Why You Should Take the GMAT or GRE Early in Your MBA Journey

Updated April 2026

One of the most consistent pieces of advice I give candidates early in the MBA process is this: take the GMAT/GRE as early as you reasonably can. Not the week before your application deadline. Not the summer before you plan to submit. Early – ideally more than a year before your target application cycle.

The candidates who follow this advice almost always have better outcomes than those who don't. Here's why.

You give yourself room to improve

The single most valuable thing early timing gives you is the ability to retake the exam if you need to.

Most candidates who retake the GMAT/GRE improve their scores. That's not a guarantee – but it's a consistent pattern, particularly for candidates who use their first attempt to understand the test's demands and then adjust their preparation accordingly. A first attempt often reveals specific weaknesses – particular question types, timing problems, test-day anxiety – that can be addressed systematically before a second attempt.

If you take the exam six weeks before your application deadline and the score isn't where you want it, you have a problem. You're either submitting a score you're not happy with, rushing into another attempt with inadequate preparation, or delaying your application to a later round or a subsequent cycle.

If you take the exam eighteen months before your target deadlines and the score isn't where you want it, you have time. Time to understand what went wrong, to adjust your approach, to prepare properly, and to retake with confidence. That flexibility is worth an enormous amount – and you can only have it if you start early.

You can build your school list with clarity

Your test score is one of the most important inputs into your school list – and building that list without knowing your score forces you to work with uncertainty that you don't need to have.

With a score in hand, you can look at each program's reported averages and medians with real clarity. You know whether you're competitive, whether you're at the median, whether you're meaningfully below and need to account for that in how you position yourself. That information shapes your list in ways that are genuinely important – which programs are realistic targets, where you might be a stronger candidate than you expected, where you might need a stronger application to compensate for a below-average score.

Without a score, you're guessing. Some candidates guess conservatively and miss programs they should have applied to. Others guess optimistically and build lists that don't reflect their competitive reality. Either way, guessing is a worse strategy than knowing – and early testing is what gives you the information to know.

You free up time for everything else

The MBA application has many demanding components – essays, recommendations, school research, interview preparation. When the test is still unresolved as application deadlines approach, all of those components compete for attention with exam preparation in a way that rarely produces good results in either area.

Exam preparation requires focus and mental energy. So does crafting compelling essays, developing meaningful relationships with recommenders, and doing the deep research that produces specific, genuine application content. Doing both simultaneously – cramming for the GMAT/GRE while trying to write your "why MBA" story – tends to produce mediocre results in both.

Separating these tasks is significantly more effective. Take the exam early, put it to rest, and then turn your full attention to the rest of the application. The quality of your essays, your recommender conversations, and your overall preparation will all benefit from not having the exam hanging over the process.

You reduce stress significantly

This benefit is underrated – and candidates who have gone through the process with and without early testing will tell you the difference is significant.

The MBA application process is inherently stressful. There are multiple deadlines, multiple schools, multiple moving pieces that all need to come together at roughly the same time. Adding an unresolved exam to that mix in the final months before deadlines compounds the pressure in a way that affects everything – the quality of your thinking, your ability to be reflective and honest in your essays, your general well-being during a demanding period.

Candidates who arrive at application season with the exam already done – with a score they're satisfied with – experience the process very differently. The exam is off the list. The question of what their score will be is answered. They can focus their attention and energy entirely on the parts of the application that require creativity, reflection, and genuine engagement. That focus produces better work.

How early Is early enough?

As a general guideline: aim to have a score you're satisfied with at least twelve months before your target application deadline. If you're applying in the fall of a given year, that means having your score by the fall of the prior year – giving you a full twelve months of flexibility.

If you're able to start even earlier – eighteen months to two years before your target cycle – that's even better. It gives you the maximum amount of flexibility for retakes, removes the exam entirely from the mental landscape during application season, and allows you to use your score in school research and list building for a longer period.

