Number of Gmat attempts

BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

This topic has expert replies

Post new topic Post Reply

Previous Topic Next Topic

Vignesh.4384: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 443; Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2008 6:33 pm; Thanked: 5 times

Number of Gmat attempts

by Vignesh.4384 » Mon Jul 28, 2008 5:29 am

Hi,

Is the number of attempts counted in GMAT?
Does a person taking GMAT for the 3rd time have any disadvantage compared to others while applying for universities?

Regards,
Vignesh

Quote

Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Mon Jul 28, 2008 5:29 am

aim-wsc: Legendary Member; Posts: 2469; Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2006 12:09 pm; Location: BtG Underground; Thanked: 85 times; Followed by:14 members

by aim-wsc » Mon Jul 28, 2008 5:38 am

In most of the cases it doesn't matter or affect one's chances of acceptance.

Getting started @BTG?
Beginner's Guide to GMAT | Beating GMAT & beyond
Please do not PM me, (not active anymore) contact Eric.

Quote

GMAT/MBA Expert

Stacey Koprince: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2228; Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:28 pm; Location: Montreal, Canada; Thanked: 639 times; Followed by:694 members; GMAT Score:780

by Stacey Koprince » Mon Jul 28, 2008 7:27 pm

Most schools don't look negatively on 3 attempts (or fewer, obviously). Some schools care about more than 3 attempts. In some cases, the school doesn't have an official policy and it's up to the individual admissions officer.

Also, there's a difference between taking the test 4 times in the last 8 months vs. twice a couple of years ago and twice again this year.

If you're concerned about the issue, you can contact the schools in which you're interested and ask them if they have a policy about re-takes or what they look for when someone has taken the exam multiple times. (You don't even have to specify how many times if you want.) If you do this, make sure you are polite and business like. Also, proof your email (use spellcheck!). The way you present yourself will be remembered if you apply!

I did hear of one extreme case (well, I thought it was extreme). An admissions officer told me that he looked down on a person for taking the test twice, specifically because the person got a 700 the first time. He thought it showed a poor sense of priorities that the person would take the test again after getting a 700. (And, I guess I can sort of see his point - there most likely isn't a great reason to take it again after that - but I don't know how much I could conclude about a person's sense of priority just from that. What if some other school asked him to take it again because they thought one of his subscores was too low or something? Anyway.)

Please note: I do not use the Private Messaging system! I will not see any PMs that you send to me!!

Stacey Koprince
GMAT Instructor
Director of Online Community
Manhattan GMAT

Contributor to Beat The GMAT!

Learn more about me

Quote

Vignesh.4384: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 443; Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2008 6:33 pm; Thanked: 5 times

by Vignesh.4384 » Tue Jul 29, 2008 2:39 am

Thanks a lot Stacey and aim-wsc.

Frankly, i still have not given my gmat a second attempt.
I am supposed to take up GMAT this saturday but I dont feel that confident.
My score keeps varying.
MGAMT score - 660, 680.
Kaplan - 550
Gmat Prep - 550 . 610.

Do you think it would be a good option to reschedule & take the test a little bit later?
Please advise.

Regards,
Vignesh

Quote

GMAT/MBA Expert

Stacey Koprince: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2228; Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:28 pm; Location: Montreal, Canada; Thanked: 639 times; Followed by:694 members; GMAT Score:780

by Stacey Koprince » Tue Jul 29, 2008 6:49 am

It's not that surprising that it varies on tests from different sources - they're different tests, after all.

The GMATPrep variation of 60 points between the two tests is slightly high - did you take the two tests close together in time? How far apart did you take them? Can you remember anything that either gave you an advantage (for the higher score) or was a problem / disadvantage (for the lower score)? eg, an advantage would be that you recognized problems from OG. A problem / disadvantage would be that you got behind on time at some point and had to guess on at least a few questions at the end.

Also, what are you hoping to get on the official test? (Hard to say whether you should postpone if we don't know the goal.)

Quote

Vignesh.4384: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 443; Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2008 6:33 pm; Thanked: 5 times

by Vignesh.4384 » Tue Jul 29, 2008 10:41 pm

Hi Stacey,

I am aiming for a score of 680+.

Problem 1 : When i took Gmat Prep for the first time, I realized that I could not sit through the 4 hours. Strange problem. I used to finish the maths section and about 10 questions in the english section and thats it ... my mind would shut down. I have gotten over this now.Now i have the stamina to sit through the whole exam. May be because i have taken about 4 or 5 tests till now.

