I have recently been thinking about taking the GMAT at the end of this summer (between my junior and senior years as an UG). Basically my thoughts are:
1) I am not learning anything (in school or out) that will make me better at the test
2) I have more spare time on my hands to prepare now then I will after graduating (hopefully doing consulting at MBB)
3) If I decide to get an MBA, I will definitely be applying within 5 years
I took an online kaplan CAT practice test and got a 700 with no prep. I am working a pretty high pressure internship this summer, but will have 2 weeks at either end to prepare.
My questions are:
1) Is it a good idea to take the GMAT now?
2) If so, how should I prepare? Kaplan course? Just books?
3) How much time should to study if I want to get a 740+?
Any advice appreciated, thanks!
Definitely do it. Your life would suck if you were working 100 hours a week and haven't taken the GMAT yet.
Other popular times to take would be during your senior year winter and right after you graduate within the month of free period before your job.
Take it right after you graduate. That way when you decide to go to business school it will be valid well into your career. You don't know things may happen and you wont follow the typical analyst to bizschool path. Prepare for the test senior year then you'll kill it in the summer when you take the test
Also, be aware that next June (in 2012), the new GMAT will be in effect. I'm planning on taking it once before the new GMAT and once after to see if the new format improves my score. Just something to keep in mind.
yeah, I am a little worried about the GMAT change next june. I think I want to take it before then, because I think it might take a while for preperation materials to catch up to the new style once it changes.
When you send scores to schools (say 3-4 years after you take it), do you have to send ALL your results, or can you just send your best one like the SAT?
In other words, can you harm yourself by taking it without preparing sufficiently (besides the fee, of course)? Or for example, if you do worse on the new GMAT next year, would you have to report it also?
you delegate up to 5 schools you want to send it to at the beginning of the test. You can purchase additional schools after the fact. Most take your best score though.
I guess if you wanted to hedge you could send to schools you don't care about, then if it's good, buy reports for the additional schools.
I only took it once and had no desire to take it again.
So if you take it twice (or more), most places only see your best one? Or do they see them all and only "officially" consider the best?
I wouldn't see myself going to b-school until several years down the road, so I'm not sure what schools i would even send to at the time of testing. That's why I'm asking about sending the scores later on after multiple tries..
And again, I'm just trying to figure out if there's any way I could hurt myself by taking the GMAT without sufficient preparation this year. I wanna give it a shot (especially bc of the format change), and obviously would study for it, but I have other stuff going on (and bschool is way down the road) so it wouldn't be priority #1 at all. I could just wait to take it when I'm more serious about it. Thoughts?
I don't think it will matter. The GMAT format was very strange to me and not because I was out of the test taking phase. I had to study and as an engineer studying never became foreign. I guess it did help that I had worked for several years before taking it because I learned a lot about technical writing that I didn't know when I graduated college. Also, Kaplan is best for you. Form more information you may check this link http://www thedegreeexperts com
wanna b mbb,
As you mentioned you have time during this phase so you should utilize it well. Since this score will be valid for five years so even if you dint do well in your first attempt you will have time to improve your score.
There are various ways you can use to practise for your GMAT. It could be combination of online classes, coaching institutes, practise books and even smart phone applications. Having this combination will be giving you access to different styles and it won’t be monotonous for you.
How much time you should study depends on your capability. There is no one answer to that. Probably practising the tests will help you gauge your performance and you would know if you are satisfied with your score or not.
If not you can devote more time for GMAT preparation.
Thanks! Kavita Singh FutureWorks Consulting
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As mentioned there'll be a GMAT format change in June 2012. If I were to take it next March, and apply to B-school in 3 years-- in theory my score would still be valid, but would it be a disadvantage to submit an old format score?
Hi wanna b mbb,
I strongly recommend you take the GMAT test while you are still in school and are in "study mode". Regarding GMAT prep, we recommend to our clients that they sign up for a GMAT prep class. Candidates should normally leave 2-3 months for test prep.
Remember that MBA.com provides 2 free official GMAT practice tests. We also provide free tips here:
Best,
Conrad and the Stacy Blackman Team
Is it worth studying for GMAT as a undergraduate? (Originally Posted: 07/03/2013)
I've heard that preparing for GMAT while struggling in the work place will make a deadly life, and therefore it is recommended to get a score before graduation. And as far as I've checked out, the score is valid up to 5 yrs. The thing is, do many people really prepare it before graduation?
I took it while in school and heartily recommend doing so. You're in study mode; your brain is still wired to the schedule of 'wake, study books, attend lecture, goof off, sleep, repeat.' When you leave school, all of a sudden you stop focusing on a million things and focus on one thing and one thing alone: work. Yes, at work you continue to multitask, but work consumes your life. You come home and wonder how your kitchen got so dirty, how your dirty laundry multiplied so quickly, how much unsorted mail is on your counter, "how did the whole month go by so quickly!?"
If you can get it out of the way before starting your job, go for it. Chances are you will be applying with 4 or less years of work experience, in which case your score will still be valid as long as you didn't take it before senior year.
Also took it in undergrad here. I took it right before senior year and crushed it without having to do too much because I was still in school mode; might have been nice to take it a little later because I'm kind of in a pickle with having to go pretty soon unless I want to lose my score.
I would kill to take a month off work to do nothing but study for the test. Its easy to forget stuff you learned at the beginning of your studies, so you have to review material often, and that stretches out your study plan even longer. Bit of a catch-22 scenario. If you can do it over the summer between semesters, I would recommend it.
I really appreciate your awesome advices. I made up my mind to prepare it in the senior year. Thank you :) !!
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