My test got flagged for administrative review

Question

Hello All,

I did my GMAT Focus exam at a London test centre and I got flagged for administrative review...

I did have a poor score so I’m not sure if that played a role but I’m wondering what else it could be - I did take the optional break at end of my second section.

I was hoping to book another exam for next month but would anyone know if I could book it before the review is concluded?

Many thanks,
Suad

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Consider reaching out to GMAC customer support. All the best on your next attempt.

bb · Answer

Hi. You can absolutely book it. There is no limitation that I know of.

PS. Weird. This is test center review. This is unusual. Maybe they suspected you touching a phone 🤦‍♂️ or paper. The rules are silly.

SuadS · Answer

Thanks  bb  for the reply - I will definitely inform you what happens next. Hopefully it’s just a routine / security check.

Also, what would be best to do if your second exam results were worse than the first exam? I am hoping to apply for the January round so I’m quite nervous that I have 2 months to turn it around?

Thank you again and I look forward to responses!

jlh96 · Answer

SuadS 
 bb

I took my exam at a test center today (US)...it was also flagged for review, within 30 minutes.

bb · Answer

Oh. Crazy! 
This is a new trend! That’s kind of unusual... 
I think it would be good if they cleaned up and improved some of their test policies I had title control over the test centers but this is really unusual. What exactly needs a review?

bb · Answer

Honestly, I would probably recommend not scheduling your exam until you feel a little bit more confident about your improvement though I understand if the timeline is dictated by the deadlines.

The second test score is lower than the first one, it doesn’t really matter as long as the first one is acceptable. If it’s not acceptable then you’ll have to take the third time. I’m not sure if your question was about visibility? The second attempt will not be visible when you submit your score, you just have to pay for your school reports to send the first one in case you’re happy enough with it.

SuadS · Answer

Same here, got it as soon as I left the premise. Hope the review goes well for you  jlh96 !

harveyahm · Answer

This is very interesting. I also took my exam today at some test centre (Asia) and I received the same email that my score has been flagged about within an hour after the exam ended.

Best of luck  SuadS   jlh96  to us!

SuadS · Answer

I really wonder what’s going on 🤔🤔 I hope the very best for us all!  harveyahm

GMATNinja · Answer

SuadS , harveyahm , jlh96 -- I don't know if this helps at all, but GMAC's test security personnel have told me repeatedly that it doesn't necessarily mean much when a test is "under review". Yes, it's possible that you accidentally broke a rule, but sometimes the review process is just a random audit, or a check on something going on the background at the test center. The majority of the time, nothing happens. Your test will go under review -- regardless of whether you took it at the test center or online -- and then they'll eventually say "all good", and you can move on with your life. Obviously, it's possible that you accidentally committed a violation of some sort, but most of the time, the review process is harmless. For more on this, check out this video on ways to get your score cancelled, particularly the part about the review process at the 4:07 mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m3_JY4Me7k Keep us posted, please? I can repeat GMAC's statements about the "harmlessness" of these reviews, but they're still stressful. And I'll feel a little bit better once you're all cleared.

bb · Answer

Thank you so much GMATNinja - I just have not seen almost any test-center-based attempts flagged. This has been very rare in the past and I am seeing an influx of these.

architectodicta · Answer

I also took the gmat yesterday and got flagged haha.

Believe iit's some kind of test they're doing since there are so many of us in this situation.

Good luck!

aliasinventore · Answer

Hi all, I also took a test at a test center in Asia and got flagged for some reason. Hmm... hope they are randomly reviewing some test takers as part of their periodic checks.
 I felt terrible when I received an email regarding an administrative review, as I got exactly the same score as I had previously. Nothing improved over the months but got flagged haha

bb · Answer

GMATNinja  - this seems like definitely a new policy and a new approach to test center based reviews.

Did they catch a bunch of people cheating? 😬

This is definitely not business as usual from the past years.

debitisvel · Answer

I just got flagged for review as well.. took the test at test centre in Canada and received the email 2 hours of finishing the test.

bb · Answer

Definitely appears to be a systemwide update.

So far it seems nobody ran into any negative issues with it but definitely a new development which seems to be more routine which is good

Apoorv0194 · Answer

Gave test on 31st Oct, Flagged on 1st Nov. Gave exam in Asia - Test Center setting. Waiting on an update.

AS995 · Answer

Hello All,

Same here. I just did my exam today in the test center. Did relatively well, but got flagged for review in less than 2 hours of the exam.

Not sure what went wrong but I am feeling anxious now. Curious about everyone elses updates on the adminstrative review results

ButterPepper · Answer

Has anyone who posted a flagged experience had their situation settled? I just want to estimate how long I will need to live with this worries.
I took the exam today (Nov 4) at a center in the US, and I received the email within one hour after I left.

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My test got flagged for administrative review

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