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1. GMAT Score
GMAT before everything else. It's sad, but it's true: your GMAT score is probably the most important factor in determining whether you will be admitted to a top business school. I need to clarify that statement, though. Most applicants believe there is a significant difference between a 680 and a 720 on the test. There isn't. The extra 40 points won't help your chances of being admitted. That's why I'm frustrated when I hear from people who score 680 and insist on retaking the exam. Most of them would be better served by burning their GMAT-prep books and turning their attention to the application essays (the next step in the process). If you hope to have a reasonable chance of being admitted to a top program, though, your GMAT score will need to be "in the ballpark." If it isn't, you'll have a hard time winning a spot at top-tier schools no matter how good your work experience and undergraduate GPA might be. That's why I believe GMAT score is the most important factor in being admitted to a top program. If your score isn't in the ballpark, you won't be in the game. So What's Considered "In the Ballpark?" At virtually all of the top programs, the ballpark starts in the mid 600s. That doesn't mean there is a strict cut-off ; there isn't. But if you look closely at top schools' numbers, you'll see that below about 620 your chances of being admitted fall pretty dramatically. To determine whether you're a viable candidate at a specific school, find the program's "middle 80 percent" GMAT range. Virtually all schools now report this data. (As do we.) If you're within a school's 80 percent range, you have a reasonable chance of being admitted; and you may be viable even if you're below the range. You should never let your GMAT score be the sole factor that determines where you apply. Simple math dictates that 10 percent of students attending MBA programs scored below the schools' reported 80 percent range (and 10 percent scored above it). The most common mistake that MBA applicants make is using a school's median GMAT score as a viability gauge. If, for instance, a program's median score is 680, applicants believe they have to hit that number in order to be admitted. It should be obvious that half of the current class fell below 680, but that doesn't seem to register and many applicants self-select out. I've talked many applicants into applying to MBA programs they are now attending (or have already finished) because they were initially discouraged when their GMAT scores fell slightly below their target schools' medians. The Bottom Line: Don't let the numbers intimidate you. Use the 80 percent range, not the median GMAT value. If you're slightly below the 80 percent range, apply anyway. Ten percent of your classmates next year will be in the same boat. Are the Separate Scores for Math and Verbal Important? Yes, especially the math score. The admissions people put a lot of emphasis on math skills when making their decisions. (See the discussion on GPA for more on this.) So it's important that you do well on the math portion of the GMAT. The math and verbal scores range from 0 to about 52. (I know that GMAC claims the scale can go as high as 60, but it has never actually gone over 52). My strongest students are those in the "40-40 Club." That means they score in the 40's in both math and verbal. It's great to have that kind of balance, but if you are going to be stronger on one portion of the test than on the other, it's clearly better to be stronger in math. work.
The 7 Criteria
GMAT SCORE You won't be admitted to a top-tier MBA school without a pretty decent GMAT number. The schools' own statistics prove this simple truth.
GMAT Score
MBA APPLICATION ESSAYS It's common for applicants with great essays but only acceptable GMAT scores to beat out candidates with higher numbers.
MBA APPLICATION TIMELINE When you submit your application can be as important as what you say in it. At the elite schools, you'd better be in one of the first two rounds.
UNDERGRAD GPA Undergrad GPA is not as important as most applicants believe. But there's a caveat: if your math grades suck it will pay to do some
WORK EXPERIENCE This isn't the type of experience you have at work, it's the amount. As applications rise, schools want students with more experience
RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendations are often a better reflection of the recommender than of the applicant. I think they should be dumped.
MBA Recommendations
What if I Hope to Apply to Top Schools But My GMAT Score is Below 600? You need to take the test again. I'm not saying that you can't get into a top program you can but your chances are slim. So if you have time to take the test again, you'd be foolish not to. And that brings up a good point about multiple test scores. I'm not aware of a single top school (or even an average school for that matter) that still averages GMAT scores. I'm sure that someone out there will find a program that does so, but until I hear from that person, let's stick to the general rule: schools consider only your highest GMAT score. at all. INTERVIEWS Interviews can be very important, but their impact varies widely from school to schooland some schools don't use them
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MBA Application Essays: Admissions Criteria 2. How to Write a Great MBA Essay.
