Does Sloan look down on applicants who have taken the GMAT exam several times?
[Editor’s note: Schools receive an applicant’s last three GMAT scores.] A: Not necessarily. I don’t really know the average amount of times an applicant [for the Class of 2002] took the GMAT. The GMAT is valid, consistent, and reliable. You can take the GMAT as many times as you want, and your score will cluster within a certain range. We know that for a fact. An exception would be a 100 point difference, and that is only possible if [the applicant] took a coaching course. But for the person who took the test today and then again next month without doing any review classes or any preparation, the score will probably [vary by] plus or minus 50 [points]. What I’m saying here is that we’re not concerned — no matter how many times a person takes the test — because we can predict how the applicant will perform. The other reason why I’m not alarmed is that there’s a point where getting 50 more points doesn’t really put you at an advantage. If you score 700, what does [scoring a] 750 do? If
