Welcome to MBA Podcaster, the only source for cutting edge information and advice on the MBA application process. The single stand alone statistic in your application that will be used by the admissions committee to compare you to every other applicant is the score you get on your GMAT, the Graduate Management Admission Test. You can improve your GMAT test taking. We’ve got tips from the experts themselves in today show. I’m Diana Jordan with MBA Podcaster and in this show we will hear from representatives from ManhattanGMAT, Veritas Prep, Kaplan, PowerScore and Knewton.

The pressure is on to get the best GMAT scores you possibly can. There is an unprecedented increase of MBA school candidates. Jon Denning is Director of Operations for PowerScore Test Preparation. Jon, how is competition impacting applicants? “At no point ever, perhaps has it been more important that people do all that they can to prepare themselves as well as possible to take this test. Be it with a tutor, a class, a book, but gone certainly are the days when people would just go in and take this test and I’ll see how I do and hopefully that’ll be good enough. That doesn’t fly anymore.”

Liza Weale is Executive Director of the GMAT program at Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions. Liza did you take the GMAT? “Actually the first time I took it I did not do so well. I took it right out of college and I got a 590 on it and fast-forward a few years later I was committed to making a career change and knew that I needed to get into a top 5 business school in order to do that. So I knew my 590 was not going to cut it. So said okay, I’m going to change the way I prep for this exam. Well before I came to Kaplan, I enrolled in a Kaplan course and my score went up significantly. I ended up getting a 740. And I was accepted into MIT Sloan’s MBA program.” So Liza how important is the GMAT? “55% of business school admissions officers that we surveyed told us that the GMAT is the most important factor in an application. So you want to get the highest score that you can. And to do that you need to prepare adequately. Most people study for 100 hours or more which assuming that you work full-time translates to two or three months or maybe more depending on your schedule.”

Jose Ferreira is CEO of Knewton. Is anybody a natural at this? They don’t really have to study? “No. These tests are unnatural acts. So it’s bending your elbow backward and that’s true in just about everybody. Some people who appear to be good test takers have essentially done a lot of the test prep work already intuitively while they were just going about their daily lives and that’s just the way their lives work but I have never met anyone who came out of the womb good at standardized tests.”

Liza with Kaplan, how tough is the GMAT? “Not only does it test you on things like isosceles triangles and subject verb agreement, things you likely haven’t been tested on since high school or earlier. But the GMAT exam is also in a format that is probably unlike any other test you’ve taken. It’s a computer adapted test or CAT, as it is often referred to as. And that means it adapts the questions to your performance. But it’s a time test so responding quickly is just as important as responding correctly. So you have enough time to get through the full test.”

Our five experts are giving us test taking tips from a year or two before you apply to the business school of your choice to the day of. Brian Galvin is the Director of Academic Programs for Veritas Prep. Brian, if applicants have a year or two before they apply to a business school what would you suggest in terms of the timing of studying for the GMAT? “Take it before you need it. If you’re thinking a few years out take it when you have the time, kind of block off a little bit of time where you think this season I don’t have extracurricular activities or I have a little bit more flexibility or prepare before then and take it maybe over a two to three month period. In my own experience, I took it right out of undergrad. I kind of knew at that point I was kind of a light load. I ended up actually taking the LSAT, GMAT and GRE all in succession and so within that academic study mindset I had some time to be able to put into it and all of those kinds of things. I found that to be really valuable. If I did anything well that I would recommend anyone else, I didn’t know that I was supposed to feel pressure because I didn’t even know if I wanted to apply to business school. I didn’t really need the score but I knew at some point I would want to have that option so I thought I might as well take the test while I have the time and while I am in that academic mindset and that made all of the difference for me.”

Chris Ryan is Director of ManhattanGMAT. Chris, what do you think a student should do? “The sooner a student starts on the GMAT process, the better. If the student has some time before actually getting into the thick of applying that’s great because the score is good for five years and it’s extremely lowers the stress on the applicant if he or she can get the GMAT out of the way.”

