Sitting the GMAT 7 days before deadlines

[nacho93]

Hi all,

 

I will be applying to PhD in Finance programs (All US schools) this year, and wanted to clarify a point about application deadlines and score submission.

 

There are certain schools with a deadline on the 15th of December.

 

If I were to sit the GMAT on the 8th of December, is this acceptable?

The GMAC website says that it can take up to 20 calendar days to send scores through to universities, so does that mean my application may be rejected due to it being incomplete if the scores are not sent through?

 

Thanks,

 

Nacho

[XanthusARES]

Assuming you have your raw scores, I wouldn't be too concerned. Most schools will look at what you input and then check to see if you sent the official ones after they decide to give you an interview.

 

The bigger concern I have is that you may not have your writing section score back yet. I don't remember how it went 8 years ago, but I seem to recall it taking a few weeks to get the scores back. So while you'll know your quant and verbal scores immediately, you may not know your writing score until after applications are due.

 

I'm not really sure what to tell you about that at this point. I wouldn't worry about that, though. There isn't anything that can be done at this point, so just work on your applications and keep studying.

 

Good luck!

[nacho93]

I'm not really sure what to tell you about that at this point. I wouldn't worry about that, though. There isn't anything that can be done at this point, so just work on your applications and keep studying.

Good luck!

 

Hello, thanks for your reply.

Regarding the raw scores - I assume these are available immediately? I was under the assumption that Universities do not look at writing scores (this is the integrated reasoning essay?).

In any case, I could also do a sitting on the 1st of December, but I was just thinking that the more time I have to study for the GMAT, the better, so why not?

[YaSvoboden]

Hello, thanks for your reply.

Regarding the raw scores - I assume these are available immediately? I was under the assumption that Universities do not look at writing scores (this is the integrated reasoning essay?).

In any case, I could also do a sitting on the 1st of December, but I was just thinking that the more time I have to study for the GMAT, the better, so why not?

GMAC's site should tell you when to expect scores. I recall getting the integrated reasoning and Q and V scores right away with the essay taking a few weeks. I wouldn't say that they don't look at the essay score, but it isn't weighted as heavily. As it turns out, writing ability really does matter in the PhD program.

 

I wouldn't be concerned about it arriving at the school in late December, but you probably have to input a writing score to complete the application and you won't have it. I could see putting 5 in there and then sending an update email when you actually get it, but that does cause problems.

[BrazilianPhD]

I remember some schools stating clearly that they expected everything to be sent by the deadline, including things like GMAT scores. I don't know if it results in rejection if someone doesn't do that. But if you get no answer from a school, you will never know if it was because you missed the deadline or not. I wouldn't like to be forever wondering if something like that made a difference or not in my rejections.

 

You didn't say if this is going to be your first try, but it looks like that. Remember that things may go wrong, and if you leave things to the last minute, you won't have time enough to try again. What will you do if, for example, your computer at test day has a technical issue and you're forced to reschedule?

 

You get the V and Q scores immediately after you take the test. But the official scores may take a long time to be released to you (in my case, almost 1 month, much more than the couple of weeks it usually takes), and without the release of the official score I was not able to request additional official scores to be sent to schools.

 

Depending on your score, you may even have to change your school list, and that's definitely not something you should do so close to deadlines.

 

Maybe it´s just me, but I don't like to take unnecessary risk with important things.

 

And believe me, you will be nervous enough during the period after the application when all you can do is wait. I don't think it will help if you check the updates in your application and see that the school still has not received your official score.

 

Just an example, this is from Chicago Booth website:

 

Q

What is the latest date to take the GRE or GMAT to get the official scores to your office on time?

 

 

A

Test scores must reach our office by the application deadline, December 15. Therefore, applicants should consider taking the test by September, since the results of later tests may not be available until after our admissions deadline.