Here’s why you should take the GMAT twice.
Over the past five or so years, I have seen more and more students take the GMAT twice.
Now that students can cancel a score and never have it appear on record, I’ve come to the recommendation that everyone should plan to take the GMAT twice.
Taking the GMAT is seriously stressful.
Most people become at least a little nervous when taking any standardized test. A computer adaptive test is even more stressful because, no matter how much you study, the test just keeps getting harder as you learn more.
I’ve had many students take the test twice, and every single one has told me that they felt more comfortable the second time. They knew what to expect at the testing center, the security procedures didn’t stress them out, and they were even better able to handle the small distractions of the testing room—another student typing, a proctor entering the room, and so on.
For those who know that they get extra nervous when taking standardized tests, having a “dry run” first test is a great way to help keep a handle on your nerves when you take the test “for real,” the second time.
There’s no downside: MBA programs use your highest score.
Most people have heard that business schools use your highest score, but many people don’t trust that the schools really don’t care about lower scores on your record. In fact, some schools don’t even look at your full set of scores until they’ve decided what to do with your application (and this used to be true for all schools). Let me take you through that process. (Note: this applies to MBA programs. If you are going for a Ph.D., the process may be different and the doctoral program may care about all of your scores.)
Let’s use an example to illustrate what’s going on. Last year, Stanford’s Graduate School of Business* received approximately 8,000 applications spread over 3 rounds of admission. The school admitted just over 400 people, or about 5% of applicants (yikes!).
Now, picture the offices of the admissions people. They have mounds of information to get through: essays, recommendations, resumes. They know they’ll admit only about 5% of the people who’ve applied. Do you think they’re going to check the official GMAT score reports of all 8,000 people?
No way! Instead, they evaluate the applications assuming that you told them the truth when you reported a certain GMAT score. Once they’ve generally decided who they want to admit (or put on the wait list), then they’ll verify the scores just for those students.
In the past few years, some schools have built in the ability to link your account to your test results after you enter certain pieces of identifying info into your application. If so, then you’ll see your verified test date(s) pop up in your official application at this point. (*Note: I don’t know how Stanford does things; I chose them for the example above because they have an exceptionally low yield, so they make for an especially good example.)
If they don’t have access to your full score set at the beginning, then they’ve already decided your fate by the time they look up your scores. If they want you, they’re not suddenly going to reject you because you had another GMAT score that was lower. After all, you did earn that higher GMAT score on which they based their decision! (Assuming you did. This should be obvious but here goes: don’t lie about your GMAT score on your application.) And even if they do have access to your full score set at the beginning, they’re used to making this decision based on your highest score. That’s how they’ve always done it. If you can get that top score once, then you are capable of getting that score period, and that’s what they care about.
There’s no downside, part 2: you can cancel your scores
Any canceled test administrations don’t show up on your record at all. The schools literally won’t even know that you took the test that day.
So if you go in and really dislike your score, just select the button to cancel at the end. Then you don’t need to worry about whether some b-school might penalize you for a lower score even if you later earn a higher score. (Though, again, you really don’t need to worry about this!)
Know before you go in what kind of score you’d want to keep vs. cancel. In the 4 months since this new cancellation policy started, I’ve talked to two students who’ve canceled when the screen flashed a 690 and they wanted a 700+. Seriously! They were only 10 points off and they canceled their scores!! Don’t fall prey to a knee-jerk reaction just because the score you wanted isn’t on the screen. (You can reinstate your scores within 2 months of a cancellation…if you pay a $100 fee.)
I generally tell my students that if they score more than 100 points below their (reasonable) goal, then they should feel free to click the cancel button if it makes them feel more comfortable.
Note my “reasonable” caveat. If you want a 730, and your practice tests topped out at 580, and then you score a 620 on the real test, please do not cancel that score. You just had your best test ever and you want to keep that score, just in case.
But the GMAT costs $250…that’s a downside!
I agree that $250 is a lot of money. If you think about how much money you spent the last time you went to dinner, then $250 is definitely expensive.
But put this figure into perspective. If you’re going for a full-time program at a private school, you’re looking at a $200,000 price tag! If you attend a public school via a part-time, evening-and-week-end program, business school is still going to cost you tens of thousands of dollars. The cost of one GMAT, $250, is far less than 1% of the cost of b-school. Don’t try to save $250 now when a proper investment might get you into a higher-caliber program down the line.
So build two tests into your study timeline. If you end up loving your first score, then you can take that second $250 and go out for a really, really nice dinner. 
[Edited] Note: this article was edited after first publication. Initially, I said that many / most schools don’t check scores until after making the decision. It then came to my attention that more schools had added the functionality described in the article than I had thought, so I edited the article to say that some schools don’t check until after and some schools attach the data to the application from the start.
Stacey Koprince is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Montreal, Canada and Los Angeles, California. Stacey has been teaching the GMAT, GRE, and LSAT for more than 15 years and is one of the most well-known instructors in the industry. Stacey loves to teach and is absolutely fascinated by standardized tests. Check out Stacey’s upcoming GMAT courses here