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GMAT SCORE You won't be admitted to a top-tier MBA school without a pretty decent GMAT number. The schools' own statistics prove this simple truth.
GMAT Score
MBA APPLICATION ESSAYS It's common for applicants with great essays but only acceptable GMAT scores to beat out candidates with higher numbers.
MBA Recommendations
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MBA Application Essays: Admissions Criteria 2. How to Write a Great MBA Essay.
overwhelming number of applicants from a few categories, coupled with the need to assemble a diverse group, in effect, forces admissions people to pit consultant against consultant and investment banker against investment banker, even without an explicit policy to do so. And it makes sense to compare apples to apples. After all, what evaluation criteria would you use if you had to choose between an asset manager and a software engineer? Which Categories are the Most Competitive? Investment banking and management consulting are probably the most competitive categories. Virtually everyone who works in those fields needs to go to B-school in order to move up in the industry. To my knowledge, no school has ever released the median GMAT scores of its students grouped by occupation, so I have to rely on my personal experience. But it's clear to me that, ON AVERAGE, accepted candidates from the very competitive finance and consulting backgrounds have higher GMAT scores than do accepted candidates from less competitive categories. I've coached too many students not to see the pattern. Don't be discouraged if you fall into one of these categories. Later we'll talk about how to differentiate yourself in the application essays so you won't look like all the other consultants or investment bankers in the pile. What are the Less Competitive Categories? I'm sure you're wondering about this one. After, "What do you score on the GMAT?" it's the question I'm asked most frequently: "What's the easiest work background from which to apply?" Think about it from the admissions officer's point of view. Say you have 300 seats to fill. About 100 will go to applicants from finance backgrounds, and about another 100 will go to people from consulting backgrounds. You will use the final 100 spots to broaden your class and add some depth of experience to the group. You will need some marketing people and some people from technical backgrounds. And every class has a few disenchanted lawyers and doctors along with some real outliers people with tremendously unique experience that will be valuable to their classmates. But none of these is the easiest category. In my experience, the easiest background from which to apply is nonprofit, in part because very few people from nonprofit firms apply to top business schools. B-school has a reputation for being a very competitive place, and competition isn't part of the culture of the average nonprofit corporation. So I regularly see people with very modest GMAT scores get accepted by top B-schools because those schools are trying to broaden the perspective of their classes and, at the same time, promote what is becoming an increasingly important business sector. A number of schools have even developed substantial nonprofit curricula to address the needs of managers in that sector. So, for what it's worth, that's what I've seen with nonprofit applicants. But I've also seen a fair number of people from government and military backgrounds who get into top programs even though their GMAT scores are pretty modest (below their schools' median 80 percent range). Again, I think these people add depth to a class, and admitting them allows business schools to reach into important public-sector organizations to influence the ways in which they are run. Your Essay Strategy All of this plays into your strategy. In writing the application essays, your strategy should be to highlight the unique experiences you've had both on the job and in your personal life that you believe will be valuable to your classmates. If you were assigned to an economic development project in Vietnam, for instance, that's unique. So is working in a refugee camp in Afghanistan. Very few people can bring that kind of experience to the table, and schools are looking for applicants who can share that background in the classroom. They will gladly discount GPA and GMAT scores to get those people into their programs. But you don't need experience in a Third World country to have something unique and valuable to offer. A lot of my GMAT students are consultants with big firms such as Bain, BCG, and Deloitte. In large part, they all have the same generic work experience, and most of them make the mistake of discussing that experience in their essays. Think about how that looks to an admissions officer. She's got a pile of applications on her desk from consultants in every Bain and Deloitte office around the world, and every applicant is talking about the same thing. How does she decide who to choose? Be Unique When I work with applicants who are consultants, I ask them not to write about the mundane tasks that everyone does at the pre-MBA level but instead to focus on one or two of their assignments that were unique and interesting. I ask them to go into detail about that work. Tell me exactly what you did and
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MBA Application Essays: Admissions Criteria 2. How to Write a Great MBA Essay.
