Read more about how the new process works in “New GMAT Score Reporting Policy”. This change calls for new strategies that may affect the way in which prospective MBA and Master’s applicants select and shortlist business schools, plan when to take the GMAT and how many times to take it, as well as secure the budget for preparation, test taking and score reporting.
At the start of the test, test takers may select up to five institutions to which the score will be sent automatically and within the initial test fee. The previous article of this series lists several scenarios for the situation when the test taker does not list score recipients. The current article will list the scenarios when the test taker does select score recipients at the start of the GMAT.
Strategy 2: You list score recipients at the start of the test.
Although the test fee of 250 USD (plus taxes) covers official score reports to up to five institutions, it is the choice of the test taker whether to use this opportunity. Before the change of 27 June, once a test taker selected scores, they were reported even if at the end of the test the test taker was unhappy with his/her performance. Now, if you are unhappy with your preliminary score, you can cancel score reporting immediately after the test.
When recommended:
If you have selected the business schools and programmes to which you will apply, it is natural that you will want to list them as score recipients of your GMAT.
Scenario 2A
… And you are happy with your score
This is the perfect situation. You have nothing else to do except to celebrate and share the good news in an email to the admissions office of your selected schools. This will be just an official note on your side that you have taken the GMAT. It is perfectly OK to share the preliminary score in an email to the admission office. However, schools will wait to receive the official score report before they process the score.
Effect on Reporting:
GMAT will send official score reports to all institutions which you have listed at the start of your GMAT. It takes about three weeks to send the official score reports. Some schools get them on paper via snail mail, others get them electronically, depending on their subscription to GMAC services.
If you want to send scores to more than five institutions, you can order additional score reports for an additional fee of 28 USD plus taxes.
Scenario 2B
… And you are NOT happy with your score
Here the change of 27 June may apply. Once you see your score, you have two minutes to decide whether to cancel it or to report it. See previous article for a sample screenshot of the moment you will have to take the decision.
If you cancel your score, then it will not be reported to any institution and you will not receive an official test taker score report.
Effect on Reporting:
If you cancel your score you will most probably retake the test. If you are then satisfied with the score and you report is to the schools, they will also receive a notification that you have previously taken the GMAT and cancelled the score, but will not know the score.
Scenario 2C
… And you are NOT happy with your score, BUT you change your mind
If during the two minutes after the test you decide to cancel your score, you still have the chance to retrieve it. You can change your mind within 60 days of the test date and, for an additional fee of 100 USD, reinstate your score – that is to make it reportable again.
Effect on Reporting:
“If you choose to cancel your scores, you will not receive an unofficial copy of your score report nor will you receive your authentication code. However, if you choose to reinstate your cancelled scores, you will need to complete this request by phone and the phone agent can provide your authentication code upon request”, explain GMAC.
Once you reinstate your score it will automatically be sent to the score recipients who you initially listed at the start of the test. If you would like to send it to more schools, you can order additional score reports for an additional fee of 28 USD plus taxes.
And last, but not least, if you decide to retake the test and send the new score to business schools, this previous test score will also appear on the score report. So, if you improved your score on the second test, your progress will be visible. This may be a better step than cancelling your score, because it is not clear how schools will interpret cancelled scores.
Also if you tend to be too self-demanding you may happen to cancel a score which will actually be good enough for your application. The GMAT score is just one element of your application portfolio, and the admissions committee considers many other factors which come into play. Thus, the new change of the score reporting policy may be interpreted as testing continuing after the end of the test, checking your stamina and decision making skills under the pressure of final countdown during the two minutes before your score is automatically cancelled.
Comments