Welcome to the latest installment of the Big GMAT Skills series, which I am hoping to use to lay out some of the biggest GMAT skills you can start using to get that score you want. Check out the other parts (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), and keep them in mind as you read, as those GMAT skills are still going to be applicable here, just as what’s here is applicable in those articles as well. Read more

What have you been told about applying to business school? With the advent of chat rooms, blogs, and forums, armchair “experts” often unintentionally propagate MBA admissions myths, which can linger and undermine an applicant’s confidence. Some applicants are led to believe that schools want a specific “type” of candidate and expect certain GMAT scores and GPAs, for example. Others are led to believe that they need to know alumni from their target schools and/or get a letter of reference from the CEO of their firm in order to get in. In this series, mbaMission debunks these and other myths and strives to take the anxiety out of the admissions process.

The GMAT is the sole piece of data that is truly consistent from one candidate to another. Therefore, many MBA applicants get carried away and place undue emphasis on it, when the test is only one of several important aspects of an application. In extreme cases, some applicants consider quitting their jobs to focus on the GMAT full time—not a great idea! Read more

Welcome to our fourth and final installment on how to get the most out of your GMAT practice tests! In the first three installments of this series, we talked about: Read more

In the first article in this series, we started looking at the big picture of GMAT Verbal. Is there any point to studying Verbal? Is there any way to know which answers are really right, given that language is so much more subjective than math? Read more

How can you write essays that grab the attention of MBA admissions committees? With this thorough Yale School of Management essay analysis, our friends at mbaMission help you conceptualize your essay ideas and understand how to execute, so that your experiences truly stand out.

We hosted a question-and-answer session with several leading admissions officers earlier this year that featured Yale School of Management (SOM) Assistant Dean for Admissions Bruce DelMonico. Ever the straight shooter, Bruce told us that the SOM would not be changing its application essay prompt for this season. We likely should have just taken him at his word, but just to be sure, we waited to see whether Yale would indeed officially recommit to its single essay, and… it did! The school has made no modifications to its prompt. So, you have one 500-word essay with which to make an impression on the admissions committee. Our Yale School of Management essay analysis follows… Read more

Some Critical Reasoning question types are pretty straightforward about what you’re being asked to do. On a Strengthen the Argument question, for example, many students naturally have a good sense of what they’re supposed to do even if they’ve never specifically studied the question type before. Read more

Even though there’s no “new math” on GMAT Quant, there is still a ton of content to keep on our radar. And just like the tragic studying for a vocab test, we’ll have to learn 200 different things, even though the test is going to only ask us 31 of those things (because we don’t know which 31 things we’ll get asked on our test day). Read more

When admissions officers read your MBA application, they want to feel inspired by your personal statement; they want to know that you have a strong sense of purpose and will work energetically to attain your objectives. Thus, you must ensure that you are not presenting generic or shallow post-MBA goals. Although this problem is not industry-specific, it occurs most often with candidates who propose careers in investment banking or consulting but do not have a true understanding of what these positions entail. Read more

Are you ready to get even more geeky about your GMAT practice tests? ☺️ Read more

Students sometimes tell me that studying GMAT Verbal feels a little pointless. After all, isn’t it true that you either “know it or you don’t”? As it turns out, that’s not really true—although the GMAT definitely tries to make it seem that way! Read more