A GMAT score (and preferably a high score) is a necessary, but not a sufficient condition for admissions to an MBA program. Different schools use GMAT scores in different ways. There is little agreement on what a GMAT score is evidence of. Furthermore, not everybody agrees that the GMAT is a measure of things that matter to the MBA program.

See the following article from the National Post. Highlights include:

“One of the key areas of focus for Brock University is fit, says Shari Sekel, director of graduate programs for the university’s faculty of business. “We are trying to make sure that what a student is trying to achieve with their MBA is something our program is capable of delivering. Not all MBA programs are alike. There are similarities, but they all have different specializations, styles of learn-ing, opportunities, extra-curricular activities. We want to make sure there is a good fit between the expectations of the student and the realities of our program.”

Who is a good fit for Brock’s MBA program? “Someone who looks beyond the books. Some of our courses base 30% of the final grade on in class contribution,” says Ms. Sekel. “We are looking for people very comfortable in participating, sharing ideas, asking questions. We are also looking for them to get involved outside the classroom and have a lot of extra-curricular opportunities to help them round out the graduate experience.”

It is exactly for that reason that Ms. Sekel has concerns about the emphasis placed on GMAT scores. Administered by U.S.-based Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), the GMAT has become the standard assessment tool to measure the likely success of MBA candidates used by business schools around the globe. The test is divided into three parts: verbal, quantitative and analytical writing skills.

“The GMAT is well regarded and widely used but I’m torn on the subject. The admissions function is all about predicting who is going to be the most successful in the MBA program. The GMAT serves as a common evaluation tool because all students have to write the same test. That’s one of its most important uses,” says Ms. Sekel.

“On the other hand, we have to recognize the GMAT is not the only piece of an application that’s important, particularly when you are looking at students fresh from undergraduate programs. If you have students even in history or science who are scoring well, getting As, these are students with a good work ethic, they are motivated and those are some of the skill sets that will serve them well at the MBA level. The GMAT holds less weight in those instances for us.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/education/edlife/edl-24quiz-t.html?_r=1&ref=edlife

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• Pop Quiz: Answers (July 24, 2011)

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The GRE has slowly been becoming a substitute for the GMAT in MBA admissions. The reasons are well canvassed at:

http://www.prep.com/gmat800/gmatvsgre.html

Here is a complete list (from GRE) of programs that will accept the GRE.

The following Canadian schools, including Queen’s are included:

• Canada
• Lakehead University
• Queen’s School of Business
• St. Mary’s University
• University of Calgary
• Univ of New Brunswick - Saint John

A special comment with respect to Queen’s. Queen’s also accepts the QMAT for admission to their executive MBA programs.

By Francesca Di Meglio

If you’re thinking of applying to B-school, then you’re likely also wondering how to conquer the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT)—and whether a commercial test-preparation service, which can cost upwards of $1,000, is right for you.

Although admissions committees, even at the best-ranked B-schools, will tell you that your GMAT score is only one of many criteria for getting accepted, you still should plan on earning between 600 and a perfect 800, especially if you’re gunning for the A-list. (To find the average and median GMAT scores of accepted students in individual programs, scan the BusinessWeek.com B-school profiles.)

There’s no way you should go into the GMAT cold. You must prepare, says Lawrence Rudner, vice-president of research & development at the Graduate Management Admissions Council, which administers the test. The question is how to prepare, and the answer is different for everyone. Take a practice test, see how you do, and then decide how much preparation you need to arrive at your ideal score. For some, picking up a practice book will suffice, while others will need private tutoring.

One popular option is consulting a test-prep company that provides everything from group instruction to online courses. Here’s an overview of the most popular GMAT test-preparation services in alphabetical order. For more opinions on the various test-prep services from test takers themselves, visit the BusinessWeek.com B-School forums, where this subject comes up a lot. And you can also check out BusinessWeek.com’s newly updated GMAT Prep page.

Read the complete article here.

“GRE vs. GMAT competition leads to innovation

All of the graduate admissions tests – GRE, GMAT and LSAT – are for the purpose of testing reading and reasoning skills. The “Revised GRE” will be a big improvement over the current version.

Success on the current GRE verbal section is dependent on knowledge of vocabulary. The inclusion of less difficult vocabulary (on the Revised GRE) will contribute to making the GRE more of a “reasoning” test. At the present time, we have students coming to our GRE classes, who have been memorizing lists of words. An improved vocabulary is an asset it life. That said, a GRE score should not depend on what words one knows.

It is a mistake to remove the analogies from the verbal section of the current GRE. Analogies are a good test of reasoning skills. Analogies with less difficult vocabulary could and should be retained.

The new GMAT Integrated Reasoning section may have its roots in an old “Data Interpretation” section that was on the GMAT (and the LSAT) during the 1970s. During this era both tests included questions that were based on graphs and charts. The questions required one to integrate information from more than one chart. (But, let’s see how GMAT Integrated Reasoning develops.)

