My Three Biggest Mistakes In Prepping For The GMAT Exam

The last time I took the GMAT, I got a 710. As I study to take it again, aiming for a score of 760, I reflect on three mistakes I made last time while studying for the GMAT.

When I first studied for the GMAT, I managed to log 150 hours in 10 weeks. One of the biggest lessons I learned was that it is not just about how many hours you study, but how you study in those hours.

As I follow my plan to beat my 710, I am making sure to watch where I failed before, so that I can blow past the low 700′s. As you study, learn from my mistakes, so you can achieve your dream score.

Mistake 1: I did not use an error log

An error log is ABSOLUTELY critical in studying. Typically, GMAT test takers make one of three types of errors: 1) Careless errors, where you know the content and logic, but made a silly mistake 2) Content errors, where you did not know the needed information to solve the problem, or 3) Logic errors, where you knew the content, but not the GMAT logical way to solve it.

My error log consists of using 3×5″ index cards. For every careless error I make, I keep track of it on one card. For example, if I make 2 careless errors out of 20 questions on 7/16, I will write “7/16 – 2/20″ and keep track of all my progress on one index card. Towards the end of your GMAT prep, you should not be making any careless errors.

For “real errors,” I write whether it was a content or logic error, what type of question it was, what is the content matter of the question, and how the solution should have been found. It is REALLY important to understand not only WHY you got the question wrong, but HOW to get the question right next time. I will then review my 3×5″ index cards every few days, drilling myself on content & logic.

Mistake 2: I spent too much time on concepts and not enough time on questions

Content is important. Most of the tests you have taken in your life have probably been content based. Let me make this clear: I ROCK content tests. The problem? The GMAT is not just a content test!!! It tests your logic skills and your ability to look at problems from multiple angles. These problem solving skills are just like any of your other skills, they only improve with practice.

It is so critical to spend LOTS and LOTS of time with questions. Not just “getting through them,” but actually looking at each question and trying to understand WHY you got it wrong OR right, did you use the most efficient path, AND were there any aspects that you missed? Quality over quantity will get you your dream score… I promise!

Mistake 3: I didn’t spend enough time with my practice tests

Sure, I reviewed my tests. I analyzed what I did wrong, what types of questions I was missing, and what content areas I needed to brush up on. But did I look at the questions I got right? Did I solve them in the most efficient way possible? Did I miss medium, hard, or very hard questions? Did I get lucky on certain questions? Did I guess effectively?

I really believe that you should spend just as much time reviewing your practice tests, as you spend completing the tests. You already did half of the work; complete the other half so you can reap the rewards!

A Dean’s Career Advice To Young Women

Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management Dean Sally Blount, one of the few female deans of a top-ranked business school, has some advice for young women—and it’s not what many would like to hear.

In a brief yet poignant talk at the Aspen Ideas Festival earlier this month, Dean Blount urged young female graduates to go into the most challenging and demanding jobs in business straight out of college, jobs that are more likely to be pursued by their male peers.

“I would argue that the first job is not the time to focus on comfort, balance or even mission,” she declared. “That can and should come later. The first job is the time in their lives for these women to gain credentials, take risks, travel, and land as big and bold an opportunity as they can find.”

FEMALE GRADS ARE UP TO 50% LESS LIKELY TO ENTER THE MOST COMPETITIVE BUSINESS TRACKS

Noting that women make up more than half the entering freshmen at college, but only a small fraction of CEOs, board directors and government leaders, she said Kellogg has identified three “critical pivot points where we are losing women on the way to the C-suite: the launch, the child-rearing years, and the transition to senior management positions.”

“Today,” she said, “I want to focus on the launch, that critical first job after college because there have been a lot of troubling statistics out of Northwestern and Harvard that show that in their first year out of college, women from these top schools are up to 50% less likely than their male peers to enter the most competitive business tracks, like investment banking and mgt. consulting.”

