Stage 1 – GMAT
To the uninitiated who dare to ask what GMAT is, here it does. GMAT is Graduate Management Admission Test. It is the admission test of choice for all the MBA b-schools of US and rest of the world. GMAT is the first and most important part of the quest for admission to a b-school.
The very first thing to do once you have decided to appear for GMAT is to prepare the schedule for the next year. Needless to say that GMAT can be taken throughout the year but the ideal time for giving GMAT would be in the months of June or July. I say so because this will ensure that one has sufficient time to reappear for GMAT, if gods forbid he\she messes up the first try.
Next, try to gather as much information about GMAT as you can. The official website for GMAT is http://www.mba.com/, on this site one can get preliminary information about GMAT and also register for it online. One thing to remember about GMAT is that, in countries like India, passport is the only official identification that is accepted. So if you intend to appear for GMAT then get yourself a passport, if you don’t already have one. Create a user id for yourself on http://www.mba.com/ right away but you can wait for sometime before you register for GMAT.
Another website of interest to you should be http://www.pagalguy.com/, most people already know about this one, but for those who don’t. This is the mother of all MBA forums. Make PG your friend, and people on PG will help you along the way in GMAT preparations, b-school application and other very many things along your way to the b-schools. You also here will really get to know your competitors and also future colleagues.
Here, I go again talking about another website, http://www.princetonreview.com/ , this is a real gem. Here you will be able to get all the information regarding the entire journey of a MBA applicant. This site is perhaps the best source of preliminary information regarding the specific b-schools.
Anyways, let’s get back to GMAT. GMAT is a Computer Adaptive Test i.e. the level of difficulty of questions changes depending on the accuracy with which you answer the previous questions. The better you answer, the harder the test gets.
Format of GMAT (Duration 4 hours)
As far as the format for GMAT goes we have three sections viz. Analytical Writing Assessment, Quantitative section, and Verbal section.
1. Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA)
The GMAT exam begins with the Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA). The AWA consists of two separate writing tasks – Analysis of an Issue and Analysis of an Argument. Test takers are allowed 30 minutes to complete each essay.
2. Quantitative Section
Following an optional ten-minute break, the Quantitative section of the GMAT test begins. This section contains 37 multiple-choice questions of two question types – Data Sufficiency and Problem Solving. Test takers are allowed a maximum of 75 minutes to complete the entire section.
3. Verbal Section
After a second optional ten-minute break, the Verbal Section of the GMAT test begins. This section contains 41 multiple-choice questions of three question types – Reading Comprehension, Critical Reasoning, and Sentence Correction. Test takers are allowed a maximum of 75 minutes to complete the entire section.
Scoring in GMAT
The AWA section of GMAT is scored on a scale of 1 to 6 with 6 being the best. A score of 5.0 is considered sufficient with anything equal to more than 4.0 sufficing.
In case of both the verbal and quantitative section GMAT gives raw scores in the range of 1 to 60. When the raw scores of these two sections are combined the final GMAT score is received which is out of 800. Scores above 700 are good and scores above 750 are exceptional.
Books to Refer
KAPLAN
This is a very simple book and one should breeze through the book in 2 weeks if one has been studying for CAT and in 1 month if not studying for CAT.
OG11 – Official Guide, 11th edition
This is a bible and one must solve each and every question in this book. If possible solve the verbal part twice.
Kaplan 800
This is a book which has significantly tougher question especially for quantitative.
Princeton Review
This is a book for people who are aiming in between 600 to 700. So don’t use it.
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Finally an admit
I have in the past week gots admits for MBA from “Purdue University–West Lafayette (Krannert)” & “Ohio State University (Fisher)” ranked 21 & 22 respectively in US. This comes as a relief than any great sense of achievement.
There are many things that remain to be done before I can actually begin my MBA. I haven’t recieved news of scholarships from these both schools, so waiting for that with baited breath. A lot many formalties like financial proof & visa are remaining but at the moment, feels good to be admitted.
It makes no sense for me to this story of “Path to MBA” at this point, so late on in the journey.
Let me begin from the beginining … before the first MBA ding, before the mad rush for applications, before the TOEFL woes, before the GMAT triumph & the CAT debacle(s).
Continued in next posts…
