For anyone interested in accommodations (extra time, a separate room for testing, etc.) for the GMAT or GRE, this is your article! As someone who has worked with hundreds of students who have had accommodations for these tests, I know a lot about the process!
I will start with the informative part and finish with some editorial commentary about testing accommodations…
The Process of Getting Extra Time (or Other Accommodations) for the GMAT or GRE
To begin with, let me start by saying that I have seen many, many students go through this process, so although testing accommodations are not my area of expertise, I have gotten a good boots-on-the-ground view of the process.
The main thing to point out upfront is that both ETS and GMAC tend to be pretty straightforward about granting accommodations to people who submit the proper documentation. In all my years of doing this (20 and counting), I have never seen anyone get completely denied (and I have seen a couple hundred people be approved). I have seen one person need to submit more information before being granted extra time, and I recently had a student not get as much extra time for the GRE as her neuropsych recommended in the evaluation she submitted, but that is it!
Both ETS and GMAC have special pages on their websites that explain the process of applying for accommodations, what disabilities one can apply for, what to expect after you apply, etc. Below are the current links, but because at the time of this writing both the GMAT and GRE are changing, it’s possible that these links will change with the release of the new versions of the tests. A simple Google search for “testing accommodations for the GMAT” or “GRE” should get you to the right page.
Testing Accommodations for the GMAT
Testing Accommodations for the GRE
The main thing that you will need is a recent (usually within 3 to 5 years) evaluation from a neuropsychologist explaining the testing that was done to determine your “disability” and recommending the appropriate accommodations. You will also need to submit your own answers to broad questions about the history of the difficulties that you have had, what accommodations you have had in the past (if any), why you believe that you need them, etc. Once you submit that information you will usually hear back within 3 to 4 weeks, although I have seen some people hear back within a few days.
Observations about the Process of Applying for and Receiving Testing Accommodations
Let me offer some firsthand observations that I have gleaned from all my years of seeing people go through this process….
First, you don’t need to have had accommodations in high school or college to qualify for accommodations on the GMAT or GRE. I have seen countless people get extra time on both tests even though they never had extra time on tests before. Anecdotally, some of the people I tutor who had accommodations in high school and college clearly don’t really need it anymore (more on that below), and most of the people who get it for the first time on the GMAT or GRE clearly need it, so much so that I don’t understand how they made it this far in life without testing accommodations! Seriously.
But you do need a legitimate evaluation from a neuropsych. If you’ve been evaluated before, you may only need to contact the practitioner and ask them to update their evaluation. This may not require a new, full battery of tests. If you’ve never been evaluated before, expect a full day of somewhat grueling tests (tests of memory, cognition, spatial reasoning, etc). It’s expensive, but you will learn much more about yourself and what your particular cognitive strengths and weaknesses are. Some people I have worked with learn that their processing speed is at the 3rd percentile or that they have very, very poor working memory. Not only is this information needed to qualify for accommodations on the GMAT or GRE, it is also useful in life beyond the tests as you can try to adapt and correct for weaknesses that you know you have. Secretly, I want to get tested to learn more about my cognitive strengths and weaknesses but can’t really justify spending the money just to satisfy my curiosity.
Another misconception pertains to what ETS and GMAC will grant accommodations for and what those accommodations might be. You don’t have to have slow processing speed or ADHD. For example, I have seen several people get extra time for anxiety. Again, you can’t submit a doctor’s note for this, but some people do have anxiety disorders that affect them in ways that do not fall within the normal range, so if a proper neuropsych evaluation (plus, perhaps, supplemental information from a therapist or psychiatrist) determines that you should be granted extra time for anxiety, you might receive it.
In terms of what accommodations are granted, 50% extra time is the most common, but I have seen 100% extra time, 25% extra time, a special reader (for people with dyslexia), a separate room (often for people with severe ADHD), and even a calculator for the GMAT (the GRE already gives test takers a calculator). The calculator accommodation for the GMAT is pretty rare in my experience and to be honest it’s not clear exactly why it’s granted in some circumstances and not others, but it is possible to be granted a calculator.
