Do schools know if you have taken the GMAT more than once and do they care?
Do schools know if you have taken the GMAT more than once and do they care? Is it common for people to retake the GMAT?
Most top MBA programs ask how many times you have taken the exam. They want to understand how you approached the test. If you were to get a 720 the first try and are applying to M7 schools, they might wonder why you didn't try again if your score is below their averages.
I've worked with clients who have taken the test 5+ times. Adcom wants to see improvement over time. So if you start at a 620 then get 670 then 720 they are probably more impressed than by the candidate who took the test once, got a 720 then stopped.
I would have thought that taking it more than once would be a bad thing as they want people who have the capacity to do perform well and are a natural at the things tested by the GMAT. So for example if someone needed 2 goes to get a 730 but someone else only needed 1 to to get 710 then the person who got a 710 would be in a better position.
Why would it be viewed any differently than ACT/SAT? And what's the incentive for prospectives to behave differently?
One difference is that MBA programs don't super score. They just take your highest overall score.
Best to take it at least twice. Most people do better the second time.
I took it 3 times. 680 > 710 > 730. And I almost didn't take it again that third time (had already been studying for a year) but now I am glad I did.
If you cancel the score they won't see on the GMAT score report that you took it. If a school asks how many times you took it, you should answer truthfully.
It is very common for applicants to retake the exam if they aren't satisfied with their score. There is no penalty for taking it more than once although when you get to more than 3 times adcom tend to wonder what's going on.
I've interviewed many admissions directors both through Accepted's old online chats and more recently as host of the https://blog.accepted.com/listen-mba/</a">Admissions Straight Talk podcast . They almost all encouraged applicants not to cancel scores so that they could see improvement and persistence. When I asked the former admissions directors on Accepted's staff, they all recommended that applicants show persistence in other ways, and if possible not show a steady increase in GMAT scores, just show the best one.
If you're not sure whether to retake the GMAT or not, please see:
Best, Linda
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