Blount, who became dean of Kellogg four years ago after serving a six-year stint at dean of New York University’s undergraduate business program, then recounted her decision to join the Boston Consulting Group in 1983 after graduating from Princeton University with a bachelor’s degree in engineering systems and economic policy.

‘I DO STILL KNOW HOW TO WRITE A KILLER POWERPOINT DECK’

“When i look back on my own career, I now realize how important my own first real job was at BCG,” she said. “It set me on the trajectory that has actually landed me as the first and so far only female dean of a top ranked business school. At BCG, I was imprinted in the ways of business, I developed critical problem solving skills and I do still know how to write a killer Powerpoint deck,” quipped Blount.

“If you want our best and brightest young women to become great leaders we have to convince more of them that their first job has to be in business and they have to go for those big business jobs no matter what career they want to pursue. Business is the dominant social institution of our age and if you don’t understand business you won’t be an effective leader in any sector.

“The reason I care so much about getting more women in entry level jobs in business is because that’s how you build confidence and that’s how you build understanding about how the world works. The best and brightest of this generation is opting out before they even start. That’s why we have to be pushing even in this room from the very beginning, your daughters and your granddaughters, push them to take big jobs.”

Besides the advice she offered young women, however, the most compelling part of her talk had to do with her daughter Haley White. She told the Aspen audience that after her daughter was accepted at Princeton University, she decided to take a gap year.

‘THIS IS WHAT THE PERSON I WANT TO BECOME WOULD DO’

“She proceeded to research and craft a very impressive 12-month itinerary that was going to take her to three projects in three different countries,” recalled Dean Blount. “As she was presenting this final plan to me, I suddenly realized that my 18-year-old daughter was proposing to make her way around the world on her own—literally. And I flinched. I told her, ‘You know I’m not quite so sure I can back up this plan.’ And to my amazement, my strong-willed daughter didn’t lash out at that moment to defend it. She stopped and she turned to me and said, ‘But Mom, this is what the person I want to become would do.’

Do & Don'ts

The MBA Bump: How Much To Expect?

It’s called the MBA Bump: the increase in pay you can expect after you get the degree.

And for this year’s Class of 2012, the bump is bigger than it has been for many years. Graduates of full-time MBA programs are reporting average increases in their pre-MBA base salaries of 81% this year to a median of $90,000, according to the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC). That’s better than last year’s reported 73% bump and significantly better than the 63% increase reported for the Class of 2010 when the economy was in the tank.

Full-time, two-year MBA programs delivered the biggest increases. Graduates of part-time MBA programs, for example, reported a 53% rise in pre-MBA pay–28 percentage points lower than full-time MBAs (see table below).

The survey, released last week, found that MBA graduates with less than three years of work experience saw the largest bumps of any: a whopping 120%. That compares with 75% for graduates with three to six years of experience and 46% for grads with more than six years of work experience (see table on next page). The more years a person has been in the workforce also is more likely to mean that the graduate went for the degree part-time.

What’s more, the GMAC numbers are for MBA programs overall and not merely the top-ranked business schools whose graduates typically double their pre-MBA income. The study is based on 5,366 recent or soon-to-be graduates of business schools.

PERCENTAGE CHANGE IN ANNUAL BASE SALARY, BY SURVEY YEAR AND PROGRAM TYPE

Source: GMAC 2012 Global Management Education Graduate Survey

Of course, these increases vary greatly by a number of factors, including industry, work experience, and gender. Interestingly enough, the MBAs who reported the largest bumps were those who were hired by companies after doing a summer internship with the same firm. “Participating in an internship while in school typically produces an additional 28 percent increase above the baseline salary increase a student receives who does not participate in an internship,” according to the GMAC study. “After graduation, the benefits of an internship are even greater. Those who participated in an internship and received an offer of employment from that internship more than doubled the salary increase received by graduates who continued working for the same employer during and after business school (see table below).”