Problem 2 : I am not a native english speaker. Being one would have helped

my english score varies a lot. in my first GMAT prep i got 18 in verbal in my second test i got 29(inspite of making a mistake in the first question). Maths i usualy get 46 or 47 . I can see i have improved in CR and i am working on SC .All credits to this forumn .Kaplan has its own way of helping i guess. After going kaplan CR's and kaplan tests, the official guide questions seem to be easy

. These RC's really bother me. Are there any strategies for RC's or is it just practise that makes perfect? I appreciate any help that i can get.

With all this, do u think postponing might be a better option?

Thanks,
Vignesh

Quote

GMAT/MBA Expert

Stacey Koprince: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2228; Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:28 pm; Location: Montreal, Canada; Thanked: 639 times; Followed by:694 members; GMAT Score:780

by Stacey Koprince » Wed Jul 30, 2008 6:14 am

If your most recent practice tests aren't very close to your goal score, then you'd probably be better off postponing. In general, you want to be scoring around your goal level (at the least) on your practice tests by the time you take the real test.

Also, I'm not sure when you took the various tests but it does sound like they were spread over time a bit - which would then explain the different scoring levels.

Take a look at this thread for a discussion of RC techniques:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/verbal-help- ... 13654.html

If you have any questions about that, post in that thread - and if I don't happen to see it to respond (there are a lot of threads here!), send me a PM with the link and a request to respond to your post there.

Quote

Vignesh.4384: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 443; Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2008 6:33 pm; Thanked: 5 times

by Vignesh.4384 » Wed Jul 30, 2008 10:19 am

Thanks a lot Stacey.

Quote

Alpha800: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 84; Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 7:18 pm; Location: Silicon Valley; Thanked: 4 times

by Alpha800 » Wed Jul 30, 2008 2:29 pm

Stacey Koprince wrote:
I did hear of one extreme case (well, I thought it was extreme). An admissions officer told me that he looked down on a person for taking the test twice, specifically because the person got a 700 the first time. He thought it showed a poor sense of priorities that the person would take the test again after getting a 700. (And, I guess I can sort of see his point - there most likely isn't a great reason to take it again after that - but I don't know how much I could conclude about a person's sense of priority just from that. What if some other school asked him to take it again because they thought one of his subscores was too low or something? Anyway.)

Thanks for sharing this anecdote. I'm outraged by this AdCom's mindset, especially given your fine example of one possibility for why s/he would take it again. It's just so ridiculous that someone would fault anyone for taking the GMAT a second time. I can see if a person attempts 4+ times, one would start to wonder why so many times, but looking down upon someone on just the second attempt? That's ridiculous.

I'm really curious--if you don't mind disclosing a little more--what caliber of school was this AdCom from? From one of the Top 5/10 schools? Or from a 2nd/3rd tier school where a score of 700 on the GMAT would already be the top 5 percentile of applicants?

While I would be quite happy with a score of 700 on my first attempt at the GMAT, if I sincerely felt I could improve upon that by 40+ points on a second attempt, I definitely would take it another time, no matter what any AdCom thinks should be an adequate score.

Quote

GMAT/MBA Expert

Stacey Koprince: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2228; Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:28 pm; Location: Montreal, Canada; Thanked: 639 times; Followed by:694 members; GMAT Score:780

by Stacey Koprince » Wed Jul 30, 2008 2:36 pm

I won't disclose the actual school, of course, but it was top tier - a school that regularly sees those kinds of scores. At that level, so many people are applying with good scores, I guess they can afford to think pretty much anything they want to narrow down the pool. Also, for all I know, there were some other indications about a poor sense of priorities in the application and this was just one additional factor in the mix. I didn't get the full story of the application, nor did I try to question the person's reasoning - not really a good tactic if you want to keep the contact as a source of info. I just said something like, "Oh, that's interesting" and left it at that.

The one thing I will say, just in general, is that (in my humble opinion, of course) a lot of people do place more importance on the GMAT than they should. And by "than they should," I mean that they continue to try to improve the GMAT at the expense of other parts of their application. If your essays are poor, it obviously doesn't matter what your GMAT score is. You've got to have the whole package.

Quote

Alpha800: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 84; Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 7:18 pm; Location: Silicon Valley; Thanked: 4 times

by Alpha800 » Wed Jul 30, 2008 2:56 pm

Stacey Koprince wrote:
The one thing I will say, just in general, is that (in my humble opinion, of course) a lot of people do place more importance on the GMAT than they should. And by "than they should," I mean that they continue to try to improve the GMAT at the expense of other parts of their application. If your essays are poor, it obviously doesn't matter what your GMAT score is. You've got to have the whole package.

I hear what you're saying. I'm sure a lot of people take comfort in this fact as they may write great essays but don't do too well on GMAT exams. But there are others who do well on standardized tests but really suck at writing essays. I think those people are cringing at what you said above.

As always, I love reading your posts.

More... more.. more.. please...