GMAT Done

After several months of study (broken up by a stay in hospital and subsequent recovery) it was time to write the GMAT.

Books I used:
* Kaplan 2006
* McGraw-Hill 2007
* Kaplan 800 2006-2007

The Kaplan 2006 book was the first book I used and it gave me a good introduction to the overall structure of the exam as well as some good tips and tricks. Kaplan also has reputation for one of the most difficult Practice Exams which I reserved for much nearer to the exam.

I bought the McGraw-Hill 2007 primarily because it comes with 12 (yes, 12) Practice Exams. This was most valuable in the 4-5 days before the exam. Practice and more practice was really helpful. Working out the timings of each section was crucial to ensure that I had time to answer each question. The end result was the strategy that I had to ensure that I was watching the clock during the Quantitative and I could take my time on the Verbal.

The 800 book allowed me to pick up a few tips and tricks to help me spot trends in questions. It was a spur-of-the-moment purchase but ultimately it made me think TOO much rather than just going with my instincts.

I didn't do any training as I was reasonably confident that I could learn what I needed from a book.

Websites I referred to:
* MBA.com (of course)
* Beat the GMAT - lots of good questions in the forum when you become a member
* GMAT club

Software I used:
* GMAT Prep from MBA.com

The practice exams from MBA.com are by far the most authentic. The paper tests are good but they can lull you into a false sense of security when you are actually on a computer and have to click twice to ensure that you "really really" mean that answer.

I struggled with a lot of Data Sufficiency questions as I predicted I would. My scientific mind takes an adjustment to understand that not solving for the answer to a question could still answer the question. The number properties questions also gave me a lot of headaches. Remembering the rules of exponents and odd/even numbers is very confusing for me for some reason.

I found the Verbal part of the test by far the easier. In all my Practice Tests I got 95% of the Sentence Correction problems correct. This is probably because I read a lot and being able to guess "what sounds right" comes quite easy to me. I'm sure that it would be a nightmare for anyone who has English as their second language.

I didn't practice the AWA very much at all. If you memorize the structure of the answers that you want to give (lots of examples at the Beat the GMAT forum) and you are confident in your ability to come up with ideas, then you shouldn't struggle too much. Plus, you have to really do poorly with spelling and grammar to do horrible here.

Exam Experience:
I arrived at the test center about 20 minutes before the scheduled time to find myself number 11/12. The proctor was very exact about checking people in and out and explained everything to each individual one after the other. This just heightened my anxiety as I wanted to get going as soon as possible.

Once I had dumped all of my stuff into a box and checked in, it was time to begin. I found five schools to send my scores to even though I know that there is only one that I'm going to apply to. The rest were "just in case". I began by putting in the supplied earplugs. I had used them in when I wrote my practice tests, so I was used to them but I could see how they would be distracting to someone who hadn't used them before - often they make things too quiet.

Off and running with the Writing Assessments. Both went pretty well (I haven't seen the scores yet though). The argument essay concerned a subject that I had read a book about just recently so that helped me to come up with some strong and compelling arguments both for and against.

I know that the GMAT starts by giving you a medium question and depending on how you do on that one, you get an subsequent hard question or easy question. It seemed that I kept getting questions that were harder and harder. I know that this is a good thing, but it also means that my chances of getting the answer wrong go up as well! I had to rush the last three questions and likely guessed at them - my brain was fried by them. After the Quantitative I took a 5 minute break to clear my mind for the Verbal.

As I said earlier, I find the Verbal much easier but spent a lot of time on these questions (because I knew that I had that luxury). It seemed to go well and my score reflects that.

Then it was over. There is the screen that gives you 10 minutes to figure out whether you want to cancel the whole exam or see your score. I clicked "See Scores" and waited.....waited.....waited.....waited.....waited x n......stared at the little Windows hourglass and then there it was. I tried to remain calm as I knew that others around me were still writing.

I was soooo glad to get out of there. I got the print out and rushed out of there as fast as I could. I had a huge headache (probably due to lack of breakfast and my regular coffee) but I felt like weight was off of my shoulders.

My score?

680 Q40 V47

Not the highest that I've seen - I was hoping for more than 700, but 680 is good enough for me and ultimately (hopefully) good for admittance to the EMBA program.

