Low GMAT Quant Making Me Rethink Career Choices

TLDR- My GMAT score is way better for verbal than for quants, although I spent much less time on verbal. Should I reconsider applying to MSc Finance programs? What are some business degrees with a somewhat high ROI and a more diluted emphasis on quant skills?


Hi guys,

I gave my first (and for now only) GMAT attempt today. Got 720(Q44, V47, IR5). Although I'm happy with the overall score, I am pretty disappointed with the quants section. I was planning to apply to MSc Finance programs, but the low quants would really hurt my admission chances. I'm sure I can improve my quant scores to Q49-50 with 2-3 additional months of prep, but by that point I would probably have to apply in the 3rd/4th admission rounds, which I'm not too keen on. But that's a topic for another forum, let's move on to the broader dilemma that I'm facing.

Looking at my score would make you think that I worked hard on verbal and was probably over-confident when it came to quants right? Wrong. I spent most of my 5-month prep period working on quants (mind you, my job made it very difficult to prep consistently). Barely touched verbal except watching a few strategy videos and solving the questions I came across in full-length CATs and 'question of the day' posts. So, in terms of time and effort invested vs score, verbal definitely won. I also can't attribute either score to luck. My score for the official mock I gave two days ago was EXACTLY the same. Sure, my quant score was affected to a extent by nerves (ran out of time and didn't attempt the last 3 questions), but at best I would have probably still scored Q47 or lower. On the other hand, I have consistently scored 41+ in verbal from the start.

Coming to the actual point, this experience has me reflecting back on my choice of course. I sort of fell into the Accounts and Finance specialization in my Business Administration Bachelors simply because I generally got good grades and am an introvert. Of course, the awesome pay for Finance graduates also played a role. But now that I know that the skills tested in the verbal section come to me much more naturally that quants, should I start looking at other programs for my Masters? Not that I mind working hard and improving my quantitative aptitude, but what are some fields where quants is balanced out by other skills? And degrees where I would get a decent financial ROI as well?


More context if you're interested-

Currently working in Internal Audit/ Risk Advisory in a Big 4 firm. Pretty creative mindset, love learning new things and enjoy variety and flexibility in whatever I'm working on. As you can tell by the scores, I'm pretty good at critical thinking and have an eye for detail. Although my essay writing skills have gotten pretty rusty (I did NOT prepare for AWA and IR much, oops), I really enjoyed writing essays and stories in school. Ok, to be honest, as a subject, I've always liked English more than Maths. Maths is still interesting, just not my forte.

I would still like to study something that is related to Business though, and financial ROI is important (although only upto a certain point). It's also important that the work I do aligns with my values, another front where I've had doubts about going into Finance. (My views on capitalism, etc. don't quite align with the most of the job roles I'd be offered). My social skills have improved a lot with time to the point where I actually enjoy striking up conversations with strangers. I have also thought about starting my own business, freelancing or even teaching, later on in my career.

Sorry for the long read. I know right now I sound like I haven't done much of my own research, which is true to an extent, but I'd be very grateful if any of you could nudge me in the right direction.