I took the GMAT 5 times. the third time I was sick and the fourth time my mom was in a wreck. I scored a 710 the 5th time and 640 the other times. I know some schools like Harvard asks specifically how many times you took it. Should I use the additional essay to explain why i took it so many times?
Hi Jas,
710 is a great score! Yes, you should explain your situation in the Optional Essay , however you don't want to come off as having too many excuses, as AdCom might look down on the fact that you took the GMAT 5 times. I am not sure what your situation was, but can you link several of the 'reasons' together? (i.e. there was a family emergency which lasted several months and therefore had an impact on several of your tests).
Again, I am not clear as to the situation, but try to minimize the impact of taking the test multiple times.
Regards,
NP
