Low Quant, High Verbal Score – Should I retake for top schools?

Prepwise AnswersCategory: GMATLow Quant, High Verbal Score – Should I retake for top schools?
Greston Wise Staff asked 8 years ago

Ask Kate: Due to a low quant, a GMAT retake may be necessary for top business schools.

 

I just took the GMAT and received an integrated reasoning score of 8 (92nd percentile), quantitative score of 47 (67th percentile), and verbal score of 44 (98th percentile). My overall score was 730 (96th percentile). Does the low quantitative score hurt my chances of getting into top business schools (ex: HBS, Stanford, MIT Sloan)? I also was a applied math/econ major at Brown and have a 3.9 GPA – which isn’t reflected in the low quant score.

1 Answers
Kate McKeon Staff answered 8 years ago

Hi!

You’re in decent shape. The 47 is low-ish, but isn’t actually “low.” Until very recently 47 was 78th percentile so for many programs 47 is the low number on quant that makes sense. The percentile has changed because of the composition of test takers. Far more super strong quant background have been taking the test over the past 5 years than before. By comparison, your 44 V is 98th percentile. That would have been 96th percentile just a couple of years ago. So you’re in a sea of quant folks who get crushed by verbal.

Your score is balanced and is the most desirable. You’ll be fine score-wise. Sounds like the rest of the stats are up to par as well so you’re good to go.

Time to work on your apps! Good luck with the process and great job with the GMAT.
Kate