Are You Ready to Take the GMAT?

Are you ready to take the GMAT?

Getting into an MBA program can be terribly easy. Getting into the right MBA program, however, takes more than an application and a willingness to empty your bank account. You’ve got to be able to prove to the admissions committee that you’ve got what it takes, and acing the GMAT is one part of that process. If you want to do that, you need to be ready to take the GMAT.

Courtesy of shakeoffthegrind.com

So, what do you need to do to be ready? Doing well on the GMAT takes plenty of prep, but many folks don’t really know how to prep effectively. In fact, how well you do on the GMAT isn’t as much related to what you study as it is to how you study. To be ready to take the GMAT, you need to:

• Be focused both mentally and physically. You’re going to dedicate a month or more to study, so you need to be in top shape.
• Know what to study. You need someone to tell you what to do and how to do it so that you have all of your bases covered. A good GMAT book will do exactly that.
• Be ready to answer every question. If you leave certain questions unanswered, you lose points, and fast. You need to know how to eliminate this point loss.
• Learn to think like the GMAT thinks. Sometimes, there’s a world of difference between what’s correct on the GMAT and what’s correct according to common sense. You have to know how to tell the difference.
• Understand the GMAT structure. Know what principles the GMAT operates from, and take some of the practice tests offered by the makers of the GMAT.
• Have a score goal in mind. Figure out where you need to hit. If you want to get into the very top MBA programs, you’ll need a 700 or better. Competitive programs will want between 650 and 680. Know what your program is looking for and be ready to hit that goal.
• Know your weaknesses. Practice tests are great for figuring out what kinds of questions you suck at. From there, you can custom-tailor your study plan to shore up those weaknesses while doing a minimal amount of prep work on the areas you’re likely to knock out of the park.

Getting ready to take the GMAT is about more than rote memorization. It’s about preparing your whole self – mind and body – and attuning yourself to a specific, results-oriented strategy.