Should I Retake the GMAT?

A GMAT retake is worth considering only if both of the following are true: your score is genuinely holding your application back, and you have a clear, fixable reason it came in lower than it should have. If you can’t identify what went wrong, or your score already meets or exceeds the typical range for your target schools, another attempt usually isn’t the answer. 

For the logistics of retaking the exam, see: How Many Times Can You Take the GMAT?

First, do you actually need to retake?

Before you book another exam, figure out whether your GMAT score is really the problem. Look up the median GMAT score at each of your target schools and compare it with yours.

An admissions officer spends only about a minute looking at your score before moving on to the rest of your application, and an extra 20 or 30 points rarely moves you into a completely different tier of consideration. If your score is already near or above your target schools’ medians or if the rest of your application is particularly strong you may not need to retake the GMAT at all. 

And if your score genuinely is on the low side, a clear, honest explanation of why, along with a plan for how you’ll succeed academically despite it, can do more for your application than a few extra GMAT points. Our guide on How to Overcome a Low GMAT Score walks through that approach, and How Low GMAT Scores Might Help Your MBA Application explains why a lower score isn’t always the dealbreaker it feels like. 

If you do retake, change something first

Here’s the uncomfortable truth from GMAC’s own data: the average retaker improves by only about 30 points, roughly a quarter of retakers actually score lower the second time, and high scorers tend to see little improvement at all.

We dig into the numbers in GMAC Says You Probably Won’t Improve Your GMAT Score.

The takeaway is simple: taking the same exam again with the same preparation rarely changes your score. A retake only makes sense if you’re going to do something differently between now and test day. 

Diagnose what actually went wrong

Figure out why your score came in low before you book another exam. Your official score report includes detailed performance data that can reveal whether your timing was erratic or whether you struggled in a particular section.

Pair that with an honest assessment of the usual culprits: pacing, careless errors, test-day nerves, fatigue, or a gap between your practice scores and your actual score. 7 Reasons Your Practice Scores Don’t Match Your Real GMAT Score explores that last issue in depth, and if your score has plateaued across multiple attempts, GMAT Score Not Improving? How to Break a Plateau is the best place to start.

Be honest about how much you can improve

Your true ability is usually closer to your average practice score than to your single best performance, so don’t anchor on the one great practice test you took on a particularly good day. Scores also fluctuate by about 30 points from one sitting to the next simply due to normal variation, which we explain in The Story of a Lucky GMAT Test Score.

If you’re within about 30 points of your target and you’ve addressed the underlying performance issue, a retake has a reasonable chance of catching a better day. If you need a 100-point jump instead, be prepared for a much longer road and think carefully about whether the investment is worth it. 

When a retake probably isn’t the move

Skip the retake if…

• Your score already meets or exceeds the typical range for your target schools. 
• You can’t identify a clear, fixable reason your score came in lower than expected. 
• The time you’d spend studying would be better invested in strengthening your application essays, where admissions decisions are often won or lost. For more on that, see: Optimize Your Applications, Not Your Test Score.

If your goal score genuinely feels out of reach on the GMAT, it may be worth considering the GRE or Executive Assessment instead of piling up additional GMAT attempts. For a comparison of the exams, see  GRE vs. GMAT: Test Content and Structure.