Took the GMAT, When Should I Apply?

This depends on a lot of things related to your profile. What is your work experience like? Your GPA? Volunteer work? What can you materially change with an additional year?

To address your concerns, your percentiles will not change, they are set in stone...

Jim@StratusPrep wrote:

To address your concerns, your percentiles will not change, they are set in stone...

Not true. The 710 is set in stone, but the 92% part is relative to the most recent 3-year pool of test takers. I took the test in May of 2011 and retook it in late June. On my 2nd score report, my overall percentile had changed for my first test leading me to believe that June is the end of a testing year.

Nonetheless, I don't think a percentile shifting should be a factor of deciding when to apply.

Bschool2013 wrote:

Jim@StratusPrep wrote:

To address your concerns, your percentiles will not change, they are set in stone...

Not true. The 710 is set in stone, but the 92% part is relative to the most recent 3-year pool of test takers. I took the test in May of 2011 and retook it in late June. On my 2nd score report, my overall percentile had changed for my first test leading me to believe that June is the end of a testing year.

Nonetheless, I don't think a percentile shifting should be a factor of deciding when to apply.

your overall percentile is not function of test date neither it's a function of the end of a testing year. The percentile rank doesn't have any linear dependence and its assignment is based purely on GMAC algorithm for the entire pool of test-takers with valid exam scores, i.e. test takers who have taken their GMAT exams within 5 recent years. That your two official score reports contain different percentile ranks for the same exam is really strange and must be questioned from the GMAC/PVue admin. Either you appeal to wrong data or your score reports contain erroneous information. The percentile ranks are meant to be stoned too.

Straight from GMAC:

https://www.mba.com/the-gmat/gmat-scores ... means.aspx

"The percentile rank of your score shows you the percentage of test takers who scored lower than you for the most recent three-year period. Every year, each test taker’s score is updated with the most recent year’s percentiles."

So, the percentile rank is indeed updated. thanx for sharing this info

I was pretty sure that percentiles changed each year based on a 3 year average.

As far as my background goes, I'm relatively young to be applying. I'm 23 and just finishing my first year of full-time work experience as a consultant/analyst for a government contractor. I am a member of two professional organizations, and currently sit on a board for my county's government. Ultimately, the only thing I will be able to say changed in the next year is the amount of work experience and perhaps the addition of a few more professional certifications. I suppose schools are more concerned with the score itself rather than percentiles, but I was wondering if the percentiles tend to change significantly from year to year.

The percentages don't change that much, but maybe you should wait to apply to gain more work experience and take on some leadership roles both at work and in extracurricular activities.

Don't apply now thinking it's a "free shot". If you get dinged by a school you really want to go to, you'll be a re-applicant in the future and have to show how you've strengthened your profile since you last applied as opposed to starting with a clean slate.

Congrats on the good score. Take advantage of the fact that it's good for 5 years.

In my opinion, your score is high enough that a possible slight drop in percentile will not harm you, especially if the rest of your application is solid. I doubt your percentile will drop significantly if at all. Don't worry too much about it. The GMAT is just a portion of your application. Use the year to strengthen the remaining portion of your app and you should be fine.

Thank you all for the sound advice. I have pretty much made the decision to wait to apply, especially considering the advice about making a case for what has changed since my last application (Thank you Bschool2013). It's a bit harder considering some schools have tempted me to apply now, in a rush, but I know that will severely jeopardize my chances of having a sound application.

I was also wondering whether work experience is calculated from when you apply or the start date of the program. If I should apply next year, I would have 26 months of full-time work experience as of August 2013; that would obviously change if I were applying in the Fall of next year and the number is calculated from the time of application.

Also, I read somewhere about the MBA predictor. I used it and it offered somewhat discouraging results, even with three years of experience. I don't know how much stake to put in that though.