Finally, let’s not forget what is really going on here. The GMAT and GRE now compete against each other to be used as part of the MBA admissions process. I suspect that some of these changes are designed to compete better in the marketplace. The 2011 changes are the third time that GRE has attempted to change the format of the GRE. Of course the first two times – GRE was not competing directly against GMAT. It’s amazing how competition encourages innovation.

The American Bar Association is currently reviewing whether the LSAT should continue to be mandatory for law school admission. Perhaps, the GRE could also be used as an alternative to the LSAT.

John Richardson – Richardson GMAT LSAT GRE Preparation Centre – Toronto, Canada”

 

Read the complete article Graduate Admissions Exams To Get Makeover here.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/managing/business-education/business-school-test-prep-hard-on-your-brain-and-wallet/article1942988/
MARJO JOHNE
Globe and Mail Update
Published Wednesday, Mar. 16, 2011 12:00AM EDT

“Everybody looks for instructors who have a good GMAT score, but that’s just one part of it,” she says. “Find out what type of teaching experience the instructor has had and how good he is with explaining information to adult learners.

“Talk to other students who have taken the course. It’s a bit of work upfront, but, after all, this is something that could well have a big impact on your future.”

With a GMAT score that put her in the top eight per cent of all test takers in the previous three years, Marina Martin, a marketing consultant in Vancouver, figures she can get into the MBA program of any of the Ivy League schools.

“The GMAT in itself is not the most difficult exam,” says Ms. Martin, who took the Graduate Management Admission Test last September. “But as you get older, you lose certain concepts that you learned in school, and that can make the exam somewhat challenging.”

Administered by the Graduate Management Admission Council in Reston, Va., the GMAT is a four-hour exam that assesses reading comprehension and logical reasoning, analytical, writing and mathematical skills. GMAT results, which are good for five years, help MBA schools choose which students to accept into their programs.

While schools base their admission decisions on a body of material that includes undergraduate records, application essays, work experience and letters of recommendation, they do assign significant weight to GMAT scores. In a survey of 288 U.S. MBA schools taken last July and August by Kaplan Test Prep – part of Kaplan Inc., a New York private education provider – 48 per cent of admissions officers said a low GMAT score is the biggest application killer.

“You really can’t get away without any kind of preparation,” says Brent Hanneson, who runs Leap Education, a Vancouver company that offers private tutoring for MBA candidates. “I see a lot of really smart people who struggle with the test, even engineers who struggle with the math part because they don’t know the appropriate test strategies.”

In the past, reviewing books that published sample questions was a good enough way to prepare for the GMAT, says Mr. Hanneson, who also works as a program advisor for the University of British Columbia, which offers GMAT preparation studies through its continuing education department.

But as test takers over the years have grown increasingly savvy about GMAT-acing strategies, getting a top score has become more difficult.

“Your mark is essentially a ranking amongst other people, so the bar keeps rising because everybody is learning these strategies,” says Mr. Hanneson. “You’re at a strong disadvantage if you don’t get help preparing for these tests.”

What, then, is the best way to get GMAT-ready?

Dr. Ian Rakita, associate professor and director of the Goodman Institute of Investment Management at Concordia University in Montreal, says a GMAT preparatory course is always a good option since it commits test candidates to studying for a designated period of time.

“It can provide a structured setting for GMAT prep and lead to a support network, wherein potential students can build on one another’s strengths as they receive guidance and tips from qualified instructors,” he says.

However, a prep course can be quite costly and is not the only option that will lead to successful results, says Dr. Rakita.

“If a candidate is committed, organized and disciplined in their approach to studying, they are just as able to attain a great result,” he says.

Indeed GMAT prep courses can range from $545 for 30 hours of in-class instruction with Oxford Seminars in Toronto and Vancouver, to $1,600 for 42 hours in-class with Veritas Prep, the Malibu company with Canadian classrooms in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

Online courses don’t necessarily come at bargain prices. Kaplan’s “on demand” video courses cost about $450, while New York-based Manhattan GMAT’s “live” online courses – where students join a live class via the Internet three hours a week for three months – cost $1,090.

There are also private tutorials with GMAT experts such as Mr. Hanneson, who charges $150 an hour for a one-on-one session conducted by Web conference.

GMAT prep courses typically cover two areas: content – for example, grammar and the more esoteric aspects of math, like factoring and algebra equation solving – and test-taking strategies.

The latter is particularly important, since the GMAT is timed and many of the problem-solving strategies taught in school can add minutes to the time it takes to answer certain questions.

One time-saving strategy, for example, calls for estimating an answer to a math question, instead of doing a precise calculation.

“The way you learn math at school is systematic which, on the GMAT, will work against you,” says Mr. Hanneson. “You’re better off estimating because chances are, there will only one answer choice on the GMAT that’s close to your estimate.”

