How Many Times Can You Take the GMAT?

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Last Updated on May 12, 2023

One of the most common questions GMAT students ask is, “How many times can you take the GMAT?” Of course, there is a (fairly) simple answer to this question, but the key point that some students fail to take into account is that, although you can take the GMAT numerous times, there are several reasons why you’d want to avoid a scenario in which you have to take the GMAT numerous times.

In this article, you’ll learn what the annual and lifetime limits on GMAT attempts are, how business schools view multiple GMAT attempts when evaluating MBA applicants, and what the main pros and cons of taking the GMAT multiple times are.

Although you can take the GMAT numerous times, there are several reasons why you’d want to avoid a scenario in which you have to take the GMAT numerous times.

Let’s start by looking at the total number of times a test-taker is allowed to sit for the GMAT.

• How Many Times Can You Take the GMAT?
• How Often Can You Take The GMAT?
• Is It Bad to Take the GMAT More Than Once?
• What Are the Consequences of Taking the GMAT Multiple Times?
• What If You Need More Than 8 GMAT Attempts?

How Many Times Can You Take the GMAT?

As of December 17, 2016, GMAC (the makers of the GMAT) instituted a lifetime limit on the number of times a person can sit for the GMAT; that limit is 8. So, the total number of times you can take the GMAT over the course of your life, regardless of how many years pass between your GMAT attempts, is 8. Furthermore, GMAC implemented this limit as a retroactive policy, so if you took the GMAT 5 times prior to December 2016, when there was no lifetime limit, those 5 attempts still count toward your total of 8.

Here are some other important stipulations to keep in mind related to the lifetime limit rule:

• If you cancel your GMAT score for an exam, that exam DOES still count toward your lifetime limit of GMAT attempts. Any time you sit for the actual GMAT, it counts.
• If you cancel your GMAT test appointment, that canceled exam does NOT count toward your lifetime limit because you did not sit for the exam.
• If you are a no-show on test day (you did not cancel your GMAT, but you do not show up for your test appointment), that exam does NOT count toward your lifetime limit because you did not actually sit for the exam.

Effective September 23, 2020, test-takers can retake the GMAT Online once (for a total of 2 GMAT Online attempts). However, online GMATs WILL count toward your lifetime limit of GMAT attempts.

Note that GMAC has not yet announced whether the new GMAT Online retake policy will be retroactive, but given the retroactive nature of the policy for the in-person GMAT, it’s quite possible that if you took the online GMAT before the policy change, that GMAT attempt will count toward your lifetime limit once the change takes effect. If you have any questions about whether your online GMAT counts toward your lifetime limit, don’t hesitate to reach out to GMAC customer service for answers.

Now that we’ve reviewed how many times you can take the GMAT, let’s look at how often you’re allowed to sit for the exam.

How Often Can You Take The GMAT?

You can sit for the GMAT no more than 5 times in a consecutive 12-month period, and you must wait at least 16 days between each of your GMAT attempts. So, let’s say that you made your first GMAT attempt on January 15, 2021. Conceivably, you could sit for the GMAT every 16 days and reach your annual limit of 5 attempts by mid-March. At that point, you would have to wait until January 16, 2022 to make attempt number 6, and if you followed the same schedule as you did in 2021, little more than a month later, you would exhaust your GMAT attempts for life.

Of course, the scenario I’ve just outlined is a highly unlikely one and not recommended for several reasons that we’ll soon discuss. The important thing to note right now is that simply having the option to retake your GMAT every 16 days is not reason enough to not wait longer. Whether you’re gearing up for your first GMAT attempt or your fifth, ideally, you should take the exam only when you feel fully prepared to hit your score goal.

Note also that there is one exception to the 16-day waiting period. If you switch from taking the in-person GMAT to taking the GMAT Online (or vice versa), you do not have to wait 16 days to sit for your retake. For example, if your first GMAT attempt on January 15, 2021, was an in-person attempt, you could conceivably sit for the GMAT Online on January 16, 2021. Keep in mind, however, that if your first and second GMAT attempts are both online attempts, the 16-day waiting period still applies, just as it does for the in-person exam.

So, now that you know how many times and how often you can take the GMAT, you may be wondering whether schools view applicants who have taken the GMAT more than once unfavorably.

Is It Bad to Take the GMAT More Than Once?

The simple answer to the question of whether it’s “bad” to take the GMAT more than once is no, taking the GMAT more than once is not a negative thing. In fact, most GMAT test-takers sit for the exam more than once, and you should plan to do the same. In other words, although you should absolutely aim to hit your score goal on your first attempt and do everything in your power to prepare yourself to do so, you also should schedule your first exam so that there is a sufficient buffer of time before your applications are due for you to study some more and retake the exam at least once, if not twice, in the event that you happen to come up short on your first attempt.

