when to take GMAT?

Welcome to GMAT Club!

1. The GMAT is changing in 2012 (will include one more section instead of one of the essays). This may be a reason to take it sooner than later (less hassle). At the same time you push it out to 2013, your report will stand out since it will be based on the old format. Some schools also prefer "fresh" gmat scores - meaning the ones from the past 2 years due to an increasing number of college graduates taking GMAT fresh out of college, working a few years and then going to business school. The test results end up being not very representative.
2. Your scores are sent to schools electronically. The old rule with paper used to be - send a new score report for each application yet. I think this still holds with electronic records but may vary by school.
3. I would suggest to send the score reports (it's free for 5 schools) and then in 2011-2012 follow up with them and see if they still have the records (they probably will). If they don't, you can pay the fee to re-send them