What Happens if I cancel my GMAT EXAM

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What Happens if I cancel my GMAT EXAM

by nitin2151 » Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:41 am
Hi,

I am targeting above 700 in GMAT. My exam is due on Wednesday 27-Jan-2010. Yesterday, I gave GMATprep -1 exam and scored 640 (Q-44 and V-33). I know I can improve Quant by atleast 4 points (48/49). I am planning to cancel my exam and take it a month later.

Now my Qs. is -- If I cancel my exam then will it be reported to the prospective schools that I cancelled my exam. Is the act equivalent to taking the GMAT exam and cancelling the score. Will this have bad effect on my admissions.

The reason behind cancelling is that if I take the exam and score 640 (+/- 20) then it will be counted as an attempt. I already have made 2 attempts ( one in 1999 and other in 2008).

Thanks
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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:49 am
If you're canceling meaning rescheduling it, I don't think it would be reported.

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by DanaJ » Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:52 am
As osirus0830 said, if you plan on not showing up for the test and rescheduling it for a different date, then that's not a problem. You won't have sat for the exam so it doesn't get reported. If you do go for the 27th test date, but hit the "Cancel scores" button at the end, then indeed, this will appear on your report cards as a canceled attempt.

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by nitin2151 » Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:56 am
I am not planning to go on 27th Jan, 2010. Also I am not rescheduling it to any other date as I don't have any date in mind. So I am planning to call mba.com and just cancel my exam. I know I will be losing $250/-.

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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:59 am
nitin2151 wrote:I am not planning to go on 27th Jan, 2010. Also I am not rescheduling it to any other date as I don't have any date in mind. So I am planning to call mba.com and just cancel my exam. I know I will be losing $250/-.

Its your money so do what you feel is best, but why not just reschedule it for the end of Feb pay the 80 dollars? That is cheaper than just losing the 250. Even if you then reschedule it again, 160 is still cheaper than 250.

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by nitin2151 » Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:23 pm
You need to reschedule the exam atleast one week before your test date. Now that limit does not hold for me. So even if I reschedule, I need to pay $250/-.

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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:24 pm
nitin2151 wrote:You need to reschedule the exam atleast one week before your test date. Now that limit does not hold for me. So even if I reschedule, I need to pay $250/-.
I thought if you rescheduled the week of you had to pay 80 dollars vs if you schedule it 7 days in advance you only pay 50? I could be wrong.

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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:28 pm
Just checked, you are right, you can't pay 80 to reschedule it. Sorry about that.

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by Brian@VeritasPrep » Thu Jan 21, 2010 4:25 pm
Hi Nitin,

Good points from everyone on here about the rescheduling policy...unfortunately, it looks like you've missed by about a day to do it with a much smaller penalty. But, since you're already out the full $250 test fee, I'd ask this - have you considered sticking with it and just taking it? Here are my thoughts:

-A 640 on a practice test isn't all that far off from a 700-ish score overall, particularly if you think that you may have taken that practice test under "subideal" conditions (after work, with a roommate knocking on the door or a cell phone ringing, on a poor night's sleep, etc.). One limitation of practice tests is that you tend to take them when it's convenient to do so, but not necessarily when you're fully prepped, rested, and alert.

-If you can easily identify 2-3 errors that you made more than once or areas for improvement on that most recent practice test, you may be able to bump it up pretty quickly just by correcting them. Did you pace yourself correctly? If not, and you guessed or didn't answer questions toward the end of a section, you could improve significantly just by making an adjustment there (like noting that you spent, say, 5 minutes each on two geometry problems, and reminding yourself to make an educated guess far earlier on test day on that type of problem). Did you make a few "careless mistakes" or assumptions that you know you're better than? Jot down a reminder to yourself on test day to double-check for those, and you may eliminate 2-3 wrong answers.

-Most importantly, business schools only care about your top score, with few exceptions, so if you've spent $250 already with no hope of recouping it, a (I'll estimate) 20% chance of a 700+ score is a lot better than nothing, especially considering the complementary event (80%) is that you'll learn something about how you can improve on the test. You scored 640, and not 440, on this most recent practice attempt, so you're not going to go in there and embarrass yourself; at worst, you've paid $250 for a pretty expensive practice test, only this particular practice test has the potential to be your official score if it goes well.

Something to consider, at least - I'd just hate to see you throw $250 away with nothing to show for it, and to me it doesn't sound like all hope is lost on this one attempt. It sounds like you're planning to wait the 30-day minimum to retake the test, anyway, so to me there's nothing to be lost, and a not-insignificant chance that it works out really well.
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by nitin2151 » Mon Jan 25, 2010 2:39 pm
Thanks Brian. You reply was quite informative. I took the practice test under conditions similar to those of a real GMAT test. On the practice test, I made very silly mistake on Quant. Plus I had 5 Qs wrong in a row in verbal (Qs 25-30). When I was reviewing the test, I was able to answer all those quant qs. I need to take some more practice tests so that I can walk in confidently for the real test. My bet is on Quant section and I really need to do well on quant inorder to get a good score. Also I am planing to give atleast a month time for preparation.

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by nitin2151 » Mon Jan 25, 2010 2:54 pm
"at worst, you've paid $250 for a pretty expensive practice test, only this particular practice test has the potential to be your official score if it goes well."

But if it does not go well then it will count as my third attempt and I will have to give the test one more time which will be my fourth attempt. I think more attempts might make bad impression with admission comitee.

One follow up Question on the number of attempts:
My first attempt was in 1999 (thats right its not a typo)
Second one in 2008

So the Qs is: Will admission comitee count the attempt that I made in 1999? I can very well explain why there is so much gap in my attempts. I do have valid reasons.

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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Tue Jan 26, 2010 6:51 am
nitin2151 wrote:"at worst, you've paid $250 for a pretty expensive practice test, only this particular practice test has the potential to be your official score if it goes well."

But if it does not go well then it will count as my third attempt and I will have to give the test one more time which will be my fourth attempt. I think more attempts might make bad impression with admission comitee.

One follow up Question on the number of attempts:
My first attempt was in 1999 (thats right its not a typo)
Second one in 2008

So the Qs is: Will admission comitee count the attempt that I made in 1999? I can very well explain why there is so much gap in my attempts. I do have valid reasons.
I don't even think they will know that you took it in 1999. The history only goes back 5 years.

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by money9111 » Tue Jan 26, 2010 7:38 pm
this thread has brought up an interesting question to me... not sure if it's been answered...

if I have my scores sent to 2 schools when i take it in May... and then take it again in July and send 2 different schools my scores... do i then have to pay $56 to resend my scores to the first two schools?
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by gmat2805 » Sat May 26, 2012 12:49 am
Hi All,

I cancelled my gmat score as I thought I am doing miserably in the quant section. Can some one please advice whether its taken in a negative way by admission committees.