Registrating for 2 Exams at once?

[student]

Can someone please explain the logic behind MGMAT's advice to register for 2 exams at once. If someone needs to wait 31 days between exams anyway, wouldn't registrating a day after your first exam be just as effective with respect to timing?

[rfernandez]

The advice is to budget for the possibility that you'll need to take two exams. Most of the students whom I've worked with improve, at times even dramatically, from the first to the second -- there's something about having gone through it already that builds confidence and helps you perform better on the second try.

The other issue here is scheduling when to take your first exam relative to when your applications are due. If you're banking on taking a second exam, you want to make sure you schedule your first one at least 32 days before the application deadline. I'm not advising that you literally count backwards 32 days from the deadline and schedule your first exam then. It's just to give you the very last possible date. You'll need to allot time for writing your application(s) too.

Please do not register for two exams at once... if you're satisfied with the score of the first attempt, then you'll be out $250. And you're right, if you need to schedule that second one, there will be ample time to do that after the first test.

Rey