The results of the GMAT test are often considered to be a kind of tangible proof of your knowledge and skills. That’s why many business school admission candidates often think that the GMAT is the most important thing you do when you prepare for entering the university
A good GMAT result, combined with a high GPA, shows the admissions committee that you are worthy of entering their business school and won’t have any problems with the subjects taught there.
However, if your GMAT and GPA results are lower than expected, which can decide your fate and prevent you from entering b-school this year. What can you do if your GMAT score is too poor and you’ve never had any luck with tests anyway? When should you retry to take the test and how should you do it?
Of course, for bad test-takers there are tutors, courses and online materials. Perhaps with the help of an experienced teacher you’ll discover that the problem was not your inability to take a test, but something completely different. Also, there is another variant if your problems are strictly with the GMAT: you can take the GRE test, if your target business school accepts GRE results along with the GMAT.
If GRE is not an option, there is one more thing to do: many business school applications have a special field for people who have poor GMAT scores but nevertheless want to persuade the admissions committee that they are perfectly able to cope with the school curriculum. This field is called “Optional Essay” or “Additional Information”, and here you may point out your working experience or academic achievements that weren’t reflected by your tests.
Sometimes, while having a good GPA and having experienced no problems whatsoever with tests throughout your life, you may still pass the GMAT poorly. The reasons for it may be lack of preparation, no sleep before taking the GMAT, illness, or just a highly nervous condition. In this case, you have no choice but to retake the test. Your results may get much better with a second try, especially if you know that the problem was not with your skills or knowledge, and if you take the test seriously, hiring a tutor or giving more time to preparation.
After all, every change we get in our lives gives us experience – which can also be said about the experience of retaking the GMAT.
Back to top