why you think it was important work. Convince me, as an admissions officer, that your experience will be valuable to your classmates and I'll let you in. That's the key to getting into top business schools. Convince me in your essays that you have something unique to share with your potential classmates, and I'll ignore your not-so-hot GMAT score and undergraduate GPA. I see it all the time. People with modest GMAT scores but valuable experiences are regularly admitted to top programs. The problem, of course, is writing about yourself. That's tremendously hard to do. You may think that a certain experience is pretty mundane, but others may find it interesting. I'm amazed by the experience that some people will leave out of their essays. I remember one applicant who, after we had already worked through a couple schools, told me she had been a world class figure skater as a teenager and was still active in skating. When I asked her why she hadn't told me that at the beginning she said she didn't think it was important. Essay Tutorial Most people I meet have experience that is good enough to get them into top programs, but they don't know what admissions people are looking for so they stumble through some mind-numbing babble in their essays and end up being rejected. Our consulting work with applicants involves talking through their work experiences, determining what in their background is unique and valuable, and then making sure that they get that valuable experience down on paper in a clear and concise manner. We want a reader who knows nothing about the applicant to be able to understand his story and to find something in that applicant's background that is unique and valuable to his potential classmates. Remember, the evaluation process is mostly about what you can do for the school, not what the school can do for you. Be sure to read our brief tutorial that addresses some do's and don'ts of application essay writing. Our work with applicants is much more detailed, but the general comments found in the tutorial should get you started.
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GMAT SCORE You won't be admitted to a top-tier MBA school without a pretty decent GMAT number. The schools' own statistics prove this simple truth.
GMAT Score
MBA APPLICATION ESSAYS It's common for applicants with great essays but only acceptable GMAT scores to beat out candidates with higher numbers.
MBA Recommendations
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The 7 Criteria
GMAT SCORE You won't be admitted to a top-tier MBA school without a pretty decent GMAT number. The schools' own statistics prove this simple truth.
GMAT Score
MBA APPLICATION ESSAYS It's common for applicants with great essays but only acceptable GMAT scores to beat out candidates with higher numbers.
MBA APPLICATION TIMELINE When you submit your application can be as important as what you say in it. At the elite schools, you'd better be in one of the first two rounds.
MBA UNDERGRAD GPA Undergrad GPA is not as important as most applicants believe. But there's a caveat: if your math grades suck it will pay to do some
MBA WORK EXPERIENCE This isn't the type of experience you have at work, it's the amount. As applications rise, schools want students with more experience
MBA RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendations are often a better reflection of the recommender than of the applicant. I think they should be dumped.
MBA Recommendations
Don't let your GPA keep you from applying to top business schools. The median GPAs reported by some top programs can be intimidating, but the GPAs of accepted students vary a great dealeven more than do their GMAT scores. (The middle 80 percent range at top schools can be 3.0 to 3.8.) One thing you can do, however, to address your GPA is take some classes through a local university extension program. School is a lot easier the second time around, and you might be surprised to find that you can now get good grades in classes you used to hate. Performing well in school now should convince admissions officers that you can do well in their program regardless of your undergraduate GPA. at all. MBA INTERVIEWS Interviews can be very important, but their impact varies widely from school to schooland some schools don't use them
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MBA Work Experience: Admissions Criteria 5. Work experience do you need before ... Page 1 of 2
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GMAT SCORE You won't be admitted to a top-tier MBA school without a pretty decent GMAT number. The schools' own statistics prove this simple truth.
GMAT Score
MBA APPLICATION ESSAYS It's common for applicants with great essays but only acceptable GMAT scores to beat out candidates with higher numbers.
MBA Essays
MBA APPLICATION TIMELINE When you submit your application can be as important as what you say in it. At the elite schools, you'd better be in one of the first two rounds.
MBA UNDERGRAD GPA Undergrad GPA is not as important as most applicants believe. But there's a caveat: if your math grades suck it will pay to do some work.
MBA WORK EXPERIENCE This isn't the type of experience you have at work, it's the amount. As applications rise, schools want students with more experience
MBA RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendations are often a better reflection of the recommender than of the applicant. I think they should be dumped.
MBA Recommendations
MBA INTERVIEWS Interviews can be very important, but their impact varies widely from school to schooland some schools don't use them
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6. MBA Recommendations
The recommendations represent an opportunity to sharpen your skills as a forger. Everyone forges their own recommendations. OK, not everyone, but most people write their own or provide a heck of a lot of "guidance" during the process. I know this because I'm on the "sell side" of the admissions transaction. (Wow, I sound like an investment banker.) My students constantly ask what they should write in their recommendations. It isn't that applicants are trying to cheat the game; the problem is that most recommenders don't want to take the time to write a long letter or respond to the online questions and fill in the "grid boxes" that are part of most MBA recommendations. So they ask the applicant to do the dirty work and agree to sign the finished product.
