Not reporting score vs. lower previous score

[pritna]

Hi, I was recently reading up a couple of posts related to this and wanted to clarify:

I have taken the GMAT for a 2nd time and have a decent score now.

What I want to know is that will it make any difference that I have a previous lower score.
Meaning: would it have been better if I had not reported my previous score?

This is totally an academic question. When I was reporting my first score, I thought I would be scoring higher, so there was no way that I could have made an informed decision...

My doubt arises from the fact that everyone says that schools will always consider your best score.. if that is the case, why would one ever NOT want to report a score????

[necromancer_678]

Congrats!!

it isn't the case with all the schools...so it is good to apply.

how did you manage to make this jump...what was the difference in your prep b/w the 1st and 2nd attempt?

[VP_Jim]

It doesn't make a difference that you reported your first score after your first attempt, since all of your GMAT scores from the past five years are included on your score report. So, schools would see the first attempt anyway, once you reported your second attempt. It's definitely normal and not a bad thing to have a lower previous score, so don't worry about it.

[pritna]

let me try rephrasing the question:

Why does the GMAT have an option of cancelling the result at the end of the exam(before they show you the score)?

Cancelling would mean, the person would have to take the exam again later , and the scorecard generated subsequently would mention the fact the a previous exam was cancelled.

How is this any different from having a previous lower score. Ad-com in any case always takes the highest score.

This is not so much about my own score, etc.. I just want to understand why someone would ever cancel their result at the end of the test. What could be a good reason for doing it?

[VP_Jim]

That IS a good question! I always tell my students: no matter how badly you think you did, do not cancel your score! The only good reason to cancel your score is if something truly awful happened during your exam - e.g., you got sick and had to run to the bathroom for 20 minutes during the verbal section, or you fell asleep because you had been up all night the night before your exam taking your wife to the hospital. (note: those are not autobiographical examples.)

Schools do see that you cancelled your score. Doing so once wouldn't be a big deal, but you definitely don't want to do it more than once.

Also, remember Jim's Immutable First Law of the GMAT - you will feel like you did terribly, even if you scored an 800. That's the point of an adaptive test.

[pritna]

Thanks Jim.
That was exactly the answer I was looking for..

Im also confused about how this post moved to this thing called the Lounge..

My doubt has been cleared, but I think that this is one aspect of the GMAT that not too many people understand...

[aim-wsc]

yeah, Jim rocks!

Do you have dedicated thread for "Jim's GMAT laws"? if not I think you should create one

[VP_Jim]

I make them up as I go along, but now that you mention it, maybe I should write them up and post them. I think I'll get on that when I have some free time.