Veritas Prep Representative
Joined: 26 Jul 2010
Posts: 416
Given Kudos: 63
Re: When to take GMAT?
[#permalink]
22 Nov 2010, 13:40
Hey IBDawg,
I'll second subhabrata's advice - even though schools will mostly want to see some work experience from you, they can't fault you for having had the presence of mind to take the GMAT early knowing that it's good for 5 years. If anything, I'd see it as a little bit of a positive - you were thinking ahead, knowing that you'd likely be quite busy with work and wanting to keep your options open down the road - but either way I can't fathom a school downplaying your high GMAT score 4 years from now, saying to themselves "he planned too far in advance, we were hoping he'd be more spontaneous with his decision". Your score is valid for 5 years, and that's about it...they won't dig too deeply into the timeline to give it higher or lower value than the number itself.
Now, on the plus side, if you take the GMAT while you're used to studying and using many of those core skills you'll probably have a much easier time posting a high score than you might after a few years in the workplace with less free time and more specialized professional tasks that might diverge from GMAT and study skills. I took the GMAT within a few months of graduation from college, and feel that the timing was instrumental in my success - I was used to taking tests for multiple hours, making decisions using logic and numbers, etc. So I'd highly recommend taking the test while you're young and in the habit!