Good luck.

Value of an MBA

Results of a survey from the Environics Research Group commissioned by Queen's School of Business found:

Eight in 10 (78 per cent) executives say they would choose a candidate with an MBA over one without an MBA if other factors were equal. Fourteen per cent say the degree would make no difference. Six per cent say having an MBA makes a candidate less appealing.

Almost 80% say that an MBA is more appealing in candidates! Among the reasons for choosing a candidate with an MBA are a superior skill set, a greater familiarity and more exposure to a variety of business disciplines, they are more qualified and more committed to their career.

That soooo sounds like a question from the GMAT.

GMAT Pressure

Writing the GMAT is a pressure-filled process. This pressure is possibly enough to weed out those who aren't serious about the heading down the road of hard work - which can only be a good thing. However, as I mentioned in my previous post - it's not the best leveller. Here is what you have to know:

Math - all those algebraic equations that you forgot from high school, all those number properties in equation and word problem format

Reading Comprehension - reading and answering questions on a short 500 word essay

Sentence Correction - selecting options for the correct grammar for a sentence

Data Sufficiency - given two options, do either, neither or both options give you enough data to answer a problem

Critical Reasoning - given a short paragraph of an argument, determine what would strengthen or weaken the argument

The Math and Data Sufficiency part makes up the Quantitative part of the score and the others make up the Verbal part of the score. These two are scaled and make up the final GMAT score.

I've struggled with the Math, but seem to get most of them correct and only struggle on the more difficult ones. The Data Sufficiency problems are, by far, the most difficult for me. The option in that type of question could give you an answer of "no" which also is a correct choice.

The Verbal part of the exam is much easier for me. The main helper there is that English is my first language. I pity the person who has to do the exam when English is not their first language. I would certainly hate to do it in another language.

Exam is on Thursday March 29th. 3 days to go!

Level playing field?

Ok, so the next step after deciding to go to B-School is when to write the GMAT. Some programs have their own exam (for example, Queens Univeristy in Toronto have their QMAT), but most schools just have you write the normal GMAT so that they can evaluate you and your potential peers against a standardized measure.

I understand the need for a level playing field to evaluate potential students, however I'm not sure that the GMAT accomplishes that goal. I'm also not sure that the school administrators take the GMAT scores into consideration as students would like to think.

Students spend hours, days, weeks and sometimes months studying and sometimes hundreds of dollars on courses and books to study up on the GMAT subjects to ensure that they achieve the highest score possible.

I firmly believe that B-School entrance, particularly Executive MBA candidates, should go through an interview process rather than using the GMAT. I know that some people go to online Universities for their EMBA just because a GMAT is not a prerequisite. EMBA students have lots of experience in the "real world" and based on that experience they will or will not be ready to achieve the study goals required for a successful MBA.

I understand that there are secondary goals for the test - can the person study properly, can they target a big goal and meet it, how do they work under pressure - and perhaps these secondary goals should be more primary.

Meanwhile I have my GMAT booked for March 29th at 8:00am. I have put it off for too long and it's time to get moving. In Calgary, the company that was administering the GMAT exams decided that they weren't going to do it anymore, so there was no place to write the exam. Now they have found a new supplier, so there really isn't any excuse.

Back to the books. Those Data Sufficiency questions sure are the hard.

You wanna do what?

When I finished University with my Bachelor of Arts (Economics) I swore up and down that I would never ever write an essay or exam again.

I hate writing exams.

I hate writing essays.

That lasted 3 years. When I was in Australia I decided to go back to University to do a Graduate Diploma in Computer Science. More exams, but hopefully the essays would be replaced with coding assignments that I could do at home and then hand in. For the most part that was true, but I didn't factor in the difficult of going to University within 1km of a beach and a beautiful public golf course.

When I finished the Diploma I swore up and down that I would never write an exam again.

*Sigh*

After years of thought and careful financial planning, I'm heading down the road towards an MBA. More exams, probably more essays but hopefully more fun and lots of discussions.

I will write more about what I expect to get out of doing and MBA, the sort of MBA that I have decided on doing, as well as why I have chosen the venue that I have.

Next, to find a MBA Blog aggregator to see if I can get it listed so that someone will read this besides me.