The 7 Criteria
GMAT SCORE You won't be admitted to a top-tier MBA school without a pretty decent GMAT number. The schools' own statistics prove this simple truth.
GMAT Score
MBA APPLICATION ESSAYS It's common for applicants with great essays but only acceptable GMAT scores to beat out candidates with higher numbers.
MBA Recommendations
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7. MBA Interview
The interview is last in importance? That doesn't make sense. Before you get all bent out of shape, let me explain. I agree that the interview can be a critical part of the admissions decision and should not always rank dead last in order of importance. But its importance varies dramatically from school to school. At some schools, your interview can make the difference between being accepted and spending another year riding your desk 60 hours a week. At others, however, it's meaningless and deserves to be listed last. And the policy changes from year to year. For years Stanford, for instance, refused to interview any applicants. (It was crazy.) Now they interview virtually everyone they admit. So interviewing can be meaningless or it can be critical. That's why it got this weird position in our admit criteria. Who Should and Who Shouldn't Interview? If you think you're a bad interviewer, don't volunteer to interview. Let your application do the talking for you. I've known a lot of people who I thought were bad interviewers. They had good work experience and great undergraduate GPAs. I could see from their practice tests that they would end up with a strong GMAT score, but I was afraid they will do more harm than good if they meet with their schools. So I discouraged it. All I can say is that it was a tactic that often worked. Do I Have a Choice? Increasingly, the answer is no. Schools now decide who will interview and who won't. As applications have risen, MBA programs have had to ration interview timeslots, so interviews are now rarely at the applicant's discretion. If your application get's past the initial screening phase and a school wants to see you, the admissions people will send an invite. Never turn down a request to interview. Your chances of being admitted after doing so are zero. Should I Interview with an Admissions Officer or an Alumnus? It's best to interview with someone on the admissions committee, but that isn't always possible. You shouldn't worry too much if you end up having to interview with an alumnus or even a current student. That person will write up a report that will go into your file. Just try to get along with your interviewer. A Few Pointers on the Interview 1. Whenever possible, interview with someone of the opposite sex. (Don't make me explain why.) 2. Dress formally unless your interview is with an alumnus and the situation calls for casual clothes. I've noticed that a lot of interviews here in L.A. take place at beachfront cafes on Saturday mornings. Situations like that call for casual clothes. 3. Relax! Don't come off as stiff and overly formal. You want your interviewer to like you, so treat him or her like a friend. 4. Prepare your answers ahead of time. (See the section below for common questions.) Typical Interview Questions The questions asked by interviewers for different schools are surprisingly similar. My students interview all over the country, but they all come back with the same list of questions. Virtually all of the interviewers cover the same topics. (Which makes sense, if you think about it.) The basic interview process goes as follows. Phase 1 - Your Upbringing and Undergraduate Experience at all. work.
The 7 Criteria
GMAT SCORE You won't be admitted to a top-tier MBA school without a pretty decent GMAT number. The schools' own statistics prove this simple truth.
GMAT Score
MBA APPLICATION ESSAYS It's common for applicants with great essays but only acceptable GMAT scores to beat out candidates with higher numbers.
MBA APPLICATION TIMELINE When you submit your application can be as important as what you say in it. At the elite schools, you'd better be in one of the first two rounds.
MBA UNDERGRAD GPA Undergrad GPA is not as important as most applicants believe. But there's a caveat: if your math grades suck it will pay to do some
MBA WORK EXPERIENCE This isn't the type of experience you have at work, it's the amount. As applications rise, schools want students with more experience
MBA RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendations are often a better reflection of the recommender than of the applicant. I think they should be dumped.
MBA Recommendations
MBA INTERVIEWS Interviews can be very important, but their impact varies widely from school to schooland some schools don't use them
http://mbaapplicant.com/7_mba_interviews.html
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MBA Interviews
Phase 2 - Work Experience Since Leaving College You need to know your whole work history before walking into the interview. Look up the approximate dates of promotions or job transfers. The questions go something like the following: What was your first job out of undergrad? Have you been promoted? Have you ever supervised employees? Have you switched firms? If so, why?
