![\"Manhattan](\"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2017\/07\/keep-cancel-your-gmat-scores-stacey-koprince.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We\u2019re not kidding!\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Check out our upcoming courses here<\/i><\/b><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n The GMAT offers various kinds of flexibility around your decision to keep or cancel your GMAT scores\u2014but also some restrictions. It\u2019s important to understand your options so that you make the best decision for you!<\/span><\/p>\n At the end of the test, you will be shown your scores (for everything except the essay) and you will then be asked whether you want to keep or cancel your GMAT scores. If you keep your scores, they\u2019ll go on your official record. If you cancel them, they won\u2019t; the school won\u2019t see those scores, nor will the schools even know that you took the test that day.<\/span><\/p>\n Right at that moment, you\u2019ll have 2 minutes to decide whether to keep or cancel your GMAT scores. Later, you can change your mind\u2014but you\u2019ll have to pay a fee to change the status of your scores. So let\u2019s first talk about how to make the best decision during that first 2 minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n In short, you need to have an idea of what you\u2019d want to do before you even walk in the testing room.<\/span><\/p>\n First, what kind of program do you want? MBA programs generally care only about your highest score. Other kinds of programs, such as Ph.D. programs, may look at all of your scores. So it\u2019s important to find out how <\/span>your<\/span><\/i> schools are going to use the data.<\/span><\/p>\n If you are applying to an MBA program, you can assume that they don\u2019t care if you take the test multiple times. They\u2019re just going to use your best score and that\u2019s that. If you are applying to a Ph.D. program or another type of Master\u2019s program, ask the schools directly whether they care about multiple tests and, if so, how they use the multiple data points.<\/span><\/p>\n (By the way, for any school communication, I highly recommend attending one or more of the various MBA tours that travel around the country, giving you an opportunity to meet representatives from different schools. There are a <\/span>bunch<\/span><\/a> of <\/span>different<\/span><\/a> ones, some of which are tied to specific groups of people, such as <\/span>women<\/span><\/a> or other <\/span>underrepresented<\/span><\/a> groups. Ask your questions directly, make some connections, and get the ball rolling!)<\/span><\/p>\n Based on where you want to apply and how those schools use GMAT scores, you\u2019ll come up with a goal score for yourself. Broadly speaking, you can classify the programs into one of three categories:<\/span><\/p>\n \u2014Safety. I\u2019m almost certain to be accepted to this school.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2014Regular. I\u2019ve got a good chance to get in, but it\u2019s not a certainty.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2014Reach. This school is a stretch, but hey, if I don\u2019t even apply, I definitely won\u2019t make it, right? So I\u2019ll give it a shot.<\/span><\/p>\n Your GMAT goal should be above the average for your safety schools and at least at the average for your regular schools. You may not be above average for the reach schools, but you\u2019d still ideally be within that school\u2019s general range.<\/span><\/p>\n For the purposes of this discussion, let\u2019s say that your goal score is a 650.<\/span><\/p>\n Your ideal goal is 650, but let\u2019s say that (based on your research) your minimum score is really a 620. You\u2019d still feel comfortable applying to your schools with that score.<\/span><\/p>\n So, first, if you do hit a 620 or higher, you are not even going to think about canceling. You\u2019re good to go!<\/span><\/p>\n What if you score a 610? Close enough. Keep it.<\/span><\/p>\n 600?<\/span><\/p>\n 580?<\/span><\/p>\n 560\u2026?<\/span><\/p>\n See where I\u2019m going with this? <\/span>\u263a<\/span> At some point, the decision will switch to, \u201cNope, I\u2019m going to cancel this one.\u201d Where is that point?<\/span><\/p>\n Your ideal goal is 650. Your minimum is 620. But what if you just can\u2019t score above 590? You don\u2019t want to take the test and score 590 and cancel, and then sign up again and get another 590 and cancel again, and then take it a third time and get a 550 because you\u2019re so stressed out\u2026and now you\u2019ve taken the test three times and you have no score on your record at all.<\/span><\/p>\n The above scenario is even more likely for those who have really high goals. If someone really wants a 730 and keeps canceling 690 scores\u2026that person might never make it to 730. <\/span><\/p>\n (You can reinstate your canceled scores at a later date\u2014but you\u2019re going to have to pay to do so. Let\u2019s minimize your expenditure here.)<\/span><\/p>\n Remember how I said that MBA programs don\u2019t really care if you take the test multiple times? For those programs, then, you don\u2019t actually have to cancel anything. They don\u2019t care. Just keep all your scores.<\/span><\/p>\n I know most students won\u2019t be totally comfortable with this. I\u2019m going to try to change your mind, though.<\/span><\/p>\n Anecdotally, we have heard that MBA programs, if anything, consider it a <\/span>positive<\/span><\/i> to see that you tried again. Let\u2019s say that a school\u2019s average is 650. You first score was a little under 650\u2014say, 620 to 640. That\u2019s probably good enough, but you decide to go for it again because you want to hit that average, if possible. This could play out in a couple of ways:<\/span><\/p>\n \u2014You score 650+. Yay! You\u2019re at\/above the average for that school! Your hard work paid off.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2014You increase your score a little but not all the way to the average. You are closer now, and you\u2019ve signaled to the school that you were willing to try hard to succeed. They like to see that.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2014You drop below your initial score. You still keep the score to signal to the school that you were willing to keep trying. Yeah, it did drop, but so what; you still have your original (higher) score locked in.