Do you have any tips on taking the GMAT for MBA school?
June 5, 2009 by MBA Tips and Reviews
Filed under GMAT & Business Schools
Can you answer Troy’s question about MBA?:
I’m planning to take the GMAT this fall for business school in nyc. Any tips, what to study/prepare, or pitfalls to avoid would be appreciated.
Mba Business Schools
I’m planning to take the GMAT this fall for business school in nyc. Any tips, what to study/prepare, or pitfalls to avoid would be appreciated.
Mba Business Schools
How much time should you take to prep for GMAT?
The problem with this question is that it’s seldom asked early enough. You enroll in an MBA program to improve your business skills. GMAT tests your aptitude for the business school curriculum. Planning is a skill basic to business - in fact, to life. Yet, I can’t tell you how many students seem to say to themselves, “hmm, it’s mid-August and I want to have my app in to Wharton, Kellogg and Stanford by the beginning of November. Guess I’ll start studying for GMAT.”
This sort of “unplanned” plan even works …for some; but it’s NOT optimal for most of us. That said, there is no RIGHT amount of time to prepare. Like most things, the right prep period for you depends…
Depends on what?
1) What’s your target? Are you striving for your personal best or are you aiming for the window set by one or more schools? If the latter, are you using the school’s published median score? While this provides a general indication, the median score may or may not be the right target for YOU. A more helpful tool is the school’s 80% range, i.e. the range of scores earned by 80% of accepted applicants. Better yet, call or visit your target schools. Connect with an admissions officer and ask what GMAT score YOU need to achieve to be admitted to their program. One student was told by a Top 5 school that she needed a 650 to gain admission. They liked the rest of her package.
2) What’s your baseline score? You need to know your starting point in order to determine how much you need to accomplish. You can use a prior GMAT, a Kaplan diagnostic test (available at Kaplan Centers for free), or one of the GMAC practice tests.
3) What prep method are you going to use? Class room course, online, one-on-one tutoring, self-study books? Don’t forget to factor in the course schedule or tutor’s availability. Know your tolerance for concentrating on math and grammar study after a full day’s work.
4) Finally, what are the other demands on your time? You still need to take care of work (remember you’re going to be asking for recommendations!), family, and maybe community/volunteer responsibilities. Notice I haven’t included social life here - put it on hold unless you are planning to drag out the process. This is serious business - hopefully, a once in a lifetime, full-bore commitment to your future.
The stakes are high; in a recent survey, 90% of b-school admissions officers reported that GMAT scores were either their number 1 or number 2 criterion when evaluating an application. When you’re deciding how much time and effort to devote to GMAT prep, consider your investment of time and money against the time and money that went into building your college GPA. Then add in the impact of an MBA on your expected lifetime earnings.
Plan and act as if you were training for an Olympic event.
* Know your target score, your test date, your schedule. Plan to hit peak performance on test day.
* Allow time for 8 hrs. sleep/night - remember, you’re in training.
* Exercise at least 3 times per week - daily is better.
* Allow time for a weekly practice test (3.5 hours plus review time.)
Okay, got it! So how much time do I need to budget?
GMAC (Graduate Management Admissions Council) research shows GMAT scores are strongly correlated with both the number of hours of prep and the number of weeks of prep. GMAC offers the following data:
Score——-Hrs of Study
700+…………………114
600 -690……………..104
540-590………………100
<500………………………82
Of course these data don’t reflect the starting scores or the extent of variation around the values. Will 4 extra hours of study raise a test taker’s score 150 points, i.e. 540 to 690? Not likely. However, if you use Kaplan’s benchmark of an 80 point increase from pre-course test to Test Day, a bump from 620 to 700 with 114 hours of study tracks pretty well. On the other hand, I’ve seen cases of even greater increases - 170, 210, even 340 points. But these students invested proportionately more hours in study.
Bottom Line - plan to spend at least 3 months on GMAT prep; 6 months is better. And you’ll need to schedule between 1 and 3 hours per day with 3.5 hours set aside on either Saturday or Sunday for the practice tests. This disciplined commitment in conjunction with the right study materials and guidance is the formula for Test Day success.
MBA Feedback: Get one of the study guides and study your azz off
MBA Feedback: for MBA go for IIM
MBA Feedback: Here are some good sites with information on the topic:
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MBA Feedback: Ya for a moment I did. Than I realized he was just another Marine. Good luck in Business School.