PERCENTAGE INCREASE IN ANNUAL BASE SALARY, BY JOB STATUS

Source: 2012 GMAC Global Management Education Graduate Survey

Career switchers did slightly better than graduates who returned to the same industry that they had worked in before going to school. The average increase over pre-MBA salary for a career switcher this year is 71%, versus 67% for graduates who stayed in the same industry (see table below).

PERCENTAGE CHANGE IN ANNUAL BASE SALARY BY STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICS, 2011 VS. 2012

Source: 2012 GMAC Global Management Education Graduate Survey

One of the most important factors in the bump tends to be a graduate’s decision to enter a specific industry. According to GMAC, some of the biggest increases this year were in high tech where base pay jumped an average of 69% over pre-MBA salaries (see table below).

PERCENTAGE OF JOB SEEKS WITH A JOB OFFER 7 CHANGE OF SALARY, BY PREFERRED INDUSTRY 

Source: 2012 GMAC Global Management Education Graduate Survey

GMAC said that a job seeker in the Class of 2012 who received a job offer submitted approximately nine resumes, had four interviews, and received an average of two job offers, which would suggest that they expended less effort and achieved a higher job offer yield than class of 2011 graduates with job offers, who submitted an average of 16 resumes, landed six interviews, and received the same number (2) of job offers.

Internships were also the most successful way to find a post-MBA job. while school-based programs also were an extremely viable method for obtaining job offers. GMAC said students with the highest success rates used school career services (53%), school job boards (44%), job fairs (35%), and networking with their classmates and alumni (32%).  The average job seeker used six search methods to obtain a job offer (see table below)

JOB SEARCH METHODS AND SUCCESS RATE

Source: 2012 GMAC Global Management Education Graduate Survey

Why MBAs Are Even More Satisfied Than The Most Optimistic Survey Shows

Every year, the Graduate Management Admission Council asks alumni of MBA programs all over the world if they think the time and money they spent getting the degree was worth it. And every year, the results show extremely high levels of satisfaction with the MBA.

The latest 2014 GMAC Alumni Perspectives Survey, released in March, strongly reaffirms the value of the degree. Nine in 10 (91%) recent business school alumni from 2010–2013 consider their graduate management education a good to outstanding value.

Sixty-six percent of alumni agree their education was financially rewarding. And a quarter (26%) of alumni report their expectations for recouping their financial investment were exceeded while 53% say their expectations for return on their investment (ROI) were met.

WHAT IF HARVARD, STANFORD & WHARTON ALUMS WERE POLLED?

Pretty good, right? This part of the survey is based on responses from 6,862 alumni who graduated between 2010 and 2013 from some 132 business schools worldwide that partnered with GMAC in the study. The survey was conducted in October-November of 2013.

But here’s the most surprising part of the upbeat results. Most of the alumni from the best business schools in the world aren’t included in the study. By and large, there’s no alumni from Harvard, Stanford, or Wharton. None from Chicago Booth, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, MIT Sloan, Columbia Business School, or Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.

For whatever reason, those schools and many more decided not to participate in the latest research. In fact, alumni from only three business schools—Virginia, Carnegie Mellon, and Indiana University—of the Top 20 in the U.S. were included in the survey.

THE MOST ELITE NON-U.S. SCHOOLS ALSO WERE NOT AMONG THOSE SURVEYED

And it’s not only the most highly selective U.S. business schools that did not participate in the study. The very best non-U.S. schools also are missing. There are no alumni from London Business School, INSEAD, IMD, HEC Paris, IE Business School, or IESE Business School.

Which schools participated in the GMAC survey? Some very good schools, of course, but also places that fail to rank among the top 100 U.S. or the top 50 non-U.S. business schools from Alliance University to Widener University (see list of participating schools here).

In other words, despite the high levels of endorsement for graduate business education, the survey doesn’t even benefit from having the views of the graduates who are most likely to be highly satisfied. After all, these are among the most highly paid MBAs in the market, the graduates who generally get the best job opportunities and graduate into the strongest alumni networks. These top schools, by the way, are also the ones that generally have the most scholarship money available to help offset the cost of the degree.

