Wow...14 months away?!

My question is: why wait?

Your score is good for a full five years and, in response to one of your other questions, business schools DO NOT care if you do need to retake the exam once or twice, so if you're already thinking about it I'd advise thinking ahead to a time between now and December '11 to see when you think you may have a strong month or two to really get on a study regimen.

My guess is that you're taking the exam in December 2011 so that you can apply that following January...is that right? If so, December 2011 puts a lot of pressure on you because at that point you NEED the score or you'd be forced to push to the third round. But if you think you'll have some time this spring to really put into it and give the official test a go, then:

1) If you succeed, you're done and you can focus more on researching schools and building other aspects of your application

2) If you don't, then you'll know what you need to emphasize the most and you can build toward a successful test more toward December

3) You'll be studying/taking the exam when you have the most time to do so and not just when you need the score the most;

3a) Further, you'll be taking the test with a lot less immediate pressure and therefore a much better chance of staying relaxed and confident


As I'm biased toward the books that my colleagues and I have written for Veritas Prep, I'll let the rest of the community weigh in on their opinions, but I would wholeheartedly recommend that you at least give yourself the option of taking the test earlier if it's on your mind now.

Brian@VeritasPrep wrote:Wow...14 months away?!

My question is: why wait?

Your score is good for a full five years and, in response to one of your other questions, business schools DO NOT care if you do need to retake the exam once or twice, so if you're already thinking about it I'd advise thinking ahead to a time between now and December '11 to see when you think you may have a strong month or two to really get on a study regimen.

My guess is that you're taking the exam in December 2011 so that you can apply that following January...is that right? If so, December 2011 puts a lot of pressure on you because at that point you NEED the score or you'd be forced to push to the third round. But if you think you'll have some time this spring to really put into it and give the official test a go, then:

1) If you succeed, you're done and you can focus more on researching schools and building other aspects of your application

2) If you don't, then you'll know what you need to emphasize the most and you can build toward a successful test more toward December

3) You'll be studying/taking the exam when you have the most time to do so and not just when you need the score the most;

3a) Further, you'll be taking the test with a lot less immediate pressure and therefore a much better chance of staying relaxed and confident


As I'm biased toward the books that my colleagues and I have written for Veritas Prep, I'll let the rest of the community weigh in on their opinions, but I would wholeheartedly recommend that you at least give yourself the option of taking the test earlier if it's on your mind now.

I am actually in law school right now. I just wanted to give myself the option of doing an MBA down the road. I wanted to give myself the maximum time that my GMAT score is good for. Furthermore, I am also extremely busy with LS work right now. Next year should be better.