Some GMAT prep schools, such as the one at UBC, offer courses that cover only one area of study.

“We had people asking us to just focus on math, so we started a 21-hour quantitative course and also a basic math refresher for people who have been away from math for a long time,” says Deena Boeck, senior program leader at the University of British Columbia’s school of continuing studies. “We also recently started a writing course to help people practice the writing portion of the test.”

Two years ago, UBC began offering prep courses for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), which has long been required for most non-business school graduate programs but is now being accepted by a growing number of MBA schools in Canada and the United States.

“We started with 24 students in 2008 and most recently had 52, so the numbers are definitely increasing,” says Ms. Boeck.

So how many hours of studying does it take to get ready for the GMAT?

There’s no neat formula for success, say the GMAT experts. Research by the Graduate Management Admission Council found candidates who scored well on the GMAT tended to spend more time studying. But interestingly, those in the top group – with a score of 700 or higher – studied seven hours less than test takers with the second highest scores.

What’s more important for GMAT candidates, says Ms. Boeck, is to find the style of prepping that suits them best. For example, if they learn better on their own, then an autonomous online course is probably best for them. If they like face-to-face group interactions, then a class setting would be more suitable.

For Ms. Martin, wanting to be part of a group was one of the reasons why she chose to sign up for UBC’s on-campus GMAT prep course.

“I’m very motivated studying in a group and I found that taking the in-class course was the perfect combination of getting knowledge in a condensed version and sharing it with others,” she says.

Whether they choose an online or class course, students should try to learn a few things about the course instructor, says Ms. Boeck.

“Everybody looks for instructors who have a good GMAT score, but that’s just one part of it,” she says. “Find out what type of teaching experience the instructor has had and how good he is with explaining information to adult learners.

“Talk to other students who have taken the course. It’s a bit of work upfront, but, after all, this is something that could well have a big impact on your future.”

Top 10 GMAT prep tips

Dr. Ian Rakita, associate professor and director of the Goodman Institute of Investment Management at Concordia University in Montreal, shares some tips to help you prepare for exam day.

1. Review the test structure and understand the proportionate weighting of each section.

2. Know your schedule and set aside enough time to prepare for the test.

3. Take practice tests regularly and don’t get discouraged. Incorporate GMAT prep into your regular routine.

4. Join a study group. It will create a network of support and ease the stress of preparing for your test.

5. Know your strengths and weaknesses so you can spend more time and effort on building your weak areas.

6. Track your progress. This will quantify your results and encourage you to keep going.

7. Manage your time wisely. Proper pacing on test day will help maintain your stamina and likely lead to better results.

8. Don’t be a victim of information overload. Think about the question being asked and only answer what is being asked.

9. Avoid random guesses. Eliminate the obvious wrong choices immediately to increase your odds of choosing the correct answer.

10. Don’t give up. Stay focused and aim to finish your test.

Special to The Globe and Mail

For examples of GMAT questions and the chance to test yourself, check out the ‘Practise the GMAT Test’ link ont our Business Education hub at http://WWW.TGAM.CA/BUSINESS-EDUCATION

Changes are coming to the GMAT exam. Schools and programs want to know how you’ll perform in today’s information-rich climate.

http://www.mba.com/mba/thegmat/nexgen

On June 4, 2012, the GMAT exam will gain a new section designed to measure your ability to evaluate information from multiple sources. Incorporating advances in technology and measurement, the next generation GMAT will include a new 30-minute Integrated Reasoning section that will ask you to interpret data presented graphically, analyze different types of information, and evaluate outcomes.

These skills—according to a survey of 740 business school faculty members worldwide—are necessary to respond to the complex challenges presented in business school programs and in today’s information-rich business environment.

The GMAT Verbal, Quantitative and Total Scores will not change. Test takers will receive a separate score for the essay, as they do now, and for the new Integrated Reasoning section. The overall length of the GMAT exam (three and a half hours) will not change. When the Integrated Reasoning section is added, the Analytical Writing assessment will be streamlined to include only one 30-minute essay prompt instead of two.

Related Information

Next Generation Video

Next Generation GMAT FAQs

Want to learn more? Read the GMAT Integrated Reasoning blog.

The GMAT bus delivers the test to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic Serving Institutions

Continuing its journey to increase access to graduate management education, the Mobile GMAT Test Center will launch a cross-country tour of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic Serving Institutions. The eight-month tour will begin October 21, 2009, at Humphreys College in Stockton, California.
On its fifth cross-country tour of North America, the GMAT Mobile Test Center, a bus equipped with six testing stations, will deliver the GMAT exam at all US-based four-year HBCU and HSI members at least 40 miles from a permanent GMAT test center. The 14-state, 33-school tour will conclude May 7 at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fla.

To read the complete article:

http://www.mba.com/mba/TheGMAT/ScheduleaGMATAppointment/GMATBus2009.htm

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