LOW PARTICIPATION BY ELITE SCHOOLS ATTRIBUTED TO “SURVEY FATIGUE” AMONG OTHER REASONS

A GMAC spokesperson, Rich D’Amato, explains that “many of those schools do their own research and some schools have concerns about survey fatigue during ranking years.” He didn’t think the absence of alums from the most highly ranked schools would have that much of an impact. “Satisfaction is a measure that is relative to the individual’s expectations, experience, and perceptions. However, in year’s past, when some of the listed schools participated in the student exit survey, alumni valued their education at similar rates as the recent survey suggests.”

But satisfaction surveys over the years by other sources, such as BusinessWeek which has been polling MBA alumni since 1988, clearly show that graduates of the big brand schools tend to have higher levels of satisfaction than MBAs from second- or third-tier schools. That’s generally the outcome of the more lucrative job opportunities available to graduates of the top-tier schools.

For example, when BusinessWeek asked alumni of 88 schools around the world “To what extent did your MBA experience meet your expectations of what a good program should be?,” the school’s with the most satisfied alums were Chicago, Northwestern, Dartmouth, Virginia, Stanford, Yale, Duke, Cornell, Berkeley, and Wharton. At the bottom? Fordham, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Connecticut, South Carolina, Syracuse and Clark Atlanta.

When the magazine asked recent graduates if they would urge their friends or colleagues to enroll in the same MBA program at the school they just attended, the schools getting the most endorsements were Chicago, Northwestern, Stanford, Duke, Dartmouth, Harvard, Virginia, Wharton, UC-Berkeley, and Yale. Less enthusiastic were grads from Arizona State, George Washington, Illinois, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Clark Atlanta, Syracuse, and South Carolina.

Although these results are from the early 2000s–the last time the magazine publicly released this data–and may have changed in more recent years, the point remains clear: the more highly selective schools tend to graduate the most satisfied MBAs.

The upshot: Satisfaction by MBA alumni, especially the most highly ranked schools,  is higher than even GMAC’s highly optimistic survey.

A CHANGE IN METHODOLOGY MAY HAVE IMPACTED SCHOOL PARTICIPATION

This is also the first year GMAC introduced a new methodology, which provides schools with the opportunity to survey their entire alumni population. “In the past iterations of the Alumni Perspective Survey that were follow-ups to the Global Management Education Graduate Survey, some of these universities participated in the student exit survey and therefore the alumni were included in those iterations of the survey (2001-2013),” added D’Amato. “We changed the methodology to provide better service to graduate schools of business, allowing them the opportunity to benchmark their alumni and receive question-by-question analysis of their alumni by various characteristics.”

Asked if GMAC’s researchers think the exclusion of Harvard and other top schools impacted the survey’s results, D’Amato said, “This is a purely speculative question that is not based on research nor empirical evidence. When we examined the class of 2013 approximately three months after graduation, we found that 90% of all graduate management education students were employed (92% from full-time two-year MBA programs; 95% of US citizens were employed)—these rates are comparable” to those reported by many of the top schools  (Chicago, 95%; Wharton 96%; Northwestern 95%; Harvard 93%; Dartmouth 95%; Columbia 97%).”

Five Essential Elements Of A Perfect MBA Resume

I recently reviewed and updated my resume from applying to Tuck last year. After gathering great resources on resumes, I was able to identify and eliminate any issues with my current resume.

In addition, I was able to identify and “core-out” the five essential elements of a perfect applicant resume. (This is by no means a comprehensive list, so please make sure to check out the resources for the finer details.) Here they are:

1. easy to read

Make it easy for adcom to read your resume. This includes applying spacing between sections, allowing enough white space in your resume, using bullets, using bold/italics effectively and having ~1″ margins. Allow the readers eyes to have a visual break.

