About: GMAT, MBA, Preparation, Quantitative, Verbal
It is said that those who can’t do teach… In October 2009, I struggled for a month to achieve a good enough level of comprehension on the quantitative part of the GMAT to give me a fair shot at getting a 700 score but to no avail. I then concluded that instead of learning for the GMAT, I should teach it. This is the result of that deluded conclusion. By teaching the GMAT and making it available publicly I have forced myself to organize and write down my confused thoughts and tidbits of knowledge into a comprehensive guide. Will this be enough to get into a good MBA? Time will tell….
What is the GMAT?
The GMAT is the Graduate Management Admissions Test, also known as the hell you must go through if you want to do a good MBA.
The GMAT tests the candidates on a number of subjects but it mostly tests reasoning and logic abilities.
It consists of three parts; the Analytical Writing Assessment, the Verbal Section and the dreaded Quantitative Section. The full test takes a marathon three and a half hours to do.
Analytical Writing Assessment (1h10mins)
- An Issue Essay
- An Argument Essay
The Verbal Section (75mins)
The Quantitative Section(75mins)
- Problem Solving
- Data Sufficiency
The GMAT is scored on 800 points, good schools generally expect a score around the 700 mark. While most MBA schools do give benchmarks of the points they expect you to get, the important information is the percentile score you achieved. For good MBA’s you need to be in the 80th to 90th percentile (as compared to all other GMAT test takers in a year).
The test is an adaptive computer test, this means that for each answer that you give, the next question will be either easier or harder, in order to get 700 or more, you need to keep your questions at the hard level. It is always therefore recommended to spend that little extra time on the first questions to get up to the hard questions quickly and try to stay there.
All answers on the GMAT (apart from the Writing Assessment) are multiple choice assessment where you have to choose the best of five.
What concepts are tested?
Quantitative Section
The quantitative section was for me the hardest of all, not only does the GMAT test advanced (for me anyway) mathematical concepts but also expects you to use logic in understanding the questions. No calculators allowed on the GMAT so better revise those multiplication tables (7×9 anyone?). The most important topics to look at when preparing for the GMAT are:
- Number Properties / Prime Numbers / Absolute Numbers / Arithmetic Sequence / Standard Deviation
- Operations of Fractions / Converting Fractions into Percentages / Factorisation of Exponents
- Algebraic Expressions / Quadratic Equations / FOIL & Inverse FOIL
- Equalities / Inequalities
- Percentage Change & Increase / Ratios / Proportions / Variance
- Probabilities / Arrangements / Convertions
- Permutations & Combinations
- Time, Work & Rate Problems
- Venn Diagrams / Excel Solution / Set Theory
- Linear Equations / Cartesian Geometry /Rectangular Coordinates
- Exponents and Square Roots
- Prime Factorisation
- Absolute Values
- Solid Geometry/ Pythagorean Triplets / Angles
- Learning Mathematical shortcuts!!
Verbal Reasoning
This section consists of 41 questions, 16 of which are sentence correction questions while the remaining questions are a mix of Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension.
The verbal reasoning for me is easier as it is more based on logic and reasoning than specific knowledge. It is a case of learning a few tricks about how the GMAT works, what they expect you to know and how to think. Below are the basics of what to look at, each section includes a few tips as to how the GMAT expects you to think.
- Grammar concepts (sentence correction)
- Passage reading and understanding (called reading comprehension)
- Logic and Reasoning (understanding smaller passages)
Analytical Writing Assesment
It is your ability to write a concise and well constructed essay in a short period of time that is tested (30 mins for each essay). You will need to construct an argument, expose the flaws in the assumptions, reason, and conclude all of that in a short space of time.
How did I prepare?
In my own preparation for the GMAT I have used a number of books as well as schools in Paris and London. I have also found a number of websites, twitter feeds and Ipod applications useful.