Phase 3 - Career Goals and MBA Plans This is the part of your story that has to hold together. If they ask about career goals and you tell them something that is completely inconsistent with your experience, you're going to be in trouble. Be sure to mention a career goal that actually requires (or benefits from) an MBA. Be able to answer the question, "Why do you need an MBA?" Be able to answer the question, "Why do you need an MBA from this school?"
Phase 4 - Your Turn to Ask Questions Be sure to study the school before interviewing so you can ask informed questions about it. Knowing specific details about the program should convince the interviewer that you are serious about attending his school. A Final Note of Encouragement on the Interviews Subjecting yourself to interviews is tough. After two or three you begin to feel like a piece of meat. Just remember that everyone has to go through the same process. Below I'll post an e-mail messages I got it from one of my students just hours after he had a particularly bad interview at a top-10 school. Pardon the language, but I think it will help to put things into perspective. John, "F---ed up the interview. Felt like I was being lectured by my mother. "I can't tell if she was assisting me on the application by giving me pointers or subtly rejecting me and preparing me for it. One thing was clear, my 2.5 GPA did nothing positive for me. "Apparently, applications are up 25% on top of 30% last year, and she seems to have an attitude about it. Talked about how they want the 'worldly class' of some f---ing pyramid she kept demonstrating in the air. "Felt like Tom Cruise in Risky Business when he blew it with the Princeton guy. Walked out thinking, 'Indiana's not so bad....'" - Thomas (He was rejected.)
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1. GMAT SCORE You won't be admitted to a top-tier MBA school without a pretty decent GMAT number. The schools' own statistics prove this simple truth.
GMAT Score
2. APPLICATION ESSAYS It's common for applicants with great essays but only acceptable GMAT scores to beat out candidates with higher numbers.
3. TIMING When you submit your application can be as important as what you say in it. At the elite schools, you'd better be in one of the first two rounds.
4. UNDERGRADUATE GPA So don't be discouraged if you feel a little weak in some of the categories that I place high in my ranking. As I write this, I can think of former students at all three of the schools I just mentioned who had glaring weaknesses in important categories but managed to convince the admissions staff that they had something valuable to offer. Keep in mind as you read through the seven items that their ranking applies only to top MBA programs. Less competitive schools have entirely different motivations behind their admissions decisions. After running through the seven items, be sure to look at the GMAT tutorial and the tutorial on writing the essays. And if you're interested in working with an editor on your application essays, feel free to contact us. Good luck. 5. WORK EXPERIENCE This isn't the type of experience you have at work, it's the amount. As applications rise, schools want students with more experience Undergrad GPA is not as important as most applicants believe. But there's a caveat: if your math grades suck it will pay to do some work.
Recommendations are often a better reflection of the recommender than of the applicant. I think they should be dumped.
MBA Recommendations
7. INTERVIEWS Interviews can be very important, but their impact varies widely from school to schooland some schools don't use them at all.
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You need to take the test seriously and study the curriculum for as long as it takes to achieve your target score. Many of my students study with me for a full year, and some study longer. What To Do with Our GMAT Section First, read our responses to 20 common questions that people ask about the GMAT. You can find the link at the bottom of this page. Next, read through our explanation of the five question types that appear on the GMAT. There are three verbal areas (sentence correction, critical reasoning, and reading comprehension) and two math areas (problem solving and data sufficiency). Then read our commentary on non-standard accommodations. You may qualify for extra time on your exam. Many of our students have. Finally, link through to the official test site to download the GMAT information bulletin, find a test center in your area, schedule an exam or contact GMAT customer service. Scheduling Your Test Reserve a time slot as early as possible! Seats are often at a premium, especially as application deadlines approach. And remember the 31-day rule. If you decide to retake the exam you'll need to wait 31 days from your previous test to do so. I've never understood why the contractor that runs the test centers can't simply install more computer terminals in order to relieve the overcrowding. That seems easy enough, but when you're a monopoly, customer service isn't usually your first priority.
Verbal Sentence Correction Critical Reasoning Reading Comprehension Math Problem Solving Data Sufficiency Other GMAT Non-Standard Test Accommodations
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1. What if I take the test more than once? Will schools average my scores? No. I'm not aware of a single school that still averages GMAT scores. Back in the day, policies varied from program to program, but then one year everything changed. Suddenly the schools all agreed to unify their practice. Now virtually all of them accept only your highest score.
