#mbarankings

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 5: Demystifying MBA Rankings

Posted on | by lakshmi adithi | Leave a Comment on Day 5: Demystifying MBA Rankings

Ok, out with it. Go ahead. Ask me which MBA rankings are the best.

Well, all the rankings are good! Say, WHAT?

Let’s open this can of worms.

Because you see, as always, it depends. On the methodology of the rankings. On who is being surveyed. On what they are asked. On how & when the data was collected. On, of course, YOUR criteria & how you intend to use these rankings in your decision of choosing a B-School.

Let’s check out the Top MBA Rankings

Not sure if you have seen a ‘Yellow Pages’ before (check the banner image above). It was a nice big book (with yes, ‘yellow’ pages) full of listings of commercial businesses (based on what services they were offering).

To me, MBA Rankings are the yellow pages of business education. They can help you to distinguish between various programs. They are great lists to get familiar with the various B-Schools. The only difference between the different rankings is from the emphasis laid on various parameters. Let me introduce you to 5 of the most influential and popular MBA rankings from the media houses.

The Financial Times (FT) Rankings: These are among the most influential globally (and the most popular among my clients in India & Asia). A global ranking that covers 143 schools, getting into the top 20 is indeed prestigious for the participating schools. INSEAD, LBS, Chicago Booth, IESE, and Yale are in the top 5 schools this year. Though the survey is based on 20 different measures, compensation & internationalization get a lot of weightage. (Methodology here).

U.S. News & World Report : An US-only ranking, this is based on 8 criteria. High importance is given to student selectivity (25%) and peer assessment score by B-School Deans & Directors(25%). The majority of US applicants trust this ranking more. (Methodology here).

Forbes: This ranking is based on just one parameter- the return on investment(ROI) achieved by alumni five years post-graduation (5 -year MBA gain). There are 3 rankings- Best Domestic MBAs, Best 1-year International Programs & Best 2- year International Programs. All of these are published once in 2 years (latest is from 2019). (Methodology here).

Bloomberg Business Week: This fully relies on customer satisfaction. Weightage is given to 4 key groups: compensation, learning, networking, and entrepreneurship (based on what students, alumni, and recruiters think are necessary for assessing a B-School program). (Methodology here).

The Economist: This ranks from the student’s perspective and is based on the following: open new career opportunities(35%), personal development and educational experience(35%), salary(20%), and potential to network (10%). (Methodology here).

Poets& Quants: This ranking is a composite ranking made of the above 5 rankings. More emphasis is given to the US-only rankings. This does mitigate some of the faulty survey techniques and methodologies of the individual rankings and offers an interesting take on things.

How should you use these rankings?

So, School x is at Rank 3 on your favorite MBA Ranking list. Says who? According to whom? How? Why? Consider the answers to the following questions before making your decision.

Whom are they surveying?

For the FT rankings this year, Harvard, Stanford & Wharton (HSW) & Columbia famously skipped the survey. For the Economist 2021 rankings, 49 schools declined/were ineligible to participate and 13 B-Schools (including all of the M7 schools-Stanford, Harvard, Wharton, MIT, Chicago, Kellogg, and Columbia) boycotted the survey and still, they published a “Best Business School list”! So, it matters who is responding to these surveys.

What are they asking

Are the criteria being surveyed of great importance to you? Do you trust facts more or opinions more? Some of these surveys focus more on opinion-based criteria. While others are purely based on facts. But then it is also how the facts might be collected or computed which can alter the results.

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What about the methodology?

You have to figure out how these B-Schools get there on the list. Many of these methodologies are flawed and nowhere perfect. Imagine each of these rankings to be a “Yellow Pages” book. They are listing B-Schools in some order (based on their set of criteria). Will you select a school just because it was on the first page? Forbes uses a 5-year gain (why only 5 years?). Economist rankings have been so unstable and always came up with the biggest surprises. FT rankings places a lot of emphasis on international diversity and the way it is calculated, which has an inherent bias not favorable to US B-Schools. And again, GMAT and GRE scores reported are faulty. These are just a few of the issues. Go through the methodology to know more.

Why do they do this?

Some things don’t change from the yellow pages era. For both media and B-Schools, this is done for brand recognition and advertising.

Don’t just don’t consider rankings at their face value -they may mean a lot or nothing.

So, what should I do now?

Rankings are a GREAT starting point for your research.

I love the ready-made lists and poring over the data shown. Some rankings do give out a lot of other data. The ‘create my short list‘ feature in Bloomberg Business Week is a neat tool to compare and know more about the B-Schools in the rankings.

But when it comes to using rankings in your decision-making, the suggestion is to make YOUR own ranking. “MBA Rankings” can factor in as a criterion in YOUR own ranking. At CareerLabs, we help clients arrive at this through guided tools.

So, go back to your own reasons and goals for the MBA and assess your fit with the program. That’s all matters in the end!

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