A GMAT gremlin is an imaginary creature that gives you terrible advice. 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.

Some might find it ironic that formal managerial experience is not a prerequisite for admission to a top MBA program. It is important to keep in mind that an MBA education is for those who aspire to become managers and is not exclusive to those who already are managers. If you are fretting about the fact that you have not had any subordinates to date and feel that overseeing a staff is a prerequisite to gaining admission to a top program, you are adhering to a myth and should worry no more. Instead, think about how you have simply excelled in your position and made the most of the leadership opportunities before you. Read more

The GMAT Official Guide is a great teaching tool—all of the Verbal and Quant problems in the book are retired problems from real GMAT exams of yesteryear, so the “OG,” as we like to call it, is one of the best sources of practice problems for students. Read more

I want to debunk a few common GMAT myths about timing and scoring on the test. I’m going to try to do it in the best way that I, as a graduate of an MBA program, know how: with the help of Microsoft Excel!* Read more

Today’s post will be short and sweet, but it will be useful. It has come to my attention lately that words ending with ‘ing’ can be a point of confusion for students. What are these [verb]ing words? How do they [verb]ing work? Why the [verb] do I need to understand this [female relative] [verb]ing subject for the GMAT?

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How can you write essays that grab the attention of MBA admissions committees? With this thorough Cornell Johnson 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 can almost hear the collective sigh of relief from many of this year’s applicants to the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University as they realize that the program’s well-known (and often dreaded) Table of Contents essay prompt is gone. The “impact” essay question first added two years ago, which asks candidates to envision how they will contribute to the MBA experience, is still in place, as is the school’s straightforward approach to the standard goals statement, though a mini essay has been tacked on to that one. In place of the Table of Contents essay is one Cornell Johnson is calling its “Back of Resume” essay, for which applicants may submit a traditional written composition or a multimedia file/link. Despite the changes, the school’s suite of prompts still covers where candidates want to go and what they want to do after they graduate, their anticipated student experience, and what they feel are the most important facets of their lives, thereby allowing applicants to create a nicely rounded impression of themselves for the admissions committee to evaluate. Our more detailed Cornell Johnson essay analysis follows… Read more

Ah, fall. The days are still pretty long, the snow is a distant memory (for a couple more months at least), and I get to work through the new problems in the GMAT Official Guide 2019 edition!

That’s right, the Official Guide for GMAT® Review 2019, aka the OG, has landed. Let’s dive right in! Read more