It sounds crazy at first, but I came across multiple people who retook their GMATs after they were not only accepted to school but were actually in school.  Why would someone do this you ask?  Because they want one of those jobs, I am looking at you consulting, that requires the GMAT on the application and then filters out first round interviewees using it.

So if you are one of those people who have tons of extracurricular activities, write great essays and fit the mold of whatever type of candidate the school is looking for, your GMAT score might not have been the deciding factor during admission.  However, once you are trying to get a consulting job, or even a few others, they will not care that you can write a great essay or that you immigrated from a war torn country by yourself at the age of two and lived to tell about it (well maybe they might, but if you don’t get to an interview nobody will hear about it).  What they will care about is how smart you are and how much value you can bring to their firm.  One of the key factors, rightly or wrongly, they use to determine this is your GMAT score.

For those friends of mine whose dreams had them boarding a plane every Monday for a city few people have ever heard of, to work on a six sigma efficiency study for a steel producer, their GMAT score was getting them rejected before they even had a chance to impress any HR person, much less a hiring partner.  I do not know the cutoff for these firms, but I can tell you that those I know who applied with a 6 as their first number were very unsuccessful.

They soon realized that retaking the test was the only way to get through the filter and on to the next round.  On the application no firm asks when you actually took the test, simply what your score was.  When or even if proof is ever required it will be well past the time where someone might find it odd that you improved your score after school started.

If there is ever a period in your life where you have free time available to study for the GMAT, it is in business school.  After fall core classes pass your free time will greatly improve, and if you need a better score, take advantage of it.

I hope none of you actually have to do this, almost as much as I hope you don’t choose the consulting path, but you need to know it is an option if your dreams depend on it.

Good luck.