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Day 8: MBA Admission Tests-GMAT/GRE/EA

Posted on | by lakshmi adithi | Leave a Comment on Day 8: MBA Admission Tests-GMAT/GRE/EA

At CareerLabs, in our experience with 1000s of GMAT & GRE candidates and MBA applicants, the main reason most quit their MBA plans are due to the dreaded B-School admissions tests!

So it came as no surprise, that even in the poll for Day 7 of the 21-day MBA Plan, the tests topped the list of hurdles!

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What makes the MBA Admissions tests so difficult?

If you ask a marathon runner about the hardest part of the marathon, you may think that is “hitting the wall”! But the truth is that the hardest part for many is training for the marathon. It is so so true for tests too.

What applicants don’t understand is that applying to an MBA requires one to set some dedicated time aside for it. You have to make space for MBA in your life!

One way to fall into this habit will be to start by preparing for the admissions test like the GMAT/GRE/ EA (think 1-2 hours of studying per day with extended hours over weekend for about 2-3 months). Later, this time could be used for either improving one’s analytical skills by taking additional certifications or other leadership initiatives or prepping for the essays.

Anyways, making time for the tests and getting into the “test taker” mode is what you need to do. Remember slogging it out for your college entrance tests? Back to being a student. Typical preparation time for these tests might be anywhere between 90- 150 hours.

Consider the test as a project, plan for it, track progress on it and take it as soon as possible. In fact, the moment you decide to do an MBA, it is better to start planning for these tests.

GMAT vs GRE vs EA- A Quick Look

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Which one to choose? Many may say that one test might be easier than the others. I say, pick your poison! You do you, always!

13 questions to help you decide between GMAT, GRE and EA

  1. What is the preferred test for your targeted program? Like GMAT being a preferred test for management education. Check it first. MEM programs do not accept GMAT. Many B-School and Graduate School programs went test-optional or waived off the tests completely this past year. EA was recently accepted by a few schools even for their full-time MBA program.
  2. If there are more tests being accepted, does one offer a higher validity over the others? This might be a good question to ask if you are unsure about when you want to start your program. But GMAT and GRE Test scores last for long- 5 years!
  3. How often can you take these tests? This might be a concern if you are not confident about your preparation and especially if you definitely want to get into B-School at any costs and have limited time.
  4. What is the mode of delivery of these tests? A paper-based test, computer-based test or a test that can be taken at home? Policies keep changing around these.
  5. What does the test cover? Most of these will have a quantitative section, verbal section and a writing assessment. Of course, depending on the tests, the focus and emphasis on each of these sections change. How they get computed in the overall score also is different.
  6. Does it matter to you that you have the ability to skip questions?
  7. For each of these tests, questions will change based on your answers for the previous tests. GMAT, GRE and EA have different ways of adapting. Will this be a factor?
  8. How strong is your vocabulary? How comfortable are you learning this? GRE emphasises more on vocabulary whereas GMAT is about critical reasoning and reading comprehension skills. GMAT does lay more emphasis on grammar.
  9. Are you used to using a calculator for your tests? GRE allows it while GMAT doesn’t.
  10. How comfortable are you with the GMAT’s Integrated Reasoning section? It is specifically designed for B-Schools and is an unique feature that tests for real world problem-solving skills. It is not computer-adaptive and is reported separately.
  11. What are your strong points- quantitative or verbal section? For which section will you need more preparation?
  12. How much time would you have to work on preparing for these tests? Depending on what you are good at, you may want to consider one over the other.
  13. Are you likely to change your mind about the program? For example, you are deciding between MS in Computer Science and an MIM program. Or weighing pros and cons for MBA vs MEM. In this case, as GRE is accepted by both Graduate Schools & Business Schools, it might be a safer option.

Oh, did you change your mind now? Go back to Question 1!

What if I don’t get my targeted score?

At the end of the day, it is an one-time test and your performance on it is not everything.

There are programs and other MBA alternatives that do not need ANY tests.

Many programs that have gone test-optional this past year and some dis away with them altogether.

There are programs that offer their own (easier to tackle) tests. Like IE Global Admissions Test or the Warwick test.

So there is always a way out!

What now?

I recommend that you take a diagnostic test (of your favourite test) to understand where you stand. Then start the preparation.

P.S.

One thing though. After days of slogging away at a test while balancing the rest of your life, when you get that 760 on the GMAT or the 330 on the GRE, you are sure to feel top of the world. Happy studying!

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Day 2: Post MBA Career Goals

Posted on | by lakshmi adithi | Leave a Comment on Day 2: Post MBA Career Goals

In every B-School application, there is one common question about your career goals.

On Day 1, we did find out the many reasons why you might want to do an MBA. Both for you and the B-School, the most tangible of these reasons would be what you intend to do after your MBA. The success of a B-School program is also measured by how many candidates they had placed within 3 months of graduation. While there is definitely more to an MBA than just the recruitment aspect, it is no doubt that a lot of importance is given to the employment statistics.

Short-term career goals:

What do you hope to do immediately after the MBA?

For answering these, you need to be as specific as possible.

