Score reports

[Number7]

Dear all,

I have one general question. As we all know, on the test date you are given the opportunity to fill in five schools the score reports shall be sent to.

Actually I have not started my application process yet as I wanted to see how well I do on the GMAT - and I asked myself: Are the reports sent to the schools at once although the schools do not even know my name or that I plan to apply? I think that might be a problem.

Or can I fill in in the school names and then - perhaps after some weeks - tell the GMAT-company: "Okay, I really started my application process at this particular school. Please send them my scores"?

How would you handle it if you had not started your application process because you wanted to see how well you do on the test (marginal note: this might influence my choice of schools, too).

[lunarpower]

ha, the featured topic on the front page of mba.com today is: 'how do i send my scores to schools?'
https://www.mba.com/mba/FAQ/HowdoIsendmyscores.htm

in any case, you have two options.
1) you can select schools on test day. note: you must do this BEFORE you take the test; you can't change your mind. even if you wind up cancelling your scores, i believe that information will still be transmitted to the schools.
yes, that's right: if you sit for the test and cancel your scores, the schools will know that. it probably won't be a factor in admissions, but you should know that you can't dump a ton of money to, say, sit for the test 5 times in a row, cancel every time, and try to get a bunch of experience before the "real" test.

2) you can select schools after you take the test.
even if you do this 10 minutes after the test, you still have to pay a fee (i think it's $28 per school).

it's totally binary; there's option 1 and there's option 2, and that's it.

also note that schools either get a score report, which features all gmat administrations you've taken in the last 5 years, or they don't. you can't cherry-pick which scores you want to send to the schools and which ones you don't.
if you sit for the gmat twice, then the schools you select the first time will still see both test results after you've taken the second test.
(this isn't really a problem, since schools just use your best scores anyway.)

[Number7]

Thank you for your input. But what I still do not understand: What happens if I select a certain school but I have not started the application process yet?

[lunarpower]

Thank you for your input. But what I still do not understand: What happens if I select a certain school but I have not started the application process yet?

if you select a school, then your scores will be sent to that school; it's immaterial whether you've started the application process, or, for that matter, whether you ever intend to start the application process. as in other application processes, there are several pieces that are sent to the school independently and collated only later; the test score is one of those pieces.

if your gmat scores are strong enough, then some schools may actually go out on a limb and contact you based on the scores alone, even if you haven't actually initiated an application.
it happens.