Have you taken your GMAT?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I am thinking about taking it, so I have a few questions

  1. What preparation did you do?
  2. How tough was the test?
  3. Anything in particular I should look out for?
  4. How was the verbal section?

Many thanks

2

ok…I will give this a bump, prod, poke, pinch…

any experiences - anyone?

3

Since this is asking for personal experience and advice, it’s better suited for IMHO than GQ.

Colibri
General Questions Moderator

4

Thanks (and sorry)

5
  1. I took two practice exams that were available online.
  2. I didn’t find it tough, but I’m one of those lucky few with a natural aptitude for standardized tests.
  3. The concepts weren’t difficult, but the way the questions were asked was different than other standardized tests I’ve taken in the past.
  4. Do you mean the writing portion? I never bothered taking a practice version, but managed a 4/6. The multiple choice sections are scored immediately. You get the written score a few weeks later.

If you’ve taken any math or english in college you’ve probably covered most of the material. My best piece of advice is to take several practice exams. Depending on how long you’ve been out of school it can be helpful to reacquaint yourself with sitting for a 4 hour long exam. Another benefit is being exposed to the style in which they ask questions.

FWIW I scored a 700. I’m happy to answer any other questions you have regarding the GMAT or business school (Application process, what it’s like, etc…)

6

According the literature I have, must analyse both an issue and an argument.

Analysing an issue I think is ok - but I not so sure about analysing an argument. Is the standard model of PEE work (point, evidence, explain) or do you need any knowledge of debating / arguing techniques?

It seez in that in the verbal section you will be doing “sentence correction” - what the hell is that? And how come they have reading comprehension in the verbal section? Does this mean you give your answers verbally to some sort of invigilator?

Sorry for stupidity of questions, I will be taking some practise tests later - have only just started looking at this.

Later, also want to ask more about business school itself…but that can wait first

7

Took it in 1981 so it’s probably changed a lot. I guess I did OK because I got a free MBA due to a scholarship.

8

They give you a sentence and you have to either keep a certain part of it as written or choose from 4 other alternatives that make it more clear and effective and correct.

It’s verbal, not oral. Verbal means pertaining to words. If a test were to be completed by being spoken aloud I would call it an oral exam.

9

I took it around 1980. I scored at the 98th percentile. Not sure how much it’s changed since then. Many of these types of tests are now computer-based and adaptive. That is, the test evaluates your performance as you go and tunes the questions to get a more precise reading of your ability. However, I do not know if the GMAT does this. The GRE I took around 2005 did.

  1. I bought a self-study book with practice exams. Practice is essential. I discovered that the approach I was taking to one type of question was different than what they were looking for so the practice test got me on the right track.

  2. Challenging, but for me the toughest part was just maintaining concentration for a long period of time.

  3. I don’t remember that they had anything deliberately tricky but you always have to be careful on math questions on tests like this, since they seem to anticipate common errors and provide those as answers. So just because the answer you came up with is one of the choices doesn’t mean you’re right.

  4. Don’t remember

10

I took it years ago and scored in the 99th percentile. All I recall is that what mattered to me was getting a disciplined amount of study time leading up to the test. I took a course - Kaplan, IIRC - and the best value was knowing that I would get in a few hours of study time each week for the 8 weeks leading up to it to remind myself of the basic schooling I had. Got my mental muscles warmed up, if you will.

Best of luck.

11

There is both a math and an English section. The math consists of two parts…math problems (mainly algebra and geometry) and data sufficiency. In data sufficiency, you are given a question (Is x > y?) along with two pieces of information (x < 0, y is a fraction). You are then asked, given the information, are one, the other, both, either, or neither sufficient for you to answer the question.

There’s a section for writing an essay and reading comprehension. It’s a timed test, and now it’s computer adaptive, meaning how you answer the questions determines what your next question will be. So answering a bunch of easy questions is not as good as answering several harder ones, since they’re scored higher.

12

I took it seven years ago, and I bought a study book at the college bookstore. It had all sorts of test questions and info on how to do those stupid essays (like it’s more important how you structure your answers rather than the content itself.)

I don’t think the test was bad. I calculated prior to the exam exactly what my minimum score needed to be and then studied enough that I thought I’d surpass it. I passed with quite a buffer by just doing a practice test every day or two out of my workbook. If you have any recollection of the SATs, it appeared to be just a step above that.

I do recall there being quite a few business scenarios worked in that I hadn’t really anticipated. They shouldn’t overwhelm you, but I didn’t have any business classes in my background and they kind of freaked me out.

13

Thanks for all the answers, it helps a lot.

I have never done SATS (I’m not a 'mercan), so that is part of my nervousness.

I will do some practise exams and see how it goes,

Cheers!