Jon with PowerScore, what are your thoughts if students have a year or two before they have to apply to a MBA school? “The best place to start always is to take a practice test. To go online, you can actually go to the GMAT website and download two copies of free online just like the actual GMAT, copies of practice tests and you can take those. I would suggest taking one and just looking at the score, taking it under those timed conditions and trying as much as possible to replicate what the actual test would be like. That will give you a starting point, a baseline so to speak.” Can you give an example? “Somebody takes a practice test, scores a 500 and they are looking at a business school that is going to require a 550 on average for someone with their GPA to get in. They don’t have all that far to go from improvement standpoint which means number one that they probably don’t need a year or two to try to prepare. And number two the method by which they are going to prepare and the means that they are going to undergo and prepare is probably going to be very different than someone who starts with that 500 and needs say a 750 for Wharton. So it obviously shapes and colors the entire prospective of how you’re going to go about preparing.”

Chris with ManhattanGMAT, how do you prep for the GMAT? “There is no preparation for the GMAT like the GMAT. Part of the reason is that it is a computer adaptive test and people just haven’t prepared for computer adapted tests before in their life generally because they are not part of everyone’s schooling up to that point. A computer adaptive test is vastly different from a paper-based test because you can’t go backwards. The next question is harder if you get this question right and so that makes a much more stressful experience and that requires practice.”

Jon, is there any danger implicit in studying for the GMAT for two years? “I’ve seen people try to take two years or even 12-18 months to prepare for this thing and there’s a real danger in that. The danger in this is burn out. People exhaust themselves trying to do something every day on the GMAT for a year and a half. By the time they go to take the test, they are just mentally and physically drained and they’re wiped. They are not as sharp on test day as they would have been if they had paced themselves a little bit better and even if they had condensed that amount of preparation into a shorter time. They just wouldn’t have quite exhausted themselves so much.”

You need planned daily, weekly goals and when you are going to take practice tests. So Chris what is involved in taking those practice tests? “A lot of people avoid taking their first practice tests because they are worried that it is going to dictate the level their going to score at. They ask us you know what kinds of increases off of practice tests do you see? And the fact of the matter is the very first practice test is not very predictive of what someone will do overall but you have to feel what it’s like to take a computer adapted exam and you have to see very broadly where do you need to focus on math or verbal. Then after doing that practice test you have to come up with the really focused preparation plan.”

Brian what about practice tests? “Take a practice test if you want to twice a week. Go back and analyze your results. Spend as much as that last few weeks as possible when you feel a little bit of crunch time. Working on minimizing the mistakes you make. Being really conscious of those.” What are some of the trick questions? “Usually assume that numbers are integers unless told otherwise, or assume that they are positive unless told otherwise. So for me just writing those two words down on my note board was integer and positive, making myself look at it. The conscious mistake that I knew I was prone to be making. I actually caught myself in the first ten questions about to make that mistake, caught it and then my confidence just soared from there. I realized I wasn’t giving back any points that were rightfully mine. That was one major one, the other one you tend to go through your calculations and your process of determining what the right answer is and then never really look back at the question before you answer and in a lot of cases you just answered the wrong question. I think the most common wrong answer to any question on the GMAT is the right answer to the wrong question. Where if you solve for x, they could be asking you for y or 10-x. Again for me the one way I combated that, I just wrote a question mark in the upper right-hand corner of my note board and just made myself glance at that before I submitted any answers. If you have two or three reminders to yourself on each section on whatever you do don’t make this mistake then as long as you catch yourself about to make the realize okay I saved myself this question goes with your plan with house money at that point. You can start to relax, okay that one I would’ve missed but I got it. I’m on top of my game and confidently able to attack the next question and I think that’s another way to help yourself relax get into the flow”

Jose with Knewton, what would you suggest in terms of time to study for the GMAT? What’s the preferred lead time? “The best way to get the score gain is to do a little bit less work over a longer period of time. Lots and lots of practice and a lot of these concepts are quite alien to students so having more time with them and more time to practice them more gradually is how they really sink in best. I really recommend most students spend at least three months and spend as much as six months.” And Jose, you created a new test-prep company, you call Knewton after working at Kaplan designing courses, developing new technologies and new ways of delivering educational materials. You went to business school, back to Kaplan and then you took off on your own? “Technology caught up with the ideas and we launched Knewton. And what Knewton does is deliver live, online video-based classes that the classrooms with a live video feed and a number of teachers in the session as once so that students can get their questions answered in real time and that is the front end of what the classroom looks like. And then the homework is all powered through our patent-pending learning platform targets students’ weaknesses, whatever the weaknesses are the system tracks it, figures it out and automatically delivers learning material to them whether it’s text or video or some combination that explains those processes and then additional practice questions.”