Schools:
I initially took the Turboprep GMAT Preparation Course in London, with Sonny Pitchumani as the teacher. This is a “hotel based” course with a few students coming together in the conference room of a hotel and being tought for 5 days solid. I thought this course was an excellent introduction to the GMAT which went in depth on some topics. The teacher was excellent and had clear experience of the GMAT as it is something he does a few times a year. The only downside I found to the course was that the material sent to us prior to the course could be immensely improved. It is all sent electronically and is huge (over 1,300 pages to print and read) with no clear formatting and follow through from one chapter to the next. This meant that I only managed to print a small percentage of all the papers required and would constantly loose track of where I was and what I was learning.
I then went to Paris to take the MBA Center Express Course, they have a large and comfortable location in the city center of Paris with three large classrooms. I think their website and general marketing is excellent but found that it fell short of expectations on a number of fields. The semi intensive classes are huge with an average of 25 to 30 people per class, there seems to be little organisation between the management and the teachers. Teachers each have to create and teach their own material, there is absolutely no unified teaching syllabus between all the teachers, I can only guess that this is what they mean by “a unique method in the preparation to tests” on their website, it is unique in that there is no method whatsoever. Furthermore, another big issue I have with the MBA Centre is that people are allowed to join the lessons at any time, while this makes commercial sense, it means that teachers constantly have to adapt their lessons to the new comers and thus, inevitably, slow down the rest of the class. The center also lacks a quiet room where students can study and have access to GMAT books and other materials. The computer room is constantly used for lessons and is a high traffic area.
Having said that, I think the teachers of the MBA Center in Paris are really excellent and know their material inside out. I was very impressed with the quality of teaching, if only it could all be better organised. I would recommend to anyone to take the week-end intensive course at the center, the week-end intensive course was badly organised but there were only 4 of us taking it and we got an excellent teacher. The advanced week was done by two other excellent teachers who really brought in their enthusiasm to the class and made it happen, the only problem I had with it was that it was supposed to run from 9am until 4pm but for the afternoon part we were told to go and take tests in the computer room on our own, tests that are available to us in any case. We would rather have preferred having more teaching hours.
After the fiasco of the MBA Center, I decided to go and see if Kaplan was better. The online material is extraordinary and well thought out, the lessons are good and the facilities are average. Coffee is cheaper than at the MBA Center.
Group Study:
The most effective thing yet and the biggest advantage of attending one of the GMAT prep school is that you are then able to tap into a network of like minded people who are dedicated to improving their GMAT score. I enjoyed forming groups with other students to practice exam questions, meet for coffee, discuss strategies and teach each other.
Websites:
I have found a number of useful websites in my preparations for the GMAT, most offer free GMAT tests, usually with the hope that you would then sign up for whatever lessons that website is offering.
GMAT Tips & Tricks
- GMAT Club maybe the best GMAT related website out there, has everything: tests, forums, answers, tips. All well organised and well presented.
Free GMAT Practice Tests
- GMAT Test Prep Review, a quite basic site but contains a few sample questions on each GMAT topic so always good to go and spend a few hours on to do some practice.
- The Princeton Review has a couple of free online full length practice tests and some basic pointers, you need to register on the website to get access to the test.
- 4tests.com has a free GMAT practice test but also has annoying pop ups advertising viagra and gambling.
- Manhattan GMAT has a good online test but again you need to register and get ready for the subsequent onslaught of emails offering various GMAT prep courses.
- 800 Score, I found this to be the best online provider of tests, it is the only online test I found that was adaptive and had an excellent review system after your test is done. You need to pay per test or buy a package of a few tests.
- Test Practice.net has a 5 tests to do, no registration required, quick set up, good if you have a few minutes to waste.
- Veritas Free GMAT Test has a free test but you need to register and suffer being on their email list.
- Peterson’s GMAT has yet again another test but you will need to register.
Most important of all I created all those How to’s and GMAT guides you can find on my website.
Books:
- The Dummy’s guide to the GMAT
- The Kaplan Math workbook
- The GMAT official review guide 12th edition
- The Princeton Review GMAT book
- The Peterson’s GMAT Preparation Book
About: GMAT, MBA, Preparation, Quantitative, Verbal