<\/span><\/p>\n I would definitely keep the score in the first two scenarios. I also think it\u2019s worth it to keep the score in the third scenario, but I would understand if a student didn\u2019t feel comfortable doing so (particularly if you knew you would take the test a third time).<\/span><\/p>\n So all of the above leads me to this:<\/span><\/p>\n \u2014If you\u2019re applying for an MBA and you\u2019re okay with my recommendation just to keep everything, then keep your score no matter what.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2014If that idea makes you uneasy, then keep any score that\u2019s within 100 points of your minimum goal score. If you want a minimum score of 650, keep any score of 550 or higher. (If your ideal score is 650 but your minimum is 620, keep anything at 520 or higher.)<\/span><\/p>\n Caveat: if your goal score is crazy high (e.g., you want a 780), keep anything within 150 points of your goal. I know, I know, a 630 isn\u2019t anywhere near a 780. But less than 1% of the testing population hits a 780! That\u2019s super ambitious. Be really happy if you get there, but don\u2019t assume that anyone who just \u201cstudies enough\u201d will get there.<\/span><\/p>\n As of this writing, here are the details for canceling or reinstating a score after you leave the testing center. (Note that any details, especially pricing, could change in the future\u2014so check <\/span>mba.com<\/span><\/a> to make sure that nothing has changed.)<\/span><\/p>\n If you keep your scores in the testing center but later decide that you want to cancel them, you have <\/span>72 hours<\/span> to do so; after that, you cannot cancel your scores. You\u2019ll have to pay a $25 fee.<\/span><\/p>\n If you cancel in the testing center but later decide that you want to reinstate your scores, you can do so as long as the scores are still valid (they expire after 5 years). This will cost you $50.<\/span><\/p>\n It costs less to cancel after the fact, but you have a time limit of 72 hours. If you\u2019re just not sure what to do in the testing center, I would recommend keeping the scores, then using the next day or two to think about what to do (and ask others that you trust for their opinion). Then, if you do decide to cancel, you\u2019ll only have to pay $25 to do so.<\/span><\/p>\n This last bit won\u2019t apply to 99.9% of people taking the test, but just in case this happens to you, read on.<\/span><\/p>\n If you become ill or otherwise feel that you cannot finish while you are at the testing center, then a weird thing happens if you leave the test before getting to that \u201ckeep or cancel\u201d screen at the very end. You won\u2019t have any reported scores (since you didn\u2019t finish) but the fact that you showed up to take the test that day will still show up on your official score report. It\u2019s sort of an in-between case with an odd outcome.<\/span><\/p>\n So, if this happens to you, here\u2019s what I recommend you do. If you have to leave the testing room (maybe you feel queasy and have to go to the bathroom), do so. Just let the test keep running. If you decide, when you get back, that you can\u2019t keep going, then click through all of the remaining questions randomly to get yourself to the end of the test. On the Keep or Cancel screen, cancel your scores.<\/span><\/p>\n Know what your goal scores (ideal and minimum) are. <\/span><\/p>\n Know what you want to do before you get into the testing room. (For example, tell yourself, \u201cIf I score 530 or higher, I\u2019m keeping my score. If I score 520 or lower, I\u2019m canceling.\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n If you just can\u2019t decide at the end, keep the scores. Know that you\u2019ll have 72 hours to change your mind and cancel instead. Get out of the testing room, clear your mind, decide what to do, and move ahead.\u00a0?<\/span><\/p>\n Can\u2019t get enough of Stacey\u2019s GMAT mastery? Attend the first session of one of\u00a0her upcoming GMAT courses<\/a>\u00a0absolutely free, no strings attached. Seriously.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We\u2019re not kidding!\u00a0Check out our upcoming courses here. The GMAT offers various kinds of flexibility around your decision to keep or cancel your GMAT scores\u2014but also some restrictions. It\u2019s important to understand your options […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[928,873,880,929,52871,9],"tags":[53125],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-14342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-mindset","category-for-current-studiers","category-gmat-101","category-gmat-prep","category-gmat-strategies","category-taking-the-gmat","tag-to-keep-or-cancel-your-gmat-scores"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14342"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14563,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14342\/revisions\/14563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14342"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=14342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nHow does it work?<\/b><\/h4>\n
What do <\/b>your<\/i><\/b> schools want to see?<\/b><\/h4>\n
What is your goal score?<\/b><\/h4>\n
What is your minimum acceptable score?<\/b><\/h4>\n
Consider the Worst Possible Scenario<\/b><\/h4>\n
Know (More) about What the Schools Want<\/b><\/h4>\n
Final Advice: To Keep or Cancel Your GMAT Scores?<\/b><\/h4>\n
I Canceled but Now I\u2019m Thinking I Should Reinstate the Score\u2026 (or Vice Versa)<\/b><\/h4>\n
One Unusual Circumstance in Which You Actually Should Cancel<\/b><\/h4>\n
In Sum<\/b><\/h4>\n
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\n![\"stacey-koprince\"](\"https:\/\/cdn2.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2015\/06\/stacey-koprince-150x150.png\")
<\/a>Stacey Koprince<\/a>\u00a0is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Montreal, Canada and Los Angeles, California.<\/strong>\u00a0Stacey has been teaching the GMAT, GRE, and LSAT \u00a0for 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.\u00a0Check out Stacey\u2019s upcoming GMAT courses here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"