GMAT time number 4?

I’ve had a great week of freedom. I’ve been out every night, got up later in the morning as I don’t need to study and even had free time to catch up on TV and house admin. However it’s time to move on to the next stage: European business schools.

I ended up only applying to two US business schools.  But I need to maximise my chances of getting into business school, I need to apply to more. This is where the EU schools come in. As I don’t have visa worries I can apply later.

I’ve got a short list of three:

• HEC France
• IE Spain; and
• IESE Spain.

They are all great for different reasons; IESE I can learn by the Harvard case study (they got advice from HBS when they starting the school); HEC I can live in France and learn the language. This is big plus as most international public sector organisations have two languages-English and French. While IE dislikes the GMAT so much they have their own entrance exam.

Here is the crux of my dilemma; should I resit the GMAT?

I got a very nice email from HEC in Paris basically saying; close but no cigar as they require a minimum of 600 score; but don’t worry you can resit.  HEC is one of my favourites business schools; so if I want a chance, I have to resit.  IESE has an average score of 670; which means there is potential to get in on the score I have. However I think the recognised minimum is 600 for most European business schools. But I’m going to check to find out before I make any decision.  Or do I just focus on IE with their more practical entrance exam?

Deadlines for the European Business Schools are the middle of March.  However as I’m off on holiday from the 10th March;it means I really have apply by the beginning of that month.  So while I have a few days to decide I need to get to gripes with following questions.

• Which of the three business schools do I want to apply for?
• How do they view my GMAT score?
• Do I really want to make February study month?
• Which exam should I sit if any?

If the answer is NO particular to resitting GMAT, it time for me to move on and consider the part-time MBA options.

Anyone have any thoughts?