WHAT GOES WRONG – THE REACTIVE AND “SCATTERED” APPROACH
- Many aspirants tend to contemplate and research a wide variety of programs BEFORE taking the GMAT.
- Thus precious GMAT preparation time is lost in the earlier part of the year
- And, unless you are among the top 5% global academic cadre, reaching 700+ in the GMAT does take 5-6 months of highly organized preparation (especially for working professionals)
- By the middle of the year, pressure builds up – leaving less and less time (along with work) to ace the GMAT
- “Quick-fixes” are applied and in the compressed time range, the candidates, on an average miss their true potential by an average 40-50 points.
- With less clarity on score, we send additional score reports and spend more too!
- The above is a relatively “no loss” situation; the greater loss is the reduced probability of making it to your “Dream School” and in a “Dream Budget”
WHAT CAN BE DONE – THE EFFICIENT STRATEGY
- If you are very keen on gaining admission to a Top Tier international MBA program, FOCUSING on the GMAT AS FIRST PRIORITY is a must (Some executive MBA programs could be the only exception)
- Invest 6 months of gradual, fundamentals-based preparation for the GMAT
- Be convinced that you have done your best and when your GMAT practice scores reach the “maxima”
- Book a 15 day forward GMAT test date
- Ensure that you take an off from work atleast a week before the actual date
- With your systematic approach, you will now have some idea about the estimated score (with a variation of 5 percent?)
- With such a score, you can easily narrow down on 5 MBA programs in the portfolio
- Finally with a GMAT score in hand, you can plan the next step – that is
- If you are on target, planning out your application is the next step OR
- If you are below the mark, a second attempt or changing you application set – depending on your standards and etc.
MBA APPLICATION COSTS (TOEFL applies to international applicants and may be waived)
- GMAT/GRE score reporting per additional program (free for 5 with GMAT) – US$25.00 (www.mba.com)
- TOEFL score reporting per additional program (free for 5 with GMAT) – US$17.00 (www.toefl.org)
- TOEFL Exam Fees – US$165.00
- GMAT Exam Fees – US$250.00
To your Success,
The MAG Team