{"id":29827,"date":"2015-07-28T08:59:02","date_gmt":"2015-07-28T15:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/gmat-score-report-or-cancel\/"},"modified":"2015-07-28T08:59:02","modified_gmt":"2015-07-28T15:59:02","slug":"gmat-score-report-or-cancel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/gmat-score-report-or-cancel\/","title":{"rendered":"GMAT Score: Report or Cancel?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Conquer<\/a><\/p>\n

Do you take the red pill or the blue pill\u2014report or cancel your GMAT score?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

You\u2019ve almost survived Test Day\u2014but not before the GMAT asks you what may be the toughest question of all\u2026<\/p>\n

Report or cancel your GMAT score?<\/b><\/p>\n

Good news for those facing the dreaded GMAT reporting decision. As of June 27, 2015, the GMAT allows you to actually see your score<\/a> before consigning it to oblivion or taking the red pill and sending it to schools.<\/p>\n

Previously, the makers of the GMAT gave you the option to report or cancel your GMAT Score without showing your results. If you cancelled, you never saw your score. If you reported, you risked giving the admissions committee a lower score than you wanted. In such situations, most experts counseled that, unless you left a good number of questions blank or had taken ill during the test in a way that you know adversely impacted your performance, you should report.<\/p>\n

Now, your score will be a known quantity prior to deciding what to do. What was once a maddening dilemma is now a little more manageable. However, you\u2019ll still want to make the most informed decision. What\u2019s a GMAT test taker to do?<\/p>\n

Set a target score for Test Day<\/b><\/h4>\n

You\u2019re now operating with concrete data\u2014your score. To help make things easier on Test Day, you should have a good idea of how high you need to be scoring before ever walking into the Testing Center. This goal score should also shape your prep from the very first practice test you take right up to Test Day.<\/p>\n

Begin by researching competitive scores for your target MBA programs. You\u2019ll need to dig deeper than merely skimming MBA program web pages or reading US News & World Report<\/i>\u2019s business school rankings<\/a>. Talk to admissions counselors and professors at the schools. Then, consider the following:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Schools often advertise the average GMAT score of their currently enrolled students. Presumably, you want to beat that average to win merit-based scholarships and other advantages.<\/li>\n
  2. If your undergrad GPA is lower than what a school sees as competitive, or if you don\u2019t have intriguing work experience on your resume, the GMAT score you report will have to be correspondingly higher to offset those liabilities.<\/li>\n
  3. Find out whether your schools merely pay lip service to the essay and the integrated reasoning sections or value them as tie-breakers and key determiners of business student aptitude?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Safety, reach, just right<\/b><\/p>\n

    Once you know the goal score that will position you for admission to the MBA programs of your choice, you\u2019re ready to engage in thinking strategically about the GMAT score you\u2019ll report or cancel. You don\u2019t want to walk into the test with a line-in-the-sand threshold that will increase Test Day stress and hamper your performance.<\/p>\n

    Instead, approach your score cancellation threshold the same way you strategize your pursuit of business schools themselves\u2014using the Safety, Reach, and Just Right spectrum:<\/p>\n