Do Programs Ever Combine Your GMAT Scores?

Share tips as you apply, write essays, interview...
This topic has expert replies
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2011 6:20 pm

Do Programs Ever Combine Your GMAT Scores?

by Edward2011 » Tue Sep 20, 2011 10:04 am
Does anyone know if programs will ever combine your best verbal and quant scores if you've taken the GMAT more than once? I've read a number of different things and can't seem to find a good answer. I suppose I should probably contact the schools directly to find out. I'm especially interested in Babson, BC and BU if anyone out there knows the answer.

Thanks!
Source: — The Application Process |

User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 510
Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2011 6:15 am
Location: London
Thanked: 122 times
Followed by:22 members

by throughmba » Tue Sep 20, 2011 2:18 pm
Each B-school establishes its own policy for processing multiple GMAT scores. The most common policy is to average multiple scores. (Quantitative, Verbal, Combined Q/V, and Writing scores are each averaged separately.) A minority of schools will disregard all but your highest scores. (Again, Quantitative, Verbal, Combined Q/V, and Writing scores are each considered separately.) A few schools have adopted a hybrid approach, whereby they average scores from multiple tests unless there is a large enough discrepancy between scores-in which case they look only at your highest score. In any event, most B-schools disregard GMAT scores that are more than five years old.

If you have multiple scores or considering re-taking GMAT, check with your schools - that's all that really matters. Adcoms will provide you with their approach to multiple GMAT scores. Alternatively, you can post in the proper threads for each of the schools in the MBA Forum and I am sure you will get the info from the current admits.

ORIGINAL SOURCE OF THE QUESTION AND OF THIS ANALYSIS:
https://www.west.net/~stewart/gmat/
ThroughMBA Consulting
The No. 1 B-School Admission Consulting of U.K. is now the most Affordable.

https://throughmba.com
email : [email protected]

Alex Wilkins
Senior Admission Consultant, ThroughMBA.com
Panelist | MBA Admissions Achievers Meet
Interviewer | MIT Sloan | Former
Management Consultant | McKinsey & Company | Former

"Regardless of who you are or what you have been, You can make what you want to be."

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Elite Legendary Member
Posts: 3135
Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 8:55 am
Location: Everywhere
Thanked: 589 times
Followed by:332 members

by Jon@Admissionado » Tue Sep 20, 2011 11:40 pm
It's wishful thinking. A bit too much "Trying to have your cake and eat it too". A score is a score, and the number is the number. Starting to argue for "but I got a higher score on this GMAT in Verbal, and my AWA was highest on my fourth retake" doesn't really work.
"Hands down the best MBA admissions consulting firm of all-time, and boy, what an incredible founder!" -- Raj Patil, Founder of Admissionado

Something for everyone:
https://admissionado.lpages.co/admissio ... nter-2018/
https://admissionado.lpages.co/50-essay ... ked-vol-4/
https://admissionado.lpages.co/case-studies-lp/
https://admissionado.com/mba/reviews/
https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Admis ... 700945.htm

Reach out, and let's gab. Our only requirement is that you don't prefer warm milk over cold milk. Everyone else, 100% welcome.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 866-409-4753
Hit us up on WhatsApp.
Ping our satellite: 0884#&@-2#101101
Contact us via web form you lazy git: https://admissionado.com/contact/
Mostly, email Claudia.

Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2011 10:08 pm

by AmitGMAT » Wed Sep 21, 2011 10:18 pm
But if the business school posts that they consider the highest score in GMAT, do they take into account the other GMAT Scores as well ?

Does latest score have more weightage than the highest score ?

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Elite Legendary Member
Posts: 3135
Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 8:55 am
Location: Everywhere
Thanked: 589 times
Followed by:332 members

by Jon@Admissionado » Thu Sep 22, 2011 9:08 pm
Not too strongly. But they do look at trends. So for example if you took the GMAT three times and got higher each time to end with a 720, it looks better than if you got the 720 the first time and got two lower scores.

Does this answer your question?
"Hands down the best MBA admissions consulting firm of all-time, and boy, what an incredible founder!" -- Raj Patil, Founder of Admissionado

Something for everyone:
https://admissionado.lpages.co/admissio ... nter-2018/
https://admissionado.lpages.co/50-essay ... ked-vol-4/
https://admissionado.lpages.co/case-studies-lp/
https://admissionado.com/mba/reviews/
https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Admis ... 700945.htm

Reach out, and let's gab. Our only requirement is that you don't prefer warm milk over cold milk. Everyone else, 100% welcome.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 866-409-4753
Hit us up on WhatsApp.
Ping our satellite: 0884#&@-2#101101
Contact us via web form you lazy git: https://admissionado.com/contact/
Mostly, email Claudia.

Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jan 10, 2014 7:47 am

by Caminske » Tue Jan 21, 2014 2:26 pm
I took the GMAT twice. Oddly enough scored well on the verbal the first time and poorly on the quant. The seconds time, the sections were reversed. Scoring well on the quant and poorly on the verbal. Not sure if it was clearly answered earlier, curious if programs (in general) will take the best of each section? Thanks so much.

Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Jun 02, 2013 10:44 pm
Thanked: 1 times

by pegasus99 » Mon Feb 10, 2014 8:40 am
As far as i know most schools don't combine partial scores from different tests, but you can probably find that info on the school website, especially in the FAQ page.

Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 5:39 am

by yigaloran » Thu Feb 13, 2014 10:46 am
Caminske wrote:I took the GMAT twice. Oddly enough scored well on the verbal the first time and poorly on the quant. The seconds time, the sections were reversed. Scoring well on the quant and poorly on the verbal. Not sure if it was clearly answered earlier, curious if programs (in general) will take the best of each section? Thanks so much.
The answer to this is probably 'no' but your situation is not really unfortunate because improving your Quant score outranks a decline in your Verbal, I would think. Once you've done well in the Verbal they can't take that away from you. A lesser mark on a subsequent test only means you were trying harder in the Quant section. That's a very unofficial way of looking at it but the good news is you improved your Quant score.