One practical note: most programs accept scores that are up to five years old. If you took the exam in college and are now planning to apply several years later, check the specific policies of each program you're considering – you may need to retake even if your score was strong at the time.

Frequently Asked Questions About GMAT and GRE Timing

How far in advance of applying should I take the GMAT or GRE? 

Aim for at least twelve months before your target application deadline – and earlier if possible. That timeline gives you enough room to retake the exam if needed without any deadline pressure, and it allows you to use your score in building your school list before application season begins. Candidates who take the exam in the final few months before deadlines frequently find themselves in difficult positions if the score isn't where they want it. The investment of time required to prepare properly for the exam is the same regardless of when you take it – the timing just determines how much flexibility you have with the results.

What if my first score isn't where I want it to be? 

Treat it as information – not a failure. A first attempt often reveals more about how you need to prepare than any practice test can. What specific areas were weakest? Where did you run out of time? How did test-day anxiety affect your performance? Use the answers to those questions to adjust your preparation and approach before your next attempt. Most candidates who retake the exam with a clear understanding of what to improve do better on subsequent attempts. The key is to give yourself enough time between attempts to prepare properly – not to rush back to the test without addressing what went wrong.

How many times can I retake the exam? 

The GMAT Focus Edition allows up to five attempts in a rolling twelve-month period, with a lifetime maximum of eight attempts. The GRE allows one attempt every twenty-one days, up to five times in a continuous twelve-month period. For most candidates, the question of how many times to retake is less about the limits and more about the diminishing returns of additional attempts. If your score has plateaued across multiple attempts, more retakes may not produce meaningful improvement – and at that point, the question becomes how to build the strongest possible application with the score you have.

Should I take the exam before I've decided which schools to apply to? 

Yes – you don't need a finalized school list to take the exam. In fact, having your score before you build your list is one of the advantages of early testing. Your score is important information for school selection — it helps you understand where you're genuinely competitive and calibrate your list accordingly. You can research programs, develop your goals, and prepare your application narrative while your score is still pending – but having the score in hand before you finalize your list is meaningfully better than guessing.

How do I know when my score is good enough to stop retaking? 

When your score is at or above the median of the programs you're targeting, retaking is unlikely to meaningfully improve your candidacy – and the opportunity cost of additional preparation time is probably better invested in other parts of your application. If your score is below the median of your target programs, a meaningful improvement is worth pursuing – but be honest about whether additional preparation is likely to produce that improvement. If you've taken the exam multiple times and your score has plateaued, more retakes may not be the best use of your time. At that point, focus on making the rest of your application as strong as possible and addressing the score gap directly if needed in your application materials.

Should I work with an MBA admissions consultant on my overall test strategy? 

A good MBA admissions consultant can help you think through the timing and strategy of your exam in the context of your broader application timeline – when to take it, whether a retake is worth the investment, and how your score affects your school list and your positioning. That kind of integrated perspective – thinking about the exam not just as a test but as one piece of a larger application strategy – is genuinely valuable, particularly for candidates who are deciding whether to delay their application to improve their score or proceed with what they have.

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Your story is already there. The work is figuring out how to tell it – clearly, honestly, and in a way that only you could.

If you're planning your MBA application timeline and want a thought partner who has helped hundreds of clients navigate every part of the process as a top MBA admissions consultant – I'd love to connect.

You can also explore my MBA admissions consulting services or read what past clients have said.

About the Author

Shaifali Aggarwal is the Founder/CEO of Ivy Groupe and a Harvard MBA and Princeton alumna. Named a top MBA admissions consultant by Business Insider and Poets & Quants, she has helped hundreds of ambitious professionals earn admission to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, M7, and top global MBA programs. She has been quoted as an expert in Business Insider, Fortune, Forbes, Entrepreneur, MarketWatch, US News, and other media outlets, and holds a perfect 5-star rating across all verified client reviews on Poets & Quants.