What if you only have two months to study for the GMAT, Liza? “It’s a bit like trying to learn the entire French language two weeks before heading to Paris for a trip. It’s just not possible. What is possible, however, is focusing on the area of the GMAT that will bring you the most success. In the same way that focusing on conversation French that will be relevant to your trip will be the most beneficial.” Can you illustrate that point? “To use the France analogy again, say you’re going for a business trip. You’re going to want to focus on how to say things like profit and loss statement. As opposed to if you’re going for a vacation you might want to learn how to say where can I find the Cesan museum. It’s the same for the GMAT, different people will benefit focusing on different areas.”

Jon, how daunting is it if you have to take the GMAT within two months in order to hit application deadlines? “Two months is more than enough time for the vast majority of people out there who are trying to get prepared for this thing to reach their potential or at least sort of achieve a level that will be satisfactory for them. We see people come in, in literally four to five weeks at times and improve drastic amounts, 200 points even. So you can make some significant jumps in two months. Again you have to have that self knowledge to start that comes from taking a practice test and you really have to stop and take a hard look at yourself and what your ultimate goals are and then begin to think about how to do that in two months. You can buy a book and study that for two months or it may be one of these things where of course or even tutoring would better suit you but it depends on your needs and certainly with two months you’re going to have to think about amping up.”

Jose let’s put the GMAT score in perspective, “The most important criteria for business school are work experience, number one, and GMAT, number two. And if your work experience is pretty good, above the average for the schools you want to apply to you can probably get in with a GMAT score that’s a little below the average. On the other hand if your work experience is just average for the schools you want to apply to or even a little bit below average you’re going to want to get that GMAT score higher to give yourself some insurance that you’re going to get it.”

Brian let’s say an applicant keeps getting mediocre scores, is it better to re-take the GMAT and risk getting that bad score over and over showing determination or is that detrimental? “If I’m the admissions director and I look at the GMAT transcript that says this person every other month for the last year has scored 620, I’m going to ask myself well why didn’t they learn from the first three of them and realize that they should have done something different. Or if they weren’t going to do anything different, they are just going to repeat the same mistakes and quote on quote study harder but not necessarily smarter than why not realize that if you’re only going to do the same thing over and over again you’re not adding any value and find a better use of that time.”

Liza what are your thoughts, if the scores are low is it better to keep re-taking that test or go with what you got? “If your GMAT is close to or matches your target school’s average and you feel like you have a top-notch application outside or beyond the GMAT you’re probably okay. But if the gap is pretty big, as it was in my case, or if you really want your GMAT to help you stand out from the crowd it’s worth your time to think about taking it again. Most schools will encourage you to take the exam again because it can show dedication and commitment. But, there’s a big if here, if you show that improvement.”

Chris, what if your GMAT score keeps coming in low? “If it’s 10, 20, 30, 40 points below the average and you just at the school that you’re targeting and you just can’t seem to get it up beyond that point, well you should probably focus on the other aspects of your application and send it in. If it’s well below that then you might want to think about getting a tutor or getting some professional help from the likes of our company or where ever you go in order to try to crack the case. But there is some point that it is absolutely true at which you should probably say, you know I am not seeming to improve on this, I should look at the rest of my application.”

Chris, how do you know if you should take the GMAT again? “Getting a 750 versus a 760 doesn’t matter at any of these schools. I can tell you that, flat out. If you’re below the average, then yeah you should think about taking it again and if you feel that it’s too low then definitely take it again. Now you have to wait 31 days before you take another GMAT. You can’t take it any sooner than that. So you should re-prepare if you do decide to take it again. You should absolutely do some reflection on where you think you went wrong. Unfortunately the GMAT does not provide any feedback other than a math and verbal break down, a sub score in each section but it doesn’t tell you what question you got right or how long you spent on them. Nothing like that. So you have to just kind of reflect on where do I think I went wrong and less about content and more about process. Did I manage my time well, that sort of thing. And then set up another focused preparation plan and re-prepare.”