Another thing to be aware of is that although GMAC and ETS tend to be pretty fast in processing accommodation requests once they are submitted, the whole process from start to finish can take a while, often a few months, so get started early. Neuropsychologists are often booked up, and even once you’ve been seen and tested, they often take a while to write the report (often a few weeks or more….these reports are usually 10 pages plus). You will also need to book a special test date through the “accommodations department” of GMAC and ETS, and sometimes those appointments can be booked up, especially if you are being granted a private room for testing or something like that.
So if, for example, you are applying for R1 for business school and want to take the GMAT or GRE for the first time in June, you’ll want the accommodation letter in hand by April or even earlier so that you can book the test in advance. In order to be on that timeline, you should probably contact a neuropsych in January because it may take a couple of months to get the appointment, be tested, and receive the evaluation, and then from there you may wait as much as a month to hear back from GMAC or ETS once you submit all the information. Only then can you book the test date!
Another little known fact is that you can’t take the official GMAT or GRE practice tests with extra time until you’ve been approved for that accommodation. Once you’ve been approved, a feature on the official tests will be unlocked such that you will have the appropriate amount of time as per your accommodation, but you won’t be able to unlock that feature before that. So in terms of the timeline, this is one more reason to get started early. If you plan on taking the actual GMAT or GRE in June you don’t want to be prepping in May without the knowledge of what testing accommodations you might receive and without the ability to practice with those accommodations on the official practice tests!
Editorial Commentary on Accommodations for the GMAT and GRE
What follows is my personal perspective on testing accommodations based on what I have seen over the years. There is A LOT one could say about this, but I will keep it relatively light…
First, it should not be surprising that some of the people who get extra time for the GMAT and GRE probably don’t need it. As mentioned above, often people have had extra time in high school and presumably have needed it at that time in their life, but some of these people probably don’t need it at age 25 when they have outgrown their difficulties or learned to adapt to them.
On the other hand, nearly all of the people who I have seen get accommodations for the first time when taking the GMAT or GRE have clearly needed it. As mentioned before, I actually don’t know how some of these people functioned in life without testing accommodations in the past!!! Because I have tutored so many people (probably close to 1,000 at the time of this writing), I have a good sense for what falls within the “normal range” and what does not. And most of these “first-time accommodations people” are definitely NOT in the normal range! Some have crippling test anxiety, the likes of which you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. Others process things SO MUCH more slowly than others that they are at such an unfair disadvantage because of the tight timing constraints of the tests. Usually these people CAN ultimately understand most of the questions and get them right; it’s just that their brains take considerably longer to do the processing!
So what is fair? What is a solution to the question of who really deserves to have testing accommodations and who does not? I don’t think there is a great solution, unfortunately. One interesting way to even the playing field would be to have the GMAT and GRE just be untimed, or at least have timing constraints that are so generous that almost no one would struggle to finish. This would indeed solve the problem in one fell swoop. But it would also ruin the tests, in my opinion. So much of what is important on the GMAT and GRE comes down to “executive function.” One needs to make difficult decisions throughout the tests to judge what is worth spending time on and what is not. Furthermore, many questions are deliberately designed to allow for multiple approaches, some that would take a long time and others that would be efficient and quick. Without timing as a factor, such questions would be practically useless on the GMAT or GRE.
It’s a shame that the system is imperfect because it is obvious that some test-takers desperately need testing accommodations. But I suppose we live in an imperfect world where many things are unfair. Obviously, the fact that some people have access to really good GMAT or GRE tutoring and others do not is itself unfair! Perhaps ETS and/or GMAC will loosen the timing constraints of the tests to even the playing field a bit? Perhaps there is some other viable solution? Time will tell. In the meantime, it IS a good thing that we have a system that allows people who have legitimate disabilities to compete on an even playing field with those who do not.