Ask the Test Maker

Hi,

I have 3 questions regarding the reporting of GMAT scores.

1. Choosing the schools:

Everybody wants to score as high as possible, but most of the students end up applying to the schools based on his/her GMAT score. GMAC takes about 20 days to report the score. Then why is the compulsion that a student needs to select the target-schools during or before the GMAT exam? Assuming GMAC takes at least couple of days to calculate IR and AWA scores, why doesn't GMAC allows a student to finalize (based on the GMAT scores) his target-schools at least 24 or 48 hours after the exam.

2. Detailed break-up of scores in unofficial score report:

If you could provide sectional (PS, DS, SC, RC, CR) break up (i.e. % of answers that he/she got wrong) in the unofficial score report that a student gets right after the exam, a student can benefit if he/she chooses to retake the exam. I know that GMAT prep does that, but it is not comparable to pressure a student deals with in the real exam.

3. Cancelling the GMAT score:

As of now, a person can cancel his/her scores before seeing the score. Why can't he/she cancel the score after seeing the score? In either case, the school will be notified that a student took the GMAT but chose not to report the scores. A person who feels that he didn't do well on the exam before seeing the score, might have actually scored well. So, I guess GMAC puts an unnecessary burden on the student to choose between reporting and cancelling his/her scores even before he could see his scores.

Hello, VK. Those are excellent questions, and I am glad to answer. We certainly appreciate the desire to know your official score before selecting schools and programs that you would like to receive your score report. The unfortunate case is that the time taken to make a GMAT Score "Official" is not consistent by test taker. Variances could occur based on whether an essay is scored two or three times, the time taken to equate performances on the IR section and whether an incident has been raised about the testing experience.

Also, the practice of selecting 5 free programs to receive an official score report prior to taking the exam has been in place since the GMAT was delivered as a computer based exam. Well prepared test takers have a good sense of their ability as well as the schools and programs that they would like to apply to before taking the exam. We suggest taking the exam well before an admissions deadline so that you can retake the exam if you do not perform to the best of your ability.

As for your question about the detailed break-up. At this time we do not have the ability to provide that in the score report. I certainly understand your interest in it.

As previously mentioned, a well prepared test taker should have a good sense of their ability and be able to estimate if they tested well or not.