Low IR Score - Retake?

[tkatz561]

Hi,

I took my GMAT May 2012 and got a 660, but retook it February 2013 and got 710 (V38/Q49). I was so excited, but just received my IR score, which is extremely disappointing: 2 (12th percentile). I think I was just nervous about retaking the exam.

Here's some background information on me: I'm a 27 year old female and attended an ivy league undergraduate school with a 3.7 GPA. I'm currently at a boutique management consulting company and previously at a large HR consulting firm working in executive compensation consulting. The IR score is definitely not reflective of my analytical skills, especially since I use it heavily at work. I'm involved in non-profits and also have a leadership role in one of the programs this year.

I would like to apply to top MBA schools (Harvard, Wharton, Columbia, etc), but am terrified that I will be dinged for the low IR score. I don't want to retake the exam a third time because even if I improve my IR score, there is a possibility that I may score lower on the Verbal/Quant section.

Any thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[RonPurewal]

according to the admissions staff at stanford, you shouldn't worry about it right now.
http://www.stanford.edu/group/mba/blog/ ... out_g.html

in any case, the best course of action here seems clear: just go ahead and apply to the schools. if you get in, awesome. if not, see whether they'll debrief you; if they do, they'll tell you whether that score was a factor.
if that happens, and the score was a factor, then go take the test again.

[tkatz561]

Thanks for the quick response. I'm concerned about applying this year... I don't want to reapply next year. I guess if it's something forgivable from overall application standpoint, I'd just apply this year with the score. On the other hand, if it might prevent me from getting into a top school, I suppose I should just retake the ENTIRE exam for the IR section and hope I score well on all sections. I saw that article from Stanford but it was from last year, so I figure schools might be reevaluating IR score for this coming application cycle. It just feels embarrassing to have to report that on my application and I'm afraid it might come up during the interview since it does seem really awkward when seen side by side with my Quant/Verbal score.

If anyone has further thoughts on this or experienced similar situation, I would greatly appreciate your input!

[RonPurewal]

well, if you are truly undecided, the best course of action may just be to go ahead and take the exam again. remember, you do have the option of not selecting any schools before the exam, and then sending the updated report only if your scores improve. (schools will not receive automatic updates.)
so, in other words, you could take the exam again and then decide after the fact whether to submit the scores.

i'm quite interested in the outcome of this whole situation, anyway. i've had quite a few students ask questions about (hypothetical) situations like this, and i've never seen or known about any actual "data points" with these kinds of numbers. so this will be very informative, however it turns out.

[RituparnaS901]

Hi,

I took the Gmat in July'14 and scored a 720 (Q50,V36) but a 4/8 on IR 37th %ile.

I applied to a few schools whose average gmat was well below 720 and still got dings.

Although i understand that there could be a multitude of reasons for the ding, i am beginning to worry if my 4 on IR is raising red flags..

as i have time before next years' rounds, i wanted to know whether i need to retake my gmat?

Your opinion would be greatly appreciated...