Jon, if students aren’t doing well should they try tutoring? “For some people it’s almost magical how much they can improve with tutoring. The whole patina of it changes. I think the students can benefit the most from tutoring is a student who either number one just doesn’t learn well in a group environment or a tougher time perhaps concentrating and dealing with the inflexibility of a book. That person is really going to benefit from tutoring because it’s so personalized. I also think too that somebody is going to benefit from tutoring is going to get the most of it if they can come into that tutoring situation with a high degree of self-awareness, self-knowledge about what they need help with.”

Brian, how would tutoring help? “The best part of having a one-on-one tutor, someone with that kind of expertise is the ability to diagnose. Okay you do have a pacing problem, you are taking too long but you really only tend to take too long when it’s a word problem that you can’t set up quickly or it’s a data-sufficiency problem and you second guess your answer three or four times. Or let’s just say you re-read reading comprehension passages two or three times before getting it. Here are the steps that you need to take. Especially with something that has been going on, persistent problems. Try to figure out where those problems are coming from and then maybe enlist the help of someone to be able to help you diagnose even more specifically what you’re doing wrong and how you correct that quickly.”

If time management is your issue, what is your advice? “The GMAT is really challenging in that you are penalized if you run out of time before completing the exam. So leaving a few questions at the end unanswered is worse than answering those questions incorrectly. So in order to prep well for the timing aspect you need to practice pacing. That’s not always easy when you’re working on a computer adaptive test. Every time you get a question right, the GMAT will present a more difficult question. So imagine this, the better you do the harder it gets. It’s really hard. It’s a really hard mental block to get over. That’s why practicing with computer adaptive tests as well as using pacing and target quizzes it’s really important because you can’t skip questions on the GMAT or go back to previous questions. You will get into a situation where you were stuck on a given question. It’s just because it keeps getting harder it’s going to find your limit. So part of performing well on the test is being able to make a strategic guess and that instance, let it go and move on. So if you’re not seeing a big increase you need to get smarter about your practice and gaining comfort with this approach takes practice and evaluation and then practicing again.”

Brian how do you handle practice tests? “Tests are good for experience but they are also really good diagnostic tools. So over the course of 8-10 weeks, toward the latter half, one to two practice tests a week with making sure that you are responding to those as you go that it tends to give you that confidence and experience with the test and also allow you to shore up those mistakes and make sure that you’re not giving away points that really should be yours.”

Jose, how many hours does an average applicant need to spend to prepare for a GMAT and what is the best schedule to study? “If you’re going a more gradual approach, I’d recommend taking a course, doing one class per week and doing one test, full-length test every other week or so. Once that course is over you’re going to want to go and repeat the class if it gave you any trouble. You’ll go through it again, you’ll focus on your weaknesses and you’ll keep taking this practice test and doing lots of practice homework and that’s the way to structure an approach if you’ve got four months or more. If you only go two months or more, you’re probably taking two classes per week and you probably need to take one practice test per week, so every Saturday.”

What kind of study patterns students choose, Chris? “The two week all day cram session doesn’t work so well. In two weeks of heavy cramming you just about get through all of the content but it is very hard to master the process within just two weeks. It’s like trying to train for a marathon or something in just two weeks. It’s much better to take eight hours of preparation time and split it up into eight one hour sessions or four two hour sessions rather than try to sit there and do eight hours. It would be like being in the gym for eight hours. You simply can’t do eight hours worth of physical work so to speak. So 100s of hours spread out over a few months is the way to go.”

Jon, do you have any hints about the test taking prep? “If you can take the underlying concepts of this test, the consistent things that we find on it and that have to be kept on it to keep the test self-consistent from one time to the next, if you can understand those things then it doesn’t necessarily take you a very long time to get ready for this test.” So we don’t have to study everything? “I don’t have to teach someone math for them to ultimately do well on this test. I simply have to teach them GMAT math. No matter what they throw at you, you’re all set.”

What kind of routine should you have a week or two before the exam? “I’d say two weeks out you want to work really hard still, you want to start distracting yourself, having fun in the evening and then one week out you want to begin to reduce the work, you want to get to a point by test day where your head is a little clearer and you’re calmer and a little more confident. And it’s also important to begin sleeping well the week before. Take good care of yourself. Don’t get sick.”

