GMAT Strategy

I have written the GMAT once in March, planning to do one in the coming Dec. I have 2 questions:

1.) How many times can we retake, without having a negative impression to the admission office?
2.) Say I sent my score to school A,B,C,D,E in March and is afraid that my exam in Dec will be lower, so I tell GMAC to send to school F,G,H,I,J. Will A,B,C,D,E still be able to see my second exam? (I know F,G,H,I,J will see both exams' score)

Thanks

Hi pnw5851 -- good questions.

Taking the test twice is never a problem.

Taking the test three times is also fine (provided you don't take it three times in quick succession -- it's usually best to have some time between tests, as you already have -- taking it too quickly, one test on top of the other on top of the next, can make the person look a little desperate or crazy or something -- it's rare that people can sufficiently prepare if they're rushing through it a bunch of times in a row).

Taking it more than three times is where it starts getting questionable.

Taking it two or three times? No problem.

On #2: If you retest, and don't have GMAC send schools A-E the new score, either at the time of the test or subsequently, then it's possible they would never get the new score. We say "it's possible" because we're pretty sure that the schools can actually look you up in the database, once the score has been sent to them once, and then they'd get the full report. And, if the school needed official scores sent again for any reason, then they'd obviously get the full report.

And the question that you didn't actually ask, but we think was lurking in their somewhere:

If you retest in December and somehow do WORSE than you did in March, it is unlikely to hurt you. Even if the schools get both scores, you will self-report the one you want them to consider (the highest score), and they will use that in their evaluation. And, believe it or not, many schools appreciate it when an applicant retests, even if they don't raise the score, because it shows that you're committed to this process and are taking it seriously.

We really cannot imagine a situation where retesting would hurt someone. Sure, if they did a 680 the first time, and a 550 the second time, the adcom would be curious what happened... but we don't think we've ever seen such a wild discrepancy (it would probably indicate that the test-taker was sick on the day of the 2nd test or something!).

Anyway... hope this helps!
EssaySnark