Should I Re-Take the GMAT? If So, How?
So youve taken the test and you arent entirely happy with your score. How do you decide whether to re-take the test?
It might be the case that your score is close to what you wanted, but not quite all the way there. Alternatively, you may be trying to decide whether to stick with the GMAT or switch to the GRE (and, if so, I recommend you follow that link I just inserted).
If you already know that you do want to stick with the GMAT, read on.
Should I re-take?
There are two main reasons someone might want to go for a higher score. The most common is that you think a better score will improve your chances of getting into business school or of obtaining certain internships once in school. Some people also feel that achieving a certain score is a personal goal and they want to meet that challenge.
If youre trying to gauge whether a better score will make a big difference, start researching. Whats the average or median score for last years incoming class at your preferred schools? (Look at whatever data the school publishesdifferent schools might publish data in different forms.) Are you in range? Are you strong? If you are already above the average or median at that school, then adding 30 points might not make as big a difference as, say, earning a promotion at work.
Check GPA statistics as well. You have a little leeway for your GMAT score to be lower if your GPA is higher than the average for admitted students; if your GPA is lower, however, then it would be better to have an above-average GMAT. (Also, all of this just means that you have a chance, not that youll definitely get in. These are only two of many parts to your application!)
You can also factor in a few fuzzy things. Are you a non-native English speaker who just learned to speak English in the last few years? Make sure the school knows that; you might get a little bit of a break on the GMAT requirement. Do you have something extra-special about your application that few b-school applicants have? If you are a professional athlete, a non-profit administrator, or the president of the local Big Brothers Big Sisters organization, youre likely to stand out more.
Why might I NOT want to re-take?
Business schools dont care if you take the GMAT a second time but get a lower score; most schools consider only your highest score, so this isnt a deterrent to re-taking the test.
The main drawback associated with preparing for the GMAT again is timespecifically, what else you could have been doing with that time. Are you also filling out applications right now? Will a re-take use up time that you had originally planned to spend on other parts of the application? If your application is not the best that it can be all around, then it might not matter so much whether your GMAT score is a little higher.
Alternatively, your time might be better spent on plugging a hole elsewhere in your application. No volunteer or community experience? That might be more important than another 30 points on the GMAT. Almost on the cusp of a promotion? Maybe you can accelerate the timetable by working more for the next few months and be able to put the promotion on your application. Dont have much leadership experience? Volunteer for some project or launch something new at your company. Start a mentor program at your company and volunteer to manage it (and take on a mentee yourself). Offer to put together a training program in an area of your expertise.
Im going to re-take the GMAT. What do I do?
The rest of this post will talk about what to do if you need a relatively modest increase (30 to 80 points). If you are looking for a larger increase, then you will need a more comprehensive plan for your re-take.
First, gather data. Write down everything you remember about the test: what seemed easy, what seemed hard, whether you had any timing or mental fatigue issues, and so on. (Note: if youre reading this but havent yet decided whether to re-take, write down everything you remember right now. Seriously! Ill wait. Its important to get the information down on paper as soon as possible after the test is over.)
If you would like, order the Enhanced Score Report from GMAC. This report will give you additional data about your test performance (follow the link to see exactly what youll get).
Finally, analyze your most recent non-GMATPrep practice test (or, if it has been a while, take a new practice test). Im specifying that you use something other than GMATPrep because it doesn't provide much data with which to analyze your strengths and weaknesses. If you take one of our CATs, use this article to analyze it.
Answer these questions:
1. Consider the main question types. Did one type feel consistently more difficult? Do you remember any especially difficult individual problems? Why were they so difficult for you? Did you feel like you spent way too much time on certain types of questions? Which ones?
Your responses to this set of questions will help you to understand on a more global level where you might need to spend your study time.
2. Next, consider timing.
a. Did you finish each section comfortably on time (within 2 or 3 minutes of the time limit), or did you run out of time? Try to quantify on how many questions you had to rush and how much you had to rush. Alternatively, did you finish significantly early? How much time did you have left? Were you rushing even more than was really necessary?
b. Even if you finished the section on time, you might still have mismanaged your timing. Check the per-question timing statistics in your MGMAT CAT. Did you generally avoid going more than about 45 seconds longer than the average on any individual question (that is, you didnt spend way too much time on any question)? Did you generally spend at least 45 seconds on any SC or at least 1 minute on any other question (that is, you didnt rush way too much on any question)?
Timing mismanagement is a major cause of underperformance on the GMAT. The bad news: if you dont fix timing problems, it will be tough to improve your score very much. The good news: people who can fix their timing problems are the most likely group to see improvement on a subsequent official GMAT. If you have to have a problem, timing mismanagement is a good problem to have.
3. How did you feel about the content that you saw on the test? You should expect to have some way-too-hard questions, as well as some that you felt were relatively easy. You should also expect, at times, to think, I should know how to do this! but you cant remember or figure it out for some reason. Were there more than a few in any of these categories? What were the specific content areas that gave you the most trouble?
Your answers here, coupled with your answers to the first two sets of questions, will help you to pinpoint more precisely what you need to study to pick up a modest number of additional points.
4. Everyone experiences some amount of nervousness and mental fatigue during the GMAT. Was yours significant enough to impair your performance?
a. Did you feel a constant nervousness throughout the exam? Did you feel like you were panicking at any point or your mind just went blank? Did you experience: a racing heart, sweaty palms, nausea, difficulty breathing?
If anxiety was enough of a problem to impair your test performance significantly, you need to take concrete steps to lower your anxiety before you take the test again. For most, it will be enough to seek out freely available resources and try various techniques that can help to lessen anxiety. For those who are experiencing anxiety severe enough to cause serious physical symptoms, you may need to work with a professional (a doctor or therapist) who can suggest more targeted techniques or prescribe medication.
b. Did you start to feel that you were unable to concentrate? Did you have to read things two or three times before you finally registered what you were reading? (Note: Im not talking about having to read a really hard or convoluted sentence twice. Im talking about those times when you read something and then you realize that you have absolutely no idea what you just read.)
Everyone experiences mental fatigue during this long test, but there are ways to try to minimize the effects. In addition to what I wrote in the article I just linked, also remember that the decisions you make about when to keep going on a hard problem have implications for your mental energy. If you spend too much time (and, therefore, mental energy) on a subset of very hard problemswhich youre likely to miss anyway, since theyre so hardthen you may find yourself without enough mental energy to finish the test strongly.
I want 100+ more points
In that case, plan to spend at least 8 weeks, possibly longer. You may need to take a class or workshop or work with a tutor; if so, still do the analysis described above. It will help you to choose a targeted program for your specific needs, in particular if you decide to work with a tutor. Alternatively, you may decide to work on your own. If so, this article can help get you started: Developing a Study Plan.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck and happy studying!