Think of a specific role in a domain (sector/industry) and in a particular location. Like a VP of Marketing in Company ABC in the healthcare space in the US. Or Senior Product Manager at FinTech Firm XYZ in Berlin.

And the B-School will strive to help you in getting this dream job. Hence it is no surprise that a Career Services person might offer advice and inputs on your application and have a say in you getting an admit.

Often, many do an MBA for the triple switch- function/role, sector and geography.

Long-term career goals:

Where do you want to be 5-10 years down the line? What is the big legacy you will leave behind? How would you have made your alma mater proud? Would you be the next world leader or the CEO of the biggest tech firm?

Big questions. B-Schools do expect a lot out of their students and alumni.

So how do I figure out my career goals?

While no one is going to hold a gun to your head and make sure you exactly achieve these very same goals you mentioned, you have to make sure that these are realistic, achievable and something in alignment with your past achievements. What will you be willing to do to achieve these goals? WHY are these your goals?

This is the hardest part. How do you present your goals so that they seem genuine and not contrived? Here are some steps.

  • Thoroughly research your targeted role and domain. The best way for this is to schedule an informational interview with someone who is in this position in your dream company. Research on the hiring practices of the company.
  • Spend time on understanding the employment statistics. Get an understanding of what all does the B-School offers to help you with the goals. Check out HEC Paris Employment Report here- they do a great job in showing function and sector changes.
  • Read up more on how Career Services have been helping them. For example, Darden has the Pre-MBA &Year-long Career Skill Development & The Second Year coaching programs.
  • Show commitment towards your targeted career goals by taking steps to know your targeted domain/sector/industry better. For example, take that Google Adwords course or a professional certification like the CFA which could make you more attractive to prospective employers.
  • Follow the career paths of alumni and get first-hand information from current students to get more confidence in the B-School. If they did it, so can you.
  • Follow the trends in your domain.
  • Follow the trends in employment at the B-School. Some schools like IIM-B EPGP (now known as the MBA, one year full-time programme) have data right from 2010 in their EPGP Placement Statistics section.

Start your goal-setting today!

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Day 7: The typical MBA Application

Posted on | by lakshmi adithi | Leave a Comment on Day 7: The typical MBA Application

Sometimes knowing what is needed to be done & the efforts needed for it may help us in deciding if we may want to pursue it further. For example, the MBA.

What does it take to put together a typical MBA application?

The Elements of the MBA Application

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Resume: Aha, knowing how important the B-School Resume is, we already discussed this is in the Day 6 article in the series. The 1-page ultra-compact B-School Resume would be a nice condensed summary of all your top professional and personal accomplishments. To many application readers, this is the favorite starting point.

Application Form: The application form will take in your contact information, details about your education, family information, professional experiences and more. Why is this important? Your background- your undergraduate major, occupation, age, ethnicity, gender, etc. do have a say! There are many short answer questions in the application form and using these to show the complete information about your profile should be your goal.

Essays: These will form the heart of the application. Through your essays, the Admissions Committee (AdCom) gets to know you both at a professional and a personal level. The essay questions vary from school-to-school and you can get an idea of what matters to the B-School more through the essays. What’s in an essay, you ask? A LOT! More on this in the next few days.

Letter(s) of recommendation: The AdCom wants to know what others have to say about you – sometimes being too specific about it. So other than the common LoR from GMAC, your recommenders might have to fill out individual detailed LoRs for different B-Schools (Sigh!). These letters of recommendation needs to come from someone who knows your performance in a work setting, preferably from a current or former direct supervisor. Mostly, all recommendations are to be submitted electronically. You will be filling in details about your recommenders and they will receive separate access to fill out or upload the letters.

Test Scores: The dreaded test scores which has spawned a big business for the test prep industry. Love them or hate them, these are here to stay. The preferred exam for management programs is GMAT as it was specifically designed for B-School. But tests like GRE, EA are all equally accepted. Some B-Schools like IE or Warwick may also admit applicants through their own tests.

English Proficiency Tests: If you are an applicant whose first language wasn’t English, then you may have to prove your proficiency in English through standardized tests like TOEFL, IELTS Academic, Duolingo and others.

Transcripts: A transcript is a detailed summary of your grades (for all the courses you have taken) that is issued by your university (typically Registrar’s office or Academic Affairs office). You will receive them in sealed envelopes and will be submitting a transcript for every degree you hold post high school. Typically the official transcript will be a document, either on paper or online, that lists all individual courses you have completed and also mentions the grading scale. For many universities, at the time of application, only unofficial transcripts are required.

The MBA Interview: There is the much anticipated (& dreaded) interview which can be the deal-breaker. The interview serves as an opportunity to you to show that you are the same as on paper(through the rest of the application). Typically done by AdCom members, second year students or alumni, there are so many variants of these. Technically, you start prepping for an interview right from when you put your application together.

Application Fee

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Applying to B-Schools is a costly affair. But luckily many B-Schools may also give full or partial application fee waivers if you visit campus or attend their virtual events or if you happen to have a high GMAT score too! For example, take the Tepper Chart my Path and get an application fee waiver.

Of course, some of these elements of the MBA Application need deeper probing. Do keep an eye out for more on these. Until next time, happy planning!

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