2. list accomplishments, not responsibilities

Utilize action verbs on your resume to showcase how you drive results. Make sure that you also quantify your results, and if possible, make them relative with the entire organization. (Example, “Captured $3M of sales, which is 40% of the total revenue for the division”)

3. show career progression

Clearly show how you have upward mobility or are on the fast track with your career. Make sure you show a trend of increasing responsibilities, and showing dates will be really important in this area.

4. show leadership / extracurricular

Including a leadership section is important to showcase leadership attributes outside of your job. You should also make sure to list any awards or other extracurricular activities that are RELEVANT to your candidacy. Showing how long you have been participating in different opportunities will really highlight your dedication for these causes.

5. no grammatical errors

Make sure you proofread your essay, and make sure you get your friends to proofread your essay. You should be ABSOLUTELY sure there are no errors, as often times this is the first element of your application that many admissions committee members view.

Eight Questions Every Prospective MBA Should Answer Before Applying

1. WHY DO I NEED AN MBA?

This is the most important question. Are you planning on switching functions or industries? Do you need one to move up in your company? Are you looking to start your own business? Why is it so critical for you to get an MBA NOW, instead of later? If you can form a clear, coherent vision of why you need an MBA, half the application battle is already won.

2. WHAT TYPE OF MBA DO I WANT/NEED?

Full-Time, Part-Time, Executive MBA….which one is for you? What program fits your profile, lifestyle and future plans?

Full-time MBA programs (and the major focus of this blog) usually take 2 years and cater to individuals that average 4-5 years of experience (individuals with over 8 years typically get an executive MBA, however MBA Over 30 proves that is not an absolute rule). Part-time MBA programs cater to those working full-time and take about 3 years to complete, while executive MBA programs cater to those individuals with around 8 years of experience.

3. SHOULD I APPLY THIS YEAR OR NEXT?

In my experience, many people start their MBA journey later than they should. They often do not have their GMAT or the necessary research completed before they start their journey in June/July. For those individuals, they should really contemplate what is stopping them from applying next year.

My perfect scenario would be to take the GMAT in the fall before, research in the winter, visits in the spring, and take the GMAT again if needed in the summer.  If you don’t have your BEST profile when you apply, then you should really consider waiting a year, and invest in making yourself a more competitive candidate.

4. WHERE SHOULD I APPLY TO?

Reflecting on the answers to your previous questions, decide where you want to go. Do you want a top 20 MBA? What school has connections to the companies or industries in which you want to work?What kind of culture would you like to be part of?

For those who are looking for a general snapshot of schools and class profiles, check out my Class Profiles resource that details each top 20 b-school class profile and also links their websites.

5. DO I NEED HELP WITH THE GMAT?

After you get a good list of schools together, understand what type of score you need for the GMAT. Get an early start on their GMAT prep and to take a CAT as soon as possible to see where they stand.

There are MANY amazing programs out there that will help you get the GMAT score you need. Check out how I got a 710 on my first try, and also check out gmatclub and BeatTheGMAT websites for great resources.

6. DO I HAVE ENOUGH MONEY SAVED FOR APPLICATIONS?

At $250 an application on average, applying to business school is not cheap. That’s just the beginning though. Add school visit expenses (airline tickets and hotels), last-minute interviews (last-minute airline tickets and hotels), any GMAT expenses ($250 for the test + any prep material and tutors), and if you decide to use one, an MBA application consultant ($1K – $10K). It adds up quickly.

7. SHOULD I USE A CONSULTANT?

Speaking of saving money for application expenses, the biggest expense will probably be a consultant if you choose to use one. A 2013 study noted that 57% of applicants used consultants in the application process. Gmatclub offers a great Admissions Consultants Reviews section so you can get a sense individual track records.

8. HOW WILL I PAY FOR SCHOOL?

This is definitely a hard question. Hopefully your amazing profile will land you a great scholarship or fellowship, but in case it doesn’t, how do you plan on paying for your MBA? I plan on doing a more detailed post on this, but there are many options out there from Toigo Fellowship, the Consortium, and, of course loans.