How important is IR?

Thanks a lot to both of you!

The thing that bothers me a bit is that universities publish absolutely nothing about IR in general and IR scores in the class profile. So I really do wonder whether about its importance! But thanks a lot again.

They do t post anything but there are member reports of IR low score questions coming up in interviews.

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Yes I guess that makes sense, thanks again!

It will depend entirely on which school you apply to. 730 for INSEAD with 3 years of WE might cause them to red flag you and find a potential flaw but a school with an average of 690 will happily accept your score. You obviously have some sound advice above...whether it is about being able to retake the exam or cancel this score.

Just saying, if you are already competitive, you might be better off spending your time on other aspects of the application like essays and interviews. Use your own discretion here.

Thanks for your reply! INSEAD is the only school that "suggests" to score a 6 though. I am mostly aiming at M7

In that case, definitely go for the re-write (whether it is on Pearson's dime or yours). They are extremely competitive and every little bit helps.

You must put your best application for M7 as these schools are extremely competitive and you dont want to miss out just because of a 'small' matter of IR score. All of us can only speculate on what is the relative importance of the IR section but you wont really know what dinged you. So dont take that chance and give your GMAT with the best you can do across ALL sections.

I concur with Engr2012 's thoughts. If M7 is what you are aiming for, I'd highly recommend retaking the exam.

Don't you think retaking the exam just for the integrated reasoning would waste time I could otherwise use to write good essays? I am trying to understand how certain one can be the IR can raise a red flag when no stats are published.

Fair point, but to be absolutely blunt here, you are wasting your time asking this question here when no one here is remotely qualified to tell you with absolute certainty that IR wont matter for M7 application. Not even I, who is already studying at an M7 will be able to tell you that low IR score will not raise a flag, unfortunately. You can take that risk and it will be your call at the end of the day. Keats and I just mentioned what we personally think about the application process. Per the stats, the acceptance rates to M7 hover between 9%-20% and with this low percentage, its entirely your call to take that chance. People with low GMAT or GPA usually use the optional essays to tackle the low score issue head on without giving another GMAT or trying to create an alternative transcript.

TL;DR: Take a call, either give GMAT to improve your IR score when GMAT is still fresh in your mind or let it go but do answer this question proactively in your optional essays. Either strategy has been shown to be effective in the last few years. If you think rest of your application will plug in all the 'gaps' with your low IR score, then, yes, dont waste your time on another GMAT.

Hope this helps.