Liza, what routine do you recommend for the morning of the exam and the night before? “You want to make sure that you get a full-night sleep, a good night sleep the night before the exam. The morning of you want to eat a healthy breakfast. You don’t want to have way too much caffeine or too much sugar because then you’re going to crash during the exam. So those are kind of best practices that are out there. The GMAT is a grueling exam, there is no doubt. All in you’ll be working on the test for three and a half hours and when it comes to what to do the night before the morning of the biggest piece of advice that I have is not to add some new element to your pattern right before the exam.”

Chris, what routine do you recommend for the morning of the exam and the night before? “You really shouldn’t be reviewing so much then. If you really feel the need to pick up GMAT material then have it be nothing at all new. Just confirm GMAT like problems that you know how to do, that you’ve mastered. Just go over them again.”

Brian, what kind of routine do you recommend? “I can tell you what not to do. One student sequestered herself the night before. Didn’t want to be around roommates or any kind of distractions that way and also had read somewhere earlier in the week that eating salmon tends to be brain food, it makes you smarter. So she walked down the street, away from where you live. Found an all you can eat seafood buffet and ate as much salmon as she could get her hands on. Her test was about noon the next day and she had this plan about wake up at 7, finish drinking coffee at 8, go for a walk until about 9, review things until 10. She got food poisoning, spent the majority of the morning vomiting, she ate some soda crackers and got herself under control. Ended up scoring I think almost exactly 700 but probably could have done better if she had stuck to a more normal routine the night before and the morning of test day. So I guess the learning from that is don’t do anything out of the ordinary.”

What advice do you have, Liza, to relieve day of exam mental anxiety? “Remember that anxiety is driven by the fear of the unknown. So your best weapon against anxiety is to know exactly what you’re getting yourself into which means coming to test day fully prepared. I can’t emphasize enough how much your prep plays a part in this. That means knowing the content that is covered on the exam, being comfortable with the format of the test, knowing the strategies that will save time and having the opportunity to practice sufficiently.”

Jose, what about the day of? “Nobody really needs to drink coffee on test day. You’re going to be wired enough as it is. So if you are absolutely convinced that you need some amount of caffeine, drink some tea or soda or something beforehand. The best way to just get ready is to just take a good 15 minute walk, get the blood flowing a little bit, get the heart rate up that way. The other thing that students should first think about is what they are going to need. They are going to want to dress in layers, they are going to want a bottle of water, they are going to want a pain killer in case they get a headache in the middle of the test. Some students in bigger cities take ear plugs. Think a little bit about what you need to perform well and make a list and bring it. And definitely make sure you know where the test center is. There is nothing more stressful than having to rush to the test.”

Jon, “Foolishly, I decided that I would just find the test center the day of the test, no big deal, no problem, I’m sure I can work out parking and this sort of perhaps overly self-confident attitude that I have. And what ultimately happened is I got lost. I got lost in Savannah trying to find this test center and I was driving all over the place like a mad-man and literally watching the seconds tick down to the point when my test was supposed to start and I had to be there. And I finally found the place and rushed in, in a complete and absolute frenzied, panic. Thinking I just spent $300, or whatever it was and I was about to miss this test. And I made it, but I mean with seconds to spare. And I was fine, I was fine ultimately but it was one of those things where I can’t imagine a much worse way to try to put yourself in the right mindset to achieve at than by, it was pure foolishness on my part by not knowing quite where I was going.”

Liza, advice? “It’s really about thinking about what your strengths are, what your needs are and then finding the right prep solution for you so that you will see the highest score that you can achieve.”

What’s your best advice for test day, Brian? “As an overall matter of preparation the day before, the day of the test I think keep your confidence high, focus on the things that you know you do well and when in doubt sounds kind of hockey but smile. Laugh at the fact that okay I’m not going to steal questions, you don’t need my finger print four or five time or anything like that. All I’m here to do is answer a series of questions to prove to you that I’m capable of getting into a top business school. And let yourself relax, feel confident, smile when you feel a little bit of pressure that goes a long way.”

For more information, advice or to read a transcript of this show, visit MBAPodcaster.com. I’m Diana Jordan with MBA Podcaster. Thank you for listening and stay tuned next time when we discuss another topic, it will help guide you through the MBA process and your career beyond.

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