WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU’RE UNHAPPY WITH YOUR GMAT SCORE

After finishing your GMAT exam, you’ll immediately receive your score. When you’re not happy with your GMAT result, you have quite some options to do something about the situation. In this blog we’ll tell you all about what to do when you’re not happy about your GMAT score.

REASONS TO CANCEL YOUR GMAT SCORE

There are a couple of supposable reasons to cancel your GMAT score. The most common one is that you didn’t score anywhere near the GMAT score you need for admission to the program of your choice. Luckily, cancelled GMAT scores are not shown on your Official Score Report, in contrary to not-cancelled previous GMAT scores that in fact are shown on this report. It’s perfectly imaginable that you’d like your previous low GMAT scores away from the public eye, as low previous scores might be badly interpreted by admission councils for example.

HOW TO CANCEL YOUR GMAT SCORE

There are a few options on how to cancel your GMAT score. First of all, you can cancel your score immediately after you receive it, at the GMAT test centre. Cancelling your score here is free. If you are in doubt whether you should cancel your score, you’d better make up your mind quickly. If you want to cancel your score later than immediately after the exam, you have to do so within 72-hours after the moment you started the GMAT exam. You should know that this way of cancelling your GMAT score would cost you an additional $25.

RETAKING THE GMAT EXAM 

When you’re not happy with your GMAT result, retaking the GMAT exam is certainly an option. However, there are some things you should know about retaking the GMAT. You can only retake the GMAT once every sixteen days. So, if you have a tight admission deadline, be sure to take the time for a possible retake in account when preparing for the GMAT. Retaking the GMAT exam endlessly will probably not increase your GMAT score very much and neither is this possible. You can take the GMAT exam only eight times in total, with a maximum of five times per year. So if you need to retake the GMAT, be sure to make every attempt count.

REINSTATING YOUR GMAT SCORE

In some cases you may regret cancelling your GMAT score. Luckily, reinstating your GMAT score is possible and not too difficult. Please note that only GMAT scores from January 1st 2014 are possible to reinstate, as this option has been made available from this date on. Also it is not possible to reinstate GMAT scores older than four years and eleven months from the date you took the GMAT exam. You can reinstate your GMAT score by logging in to your account on the MBA website, this will cost you a $50 reinstating fee. You can also do this by phone, by calling the customer service in your region, this will cost you an extra $10 on top of the regular reinstating fee.

PREPARING FOR A GMAT RETAKE

If you didn’t reach the GMAT score you wanted and are preparing for a GMAT retake, there are probably some things you need to change in the way you prepare for the exam. It is essential to know how to approach the different question types. This way you take less time in understanding each question and answering it correctly. Further,  you will need to use score optimization strategies to boost your score. The GMAT preparation courses we offer cover both. So if you want to be sure you ace your GMAT retake, have a look at our preparation courses or discuss the options with our advisors.