... before it weakens your chances of getting admitted to a top-tier school?

I have taken the GMAT two times, the first time I scored 610 and was not very pleased, I felt I had practiced a lot, but I wanted a score of over 650+ so that the GMAT score would not weaken my application.

I went on and took it a second time, this time with less practice, because I felt I had practiced so much the first time round and that the second exam was merely a formality, wrong! I score 540 on the second exam and was devastated.

Now I have invested in the VeritasPrep weekend course (quant and verbal) and hope that this will improve my chances. I dont want to take the GMAT a fourth time... I work as a mgmt consultant in weekdays and have very little time besides this to practice. I hope the dedicated time with the instructors will help me get past 650 (and beyond!)

Hi Andreasm,

There are no hard-and-fast rules on this, but the adcoms do like to see an applicant make a real effort to improve the GMAT score, and as you know, higher scores make a difference. Taking the test multiple times shows that you're dedicated to the process and really committed to getting into a top school; taking it too many times without marked improvement could be a red flag. There's no definite number of what "too many times" is but if the scores aren't progressing upward, then you should reevaluate the approach. Hopefully with the advantage of the Veritas Prep package, you'll really nail it this time, but if not, I wouldn't necessarily say not to try a fourth time, too.

Good luck with it!
--Lisa