<p>I took the GMAT in early July with absolutely no studying at all. I scored a 490. Since then, I have studied for many hours a day. I recently took the official full length simulated practice test and the Kaplan full length practice test and scored a 650 on both exams. I am scheduled to take the exam in mid September.Is this kind of increase normal?</p>
<p>I don't see why not. The test mainly tests how well you understand the test. So, if you originally scored low and then began studying a lot I would expect a big increase.</p>
<p>doest the gmat work like the sat? does admissions see how many times you've taken the exam? how about canceling a score? will they find out? thanks.</p>
<p>Some schools only look at the highest score and some will take into consideration past scores and/or the number of times u have taken it. Ask an admissions rep if you aren't sure about a particular school. You can not cancel a score after receiving one (you can only cancel the results immediately after taking the test and prior to seeing your score).</p>
<p>most only ask for you to write your highest gmat score on the app, but when the official score is sent they see all of your scores.</p>
<p>and yes that increase is typical... on the first diag I took I didnt really pay attention and scored a 500. after the class I was up 200 points.</p>
<p>That's right. If you send your official scores to the school, they'll see each score. But they'll only take into account your highest score and even if you've repeatedly taken the GMAT, that's fine. I talked to an admissions director at Kellogg recently and she said "whether the highest score is between 2 test scores or 6 scores, we're looking for the highest one." But I don't know if anyone would want to take the GMAT 6 times! It's best to prepare for one shot.</p>