Every GMAT Verbal problem tests reading and understanding text. But different problems test those skills in different ways, and GMAT Verbal also tests some other less obvious skills. In this article we’ll break down what you need to know for GMAT Verbal, one question type at a time.  Read more

The GMAT isn’t a college exam! Instead of ramping up the difficulty by testing harder material, the GMAT gets harder by making tougher demands on your executive reasoning skills. The way you study for the GMAT can’t just be based on learning math and grammar. It also has to improve your executive reasoning skills and prepare you to take the test effectively. Read more

Before we look at when you should take the GMAT, let’s figure out when you can take the GMAT. There are a few rules that you can’t break, no matter what. Read more

Hopefully, once you’ve done a couple of GMAT practice tests, nothing will surprise you on test day. That includes your official GMAT score. But what does it mean if your official GMAT score doesn’t measure up to your practice tests? Keep reading, and we’ll troubleshoot. Read more

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

Often spurned at the last minute for Harvard Business School, the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and, at times, Columbia Business School, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, possibly more than any other top MBA program, really wants to know that you want to earn your degree there. So we were not at all surprised to see that Wharton has maintained the prompt for its first essay, which requires applicants to explain their professional rationale for wanting to go to Wharton. (Note that by contrast, HBS does not ask candidates to spell out “Why HBS?”) Read more

Fair warning: unless you’re the kind of game-theory geek who watches a football game with your buddies and contributes comments like “the expected value from the Jaguars kicking a field goal was way higher than the expected value from their decision to try to convert fourth down—what were they thinking?!”, you might not enjoy this article very much. Also, if you haven’t studied a lot of GMAT Data Sufficiency, you won’t get much out of what I’m going to say. But if you’re still here, I have a fun (well, fun-ish) way to save you a little time on GMAT Data Sufficiency. Read more

Right GMAT answers are all alike; every wrong answer is wrong in its own way.

With apologies to both Tolstoy and MPrep instructor Ceilidh Erickson, from whom I borrowed that analogy: let’s have a chat about getting GMAT problems wrong. It’s not just about careless errors and forgotten formulas! Read more

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

After maintaining its somewhat unique “choose a photo” essay prompt for three years in a row, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business has completely overhauled its application essays this season, transitioning from that single open-ended and creative option to two short, direct essay questions. And notably, the school has shifted from having no limits at all to having a minimum expectation with respect to word count. In some ways, the minimum sets a range that a lack of limit does not. We have often suggested 1,000 words as a guide for the unlimited Chicago Booth essay, but now, we suggest keeping responses to 500–600 words each. Approximately double the minimum seems to be a reasonable high-end target, though you will not be thrown from the applicant pool for going even higher. That said, we do think 1,000 words would be as high as one might go, and only in exceedingly rare cases. Read more

When you first learn GMAT Data Sufficiency, it seems fairly straightforward. Your task is to determine whether each statement gives you enough information to answer the question. So you look at the question, look at the statement, and think Yes, I can answer the question—sufficient or No, I can’t answer the question—insufficient. Read more

Haaaappy Halloweeeeen, dear reader. What’s that? You’re already annoyed by the trite conceit of this conveniently-timed piece about trick-or-treating? Read more