2. What about the math and verbal sub-scores? Do schools use them? Yes. In fact, your math sub-score is critically important. Admissions officers are terrified of admitting candidates who will bomb out because they can't handle the math-intensive courses. So getting an acceptable math score is important. The verbal sub-score isn't quite as critical, and applicants who speak English as a second language are often given extra leeway for low verbal scores.
3. What about the AWA scorethe essay? Do schools use it? Almost never. Adding the essay to the GMAT has been a total failure. 4. If the essays are so unimportant, is it okay to skip them? Definitely not. It's true that schools place virtually no weight on your AWA score when making the admissions decision, but ignoring the essays completelyas some unwise test takers have donemakes the applicant look lazy. Write the essays. If nothing else, it's a good way to warm up for the two parts of the exam that matter dearly. 5. Is it easier to improve in math or verbal? Most GMAT prep students who take a class improve more in math than they do in verbal. The concepts in math are more concrete and the answer choices are less ambiguous. 6. What is an acceptable GMAT score? It varies from school to school and candidate to candidate. Applicants from overrepresented work backgroundssuch as banking or consultingneed higher GMAT scores, while candidates from underrepresented work backgrounds can be admitted with significantly lower numbers. Regardless of a candidate's work background, however, being admitted to a top-tier program with a score below 600 is almost impossible. 7. How much can I improve on the GMAT? The GMAT curriculum can be mastered completely. The people who write the exam aren't robots with superhuman brain power. They're ordinary worker bees who follow prescribed formulas to write predictable test questions. Because I've studied the test for so long, I know every concept that appears on the exam. If I can master it, you can master it. 8. What do you score on the GMAT? 800.
9. What is your personal favorite section and least favorite section of the GMAT? Favorite is data sufficiency (lot's of cool techniques to apply), and least favorite is reading comp (too many boring passages about how flies mate). 10. What are your suggestions for how to improve the GMAT? More vividly detailed reading passages about how humans mate. 11. When should I take the test? At least 31 days before your first application deadline. There is now a 30-day waiting period between test administrations for people who want to take the test more than once. Schedule your test early enough to take it multiple times and still make your deadline. 12. Any suggestions for test day? Arrive super early. Sneak Skittles in your shirt pocket. Go commando. 13. Should I use GMASS, the Graduate Management Admissions Search Service? Yes, checking the GMASS box at MBA.com or on your computer on test day will allow schools to recruit you based on your GMAT score and selfreported GPA.
Some Advice: OK, I'm clearly biased because I teach the GMAT exam, but take a GMAT prep class. If nothing else, sitting in a classroom with other test takers will motivate you to study harder.
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Of course, each error has its variations, and the test authors do their best to disguise the errors; but still, they can be memorized. And with practice they can be mastered. Sentence correction was the first section I mastered completely. But You're a Writer! OK, so I had an advantage. Should I Read Grammar Books or Take an English Class?
Verbal Sentence Correction Critical Reasoning Reading Comprehension Math Problem Solving
I get asked this question all the time. It makes sense if you know very little about the test, but those of us who are experienced with it know that the GMAT curriculum is highly specific and very limited in scope. Most of what you would read in a grammar book or learn in an English class isn't tested on the exam. It's better to focus on GMAT-specific grammar, so taking a class that isn't focused on the exam is usually a bad idea. Favorite Grammatical Error Tested?
Misplaced modifier. Simple, easy to fix, most test takers blow it. Total low-hanging fruit. Least Favorite Grammatical Error Tested? Subjunctive mood. Stupid thing to test. Important in the Romance languages; not important in English. Any Study Recommendations? Yes, focus on sentence correction before critical reasoning or reading comp. Of the three verbal question types, sentence correction is the easiest to learn. Links to the official GMAT Web site. First download the GMAT Information Bulletin, then schedule your exam. GMAT Information Bulletin Schedule a GMAT Test Date Contact GMAT Customer Service Some Advice: OK, I'm clearly biased because I teach the GMAT exam, but take a GMAT prep class. If nothing else, sitting in a classroom with other test takers will motivate you to study harder.
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