When it comes to the GMAT, a wise motto to live by is, “Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.”

What Are the Consequences of Taking the GMAT Multiple Times?

Admissions committees are well aware of the fact that most students take the GMAT more than once. So, generally speaking, admissions will be far more concerned with what your GMAT scores are than with whether you needed a couple of tries to earn those scores. Of course, 2 or 3 GMAT attempts look very different from 5 or 6. Luckily, you have the option to cancel any GMAT scores you don’t want admissions to see, so hypothetically you could take the GMAT 5 times and cancel all but your highest score. In that case, schools would not know that you took the GMAT more than once, since exam sittings associated with canceled scores are not indicated on the Official Score Report sent to schools. So, as long as you plan out your score cancellation strategy before test day, you really don’t need to worry about multiple GMAT attempts affecting your applications.

Generally speaking, admissions will be far more concerned with what your GMAT scores are than with whether you needed a couple of tries to earn those scores.

There are, however, some rather obvious consequences of taking the GMAT multiple times. For one, the GMAT is a costly exam for most people. From registration and other fees (such as the fee for canceling a score) to prep materials and practice exams, GMAT expenses can rack up pretty quickly. While some of those expenses represent a necessary investment in your future, others are avoidable if you plan ahead and have a smart strategy. At $275 a pop for a test center appointment and $300 for an online one, exam registration is one of the largest single expenses you’ll incur related to the GMAT, so avoiding unnecessary retakes is key if you’re hoping to keep costs low. As I mentioned earlier, the best way to avoid unnecessary GMAT retakes is to make sure that you’re setting test dates based not on arbitrary timelines but on your readiness to reach your score goal.

Even if your budget isn’t a concern, the GMAT still requires a significant investment of time and energy. Learning GMAT content, honing your test-taking strategies, and sitting for the actual exam are mentally and physically taxing experiences that demand many hours of commitment, hard work, and sacrifice. Early mornings and late nights of studying, weekends hitting the books instead of hanging out with friends, less time with your family and added stress — preparing for GMAT even once can have a big impact on your daily life, for months at a time. So, while a few GMAT attempts may be manageable, taking the GMAT 7 or 8 times isn’t very realistic for many people whose schedules are already packed with work and other responsibilities.

At a certain point, all GMAT test-takers who have yet to hit their score goals must consider the law of diminishing returns. Familiarity with the GMAT exam can certainly work to your advantage (this is one reason why properly incorporating practice exams into your GMAT prep is so important), and you may very well feel less nervous about the test-taking experience if you’ve been through it before. But if you’ve taken the GMAT multiple times and have yet to hit your score goal, at some point you have to stop and ask yourself whether simply continuing to retake the exam until you “run out of tries” is really the answer. In other words, if all you’re doing is studying in the same way you’ve always studied, using the same materials and techniques you’ve always used, then why would GMAT attempt number 6 be any different from attempt number 5 or 4? It may even be the case that, as you become more and more fatigued and frustrated by further GMAT attempts, your test performance suffers, taking you even further from your goal.

There are, of course, cases when students must use all, or close to all, of their GMAT attempts in order to hit their score goals. But if you are seriously worried about using up your GMAT attempts before you are able to reach your goal, if you have used, say, more than half of your attempts and are still not close to your target score, you need to stop and take a hard look at how you are preparing for the GMAT, and make some adjustments before you schedule any further exams.

What If You Need More Than 8 GMAT Attempts?

There are some rare cases when test-takers sit for the GMAT 8 times and do not reach their score goals, and thus they need another opportunity to (hopefully) hit their target scores. The “ninth attempt” remains something of a mystery to most GMAT test-takers, but in fact you can file an appeal with GMAC to request a ninth shot at the GMAT.

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that GMAC will find your story compelling enough to make an exception for you, and by most accounts, ninth attempts are rarely approved. Even if you can prove to GMAC that you are a legitimate student who wants to make one last honest attempt at the GMAT, there is no box you can check to automatically qualify for an extra GMAT attempt. GMAC has full discretion as to why they grant exceptions to the lifetime limit, so while you should certainly try for an exception if you really need one, you shouldn’t go into the GMAT process expecting that a ninth attempt will be a viable option if all else fails.

Hopefully, you will not reach a point in your GMAT journey when you need a ninth attempt at the exam (or an eighth, or even a seventh). If you have reached your lifetime limit of GMAT attempts and GMAC does not authorize an additional attempt, at that point you may want to consider taking the GRE instead. Nowadays, most business schools accept the GRE as well as the GMAT, so you don’t have to give up on your b-school dreams just because one of those exams doesn’t pan out.

For tips on how to leverage these and other GMAT rules to earn a higher score, check out this article.