Re-take GMAT? What would you if you were me?

Question

Hi there. 
First of all, I would want to thank the gmatclub and all the members who shared their insights.

I was just wondering what other people would do to maximize their time/money/chance of getting accepted.

So I have a GMAT score that is on the lower edge of range of my target schools and a significantly weak part. 
I have 690 (M:50 V:33) with AWA:4 and  IR:1  (yes. 1 on IR.. haha)
Just to give you more of my background, I am an Asian American who went to state university and will have 8 full years of experience by the time I start the school. 
6 year in accounting firm for audit and sales (US and international experience) rest years or so for co-founder of a startup (didn't go well) and employee of a startup (doing well).

I am thinking of applying following schools (reach: HBS, Stanford, Target: Sloan, Kellogg, Others: Yale, NYU, Duke, U of Virginia)
I was originally going to apply for round 1 for few of these schools with my existing GMAT score and retake GMAT in November and apply the rest in Round 2. 
Then, I spoke to a Kellogg alum yesterday, he said he would focus more on writing killer essays and spend more time on mapping out the whole application rather than re-taking GMAT. 
Unless I know for sure I will score 750 or higher. He doesn't see much advantage if I score 720 and below.

What would you do if you were me?
1. Re-take GMAT (there is guaranteed higher IR and more likely higher score on AWA, probably similar math if not higher, but no guarantee on higher verbal as I stopped studying since January.) and keep the original application plan. 
2. Go with what I have and spend much more time on other part of my application. And explain how I can mitigate extremely low score on IR section. 
3. Other advice.

I know that getting a higher GMAT score is good in any case, but I'm trying to evaluate what would be the best way to allocate my time/effort with given capacity. 
Thank you all very much in advance. and Good Luck on your journey!

missxmelon · Answer

Honestly, if you want to maximize your chance of getting accepted, I think you should retake the GMAT - especially for your reach schools. Is there any way retaking the GMAT would not impact the quality of your essays? Ideally, I would focus on both the essays and the GMAT. The application itself is generally not too time-consuming (compared to essays and GMAT). Maybe you could find reputable friends, colleagues, etc. to review your essays and provide feedback, so you have more time to study for the GMAT?

okwon619 · Answer

Thank you for your input on this missxmelon!
Yeh.. writing a killer essay and tackling on GMAT is an ideal solution.

Admissionado · Answer

Tough call. It depends on:
a) How old you are
b) How strong your profile is otherwise
c) What you would do if you don't get in
d) Whether you can wait another year
e) How easily you would get a higher score.

The difference between a 690 and a 720 is more than 30 points, it's the difference of being "below average" and above.... But again it depends on how much time you have and how easily you can get a higher score. And your essays might suffer (or at least you would be able to submit less applications).

Basically, if it's really important that you get in THIS year, forget about the GMAT, just go for it, writing the best essays you can. If you have the luxury of waiting, maybe yes retake and see if you can pull that 720+ because it WILL make a difference.

MAke sense?

Re-take GMAT? What would you if you were me?

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