Is it advisable to take the GMAT just to check your scores before applying to any school?

Question

Let’s say: After preparing for the GMAT, you decide to take the actual test to see where you stand. You haven’t selected any particular business school, so you will be the only one getting the results.

Imagine two possible scenarios:

a.You get a great score. If a couple of years later you want to apply to a particular business school, could you use those same scores? How? Is it advisable?

b.You get a low score. You retake the test a couple of years later and get a better score. So, if then, you want to apply to a particular business school, which scores will the admission committee be able to see? Both or just the upgraded one?

Answer 1

The company responsible for the GMAT sends your score report as the report of your performance on any GMAT test you've taken in the last five years. To quote the website: "Score reports include all your GMAT® scores from tests taken in the last five (5) years." So your scores will still be valid 2 years from now. However, if you take the test more than once, your schools will receive all of your scores up to the time when you requested the score report, whether or not you list them as score recipients during the test. On the other hand, most schools will probably consider your highest score as the best example of what you can do at your best. Furthermore, you might take the test and choose the schools where you want to send it, and then (if you want to retake the test) don't send new score reports (to the better schools you were hoping to attend) unless you get a better score.
Finally, if you feel like you did a bad job, you can cancel your score (and it won't be on your score report) before you actually see the score. This way, you can avoid having a really bad score on your report. However, you can't cancel your score after you know what it is. So you have to be able to guess that you did badly in order for this to be useful. Furthermore, the fact that you cancelled your score will appear on your score report for the next 5 years (but the score itself won't appear).
I hope this helps you come up with a strategy that best suits your needs.

Answer 2

In the past, it was possible to have scores sent to additional colleges. However, you will probably have to explain why you took the test a couple of years ago and didn't go ("wasn't accepted" is a bad answer, "didn't have money" is a better one.)
The GMAT people and the booklet (and online?) should be able to answer this, but I think it is that they see both.
My recommendation would be that you take practice tests to get a seasoning for the test, but don't take the test ahead of time. If you do good on tests (have taken lots of them of different kinds) you will see the kinds of problems presented to you. Taking the test and getting a score will not tell you the kinds of things you do badly on ("needs more work") which you will learn from practice tests.
If you do poorly on the GMAT when you have applied to schools, then you are going to have to cope with whether you go on with your applications or drop out or shift to schools that offer less challenge and perhaps have less competition.

Answer 3

The most recent score is the one that would be reported. It would be advisable to take the exam and see how you do. Most schools tell you what score is acceptable for admission to the university and the program and they will accept scores that are only 2 years old. Ask your guidance councellor at school for advise.