How to Get Into the GMAT in a Week

Transcription

1 Getting into Business Schools The GMAT and the Application Essay: Two important components The GMAT is a standardized test in 3 sections Verbal section - 75 minutes to answer 41 Critical Reasoning, Sentence Correction and Reading Comprehension questions. Quantitative section - 75 minutes to answer 37 multiple choice Problem Solving and Data Sufficiency questions. Analytical Writing Assessment section - two 30 minute essays Analysis of an argument, and Analysis of an issue. 1

2 How is the test administered? only available as a Computer-Adaptive Test ("CAT") enables the test questions to be adjusted to match your ability. You are provided with one question at a time, which is of low, medium or high difficulty. The difficulty of the next question is determined by whether or not you answer each question correctly. Early questions are important So the exam is doing a rough search for your most likely verbal and math ranges early in the test. The questions begin at a moderate level and either increase or decrease in difficulty, depending on whether they are answered correctly or not. Then, as the examination progresses, the difficulty is adjusted in increasingly smaller increments as the system zeros in on your "true" score. 2

3 Question types and sequence are driven by the variety of question types that have been answered You cannot skip questions on the test. If you do not know the answer, you need to guess try to eliminate as many of the answer choices as you can before guessing Once you have confirmed an answer it is not possible to change it MBA programs use linear regression to measure the predictive value of multiple variables (e.g. work experience, personal essays, recommendations, and applicants' average GMAT scores) on success in core courses. 3

4 You'll receive four GMAT scores Quantitative scaled sub score, ranging from 0-60 Verbal scaled sub score, ranging from 0-60 Overall scaled score, ranging from This is an overall score that is the combination of your 0-60 Math and Verbal scores The cumulative score is what business schools primarily use. Analytical Writing Assessment score, ranging from 0-6. This is a separate score that is less important than the cumulative score. The test is graded on a preset curve Your scaled score will correspond to a certain percentile. An overall score of 630, for example, corresponds approximately to the 90th percentile, meaning that 90 percent of test takers scored at or below this level. 4

5 Sample approximate percentiles 96-99th percentile 79-90th percentile th percentile th percentile 500 Percentiles will vary from year to year. Average GMAT scores of some MBA programs in 2003 Stanford University Cornell University Georgetown University University of Pittsburgh

6 A school s average GMAT figure is deceptive because it includes many students who were accepted for favorable traits such as diversity or unusual accomplishment or success. These allow them to gain acceptance with a lower score. The personal statement and supplemental application essays are an applicant s best opportunity to demonstrate that they are more than just another GMAT score and undergrad GPA. 6

7 Be Interesting. Be Concise. Why an MBA? Nearly all applications will feature a question that asks about your reasons for wanting to obtain an MBA at this stage of your career. Your answer should be about whether you're qualified, whether you're prepared, and where you're headed. You should consider preparing an answer using 1. Your long- and short-term goals. 2. Your relevant past experience. 3. An assessment of your strengths and the gaps in your experience/education. 4. How an MBA program will bridge your past and future and fill in those gaps. 5. Why this particular MBA program is a good match for your needs. 7

8 Don't Use Company Jargon. Describe various aspects of your professional life--your leadership skills, your career trajectory, your triumph in the face of obstacles, and so on--but do so in language that is as accessible to your reader as it is to you. Don't Bore the Reader. Do Be Interesting. Admissions officers have to read hundreds of essays, and they must often skim. Abstract rumination has no place in an application essay. Admissions officers aren't looking for a new way to view the world; they're looking for a new way to view you 8

9 Consider these two examples: Before: I am a compilation of many years of experiences gained from overcoming the relentless struggles of life After: I was six years old, the eldest of six children in the Bronx, when my father was murdered Use personal & professional detail. Show, Don't Tell! Good essays are concrete and grounded in detail both personal and quantified professional detail. If you want to relate a personal quality, do so through your experiences and quantifiable accomplishments without merely asserting it. 9

10 Do Be Concise. Don't Be Wordy. Wordiness not only takes up valuable space, but also confuses the important ideas you're trying to convey. Short sentences are more forceful because they are direct and to the point. Do address your weaknesses. Don't dwell on them. At some point you will have an opportunity to explain deficiencies in your record. You should take advantage of it. Be sure to explain them adequately: "I partied too much to do well on tests" will not help your application. The best tactic is to spin the negatives into positives by stressing your attempts to improve; for example, mention your poor first-quarter grades briefly, then describe what you did to bring them up. 10

11 Do Vary Your Sentences and Use Transitions The best essays contain a variety of sentence lengths mixed within any given paragraph. Also, remember that transition is not limited to words like nevertheless, furthermore or consequently. Good transition flows from the natural thought progression of your argument. Do Use Active Voice Verbs. Passive-voice expressions are verb phrases in which the subject receives the action expressed in the verb. Passive voice employs a form of the word to be, such as was or were. Overuse of the passive voice makes prose seem flat and uninteresting. 11

12 Don't Wander. Do Stay Focused. Many applicants try to turn the application essay into a complete autobiography. They find it difficult to pack so much information into such a short essay. Their essays end up sounding more like a list of experiences than a coherent, wellorganized thought. Make sure that every sentence in your essay exists solely to support one central theme. Do Revise, Revise, Revise. The first step in an improving any essay is to cut, cut, and cut some more. Rigorously examine every paragraph to see that they contain & develop only one thought and that there is support for every claim. 12

13 Develop your own Board of Directors who are willing and even eager for you to succeed but who are qualified to help you make the changes in essays, preparation, and performance that are needed. Do Seek Multiple Opinions. Ask your essay reviewers to keep these questions in mind: Does my essay have one central theme? Does my introduction engage the reader? Does my conclusion provide closure? Do my introduction and conclusion avoid summary? Do I use concrete experiences as supporting details? Have I used active-voice verbs wherever possible? Is my sentence structure varied, or do I use all long or short sentences? 13

14 More questions for reviewers to keep in mind Are there any clichés, such as "cutting-edge" or "learned my lesson"? Do I use transitions appropriately? What about the essay is memorable? What's the worst part of the essay? What parts of the essay need elaboration or are unclear? What parts of the essay do not support my main argument? Is every single sentence crucial to the essay? This must be the case. What does the essay reveal about my personality? 14