thank you guys for your reply.
I am looking to apply to :
IIM - A , INSEAD ( watlisted last year), Kellogg, Michigan, Duke, Cornell
Not sure if 660 will be enough for these schools, so i thought of going for it the third time. But it is interesting to note your point on adcoms not favourably look at the third attempt. I was always under the impression that the best score counts, has any school openly said that we do not want to see too many attempts. Thanks for bringing this point up.
As for my weakest area, it has been CR. I was doing extremely well in all practice tests and My GMATprep test scores were 690 and 750. So I was kinda shocked to see the results. Nevertheless, I will keep plugging away.
I like the idea of searching for the explanation in GMATclub, will definitely look it up.

I agree that you should focus on your weak areas!
BTW, what is IIM -A? I'm not familiar with that abbreviation. Way too shoot for the stars with those target programs!
Keep your head up!

Maverick,

I have not heard explicitly from schools that they ignore the other scores and take the best scores. It may be true to some extent. But gonig by the competition , i believe anybody for that matter would give preference to a person with 720 1st attempt over a person with 720 3rd attempt , when all other aspects of application are equal.

How are the other parts of your application ? May be you can post in Ask Accepted forum and get professional advise. If i were you, i would not have considered giving the test for the 3rd time. Just take what you have and go ahead. Again its just my personal opinion. Someone else with better experience than me can have an altogether different side for the story.

All the best !

Hi Rahul,

Here is my profile and you can find paul's reply in the post titled " re-applicant - Help needed please".
[i]
Hi Paul,

I am a reapplicant this year, and still aspire to be part a top school's community starting Fall 2008.

I have been a beneficiary of all the help that GMAT club extends to aspirants and would need your help in evaluating my chances this year. Just to give you a background : I applied to 3 schools for the admission cycle of July 2007. I was also waitlisted at INSEAD, which susequently did not go through. A brief on my background :

Indian, Male, Age 28 ( currently 4 yrs experience), Banking ( Credit Risk Management), Resident of Singapore,Masters in Financial engineering from Univ of Michigan, GPA 3.3. GMAT first attempt 650 ( Q 44, V 37), Second Attempt 660 (Q 45, V 36). Last time, I applied to Cornell ( 1 yr program), LBS, and INSEAD and was waitlisted by INSEAD.

Schools Interested in :
IIM A - PGPX , India
INSEAD
Duke
Michigan
Kellogg
One more elite/trans elite school (undecided)

My questions to you are :

I took my GMAT the second time today and needless to say I am terribly dissapointed on two counts : First, the score per se is terrible with only 78 perc in Q and 80 per in V. Moreover there is no substantial improvement in my score from the previous time. Second, if I take the GMAT the third time and I do succeed in scoring the 700 barrier, what effect will my previously poor scores have on it. What if i dont improve by much the third time as well, will i be harming my chances more?

Third, Do you think I have a decent shot at any of the above mentioned universities with this score and with my profile?

I am thoroghly confused. I would greatly appreciate your help.

Look forward to hearing from you soon.[/i]

Yes, i saw Paul's reply.
You should also consider one more thing. If you take GMAT for the 3rd time and end up say 670-680 instead of 700+, then i think 680 3rd attempt is no good than 660 2nd attempt. Just give a thought on this.

As Paul said, relax your criteria a bit and go ahead with 660. I would have done this. Finally it your call, think properly, evaluate all aspects, and take a good confident decision.

Keep us informed about your progress in the forum. Many people with similar experiences will get the benifit.