GMAT Percentiles
GMAT Percentiles If you’re applying to a top MBA program, you’ve probably read that you need to score above the 80th-percentile in both Quant and Verbal. While this used to be the case, as you’ll see below, percentiles have been…
How to Calculate GMAT Scores
How to Calculate GMAT Scores GMAT scores are calculated by taking your scaled score from 6-51 on each section and arriving at a composite GMAT score from 200 - 800. Nonetheless, there's a lot of confusion about how to calculate…
Using (and Misusing) GMAT Practice Tests
Among the many myths that abound regarding optimal preparation for the GMAT, one of the more common and, unfortunately, more harmful ones is that there exists a direct relationship between quantity of practice tests taken and score improvements. And, unfortunately, this myth is perpetuated by large GMAT classes that will advertise 6 or 8 or…
GMAT Timing Tip: Is It Time to Guess?
If you even scratch the surface of a GMAT prep book, a GMAT forum, or just a random GMAT conversation on the street (those do happen, I swear), you’ll hear something about the scoring algorithm — that you MUST get the first 10 questions right, that you’re doing poorly if you get an easy question…
GMAT Timing Tip: The Sunk Cost Fallacy
When students call me to discuss issues they’ve been having in their preparation, one of the most common concerns I hear is timing. Be it on practice tests or on the real thing, basically all GMAT test-takers experience a time crunch at some point during the test, if not throughout the entire exam. Now, if…
Understanding the GMAT CAT: Verbal Success is More Important than Quantitative Success
A lot of the students who come to me looking for tutoring are looking for intensive work in the Quantitative section of the GMAT. This, of course, makes sense. Many people studying for the GMAT haven’t taken a math course since high school, and the idea of doing a weighted average question in Data Sufficiency…
Some Common GMAT Myths
If you’re looking to ace the GMAT, you’re faced with two fundamental challenges: mastering the content of the exam and understanding the nature of the test. Mastering the content of the test is no easy feat, but because of persistent myths about the exam, many students end up taking the wrong approach toward the GMAT…
Understanding the GMAT CAT: Perfection isn’t necessary
GMAT test-takers are an ambitious breed. Most of the students I encounter work full-time, have various extracurricular projects, and still find time to devote 10 – 15 hours each week to GMAT preparation. This is of course an admirable trait, and one that often translates well into GMAT success. The downside, though, is that most…