MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: Admissions is a Science!
November 30, 2012
What does a 3.8 GPA + 670 GMAT + 4 years of work experience + 3 years of community service equal? The answer is that it could equal nothing and it could equal a letter of admission. It is impossible to respond with confidence because admissions is absolutely not a science. After all, if it were a science the admissions office would just do away with the entire time and resource consuming admissions process and publish a simple formula. Why not make life that much simpler for everyone?
In some countries, there are simple tests which establish benchmarks — one gets into a top MBA program with a score of X and does not with Y. In the United States, some graduate programs have cutoffs for GRE scores or situations where LSAT scores and grades are definitive. Plainly put, when talking about the top global , there is no simple criteria. Instead, the admissions committee reads a file holistically and seeks evidence of your ability to contribute in the class and perform at the highest levels post-graduation. GPA’s, GMAT scores, work experience, etc., are just parts of the larger equation.
While it can be comforting to try to reduce the MBA admissions process to a simple science, as an opaque process suddenly becomes clear and comprehensible, it is unwise to do so. By listening to chatter on message boards or blogs about the “right GMAT score” or the “right amount of work experience,” instead of listening to the word of the admissions officers, who are at pains to explain that the process is holistic in nature (meaning that they evaluate all criteria with no particular scorecard), you expose yourself to, at best, a risk of wasting your time and at worst a risk of wasting your energy on fruitless endeavors. It is crucial that you be your best candidate and thus you need to present your full story, not just some simple stats.
While it can be comforting to try to reduce the MBA admissions process to a simple science, as an opaque process suddenly becomes clear and comprehensible, it is unwise to do so. By listening to chatter on message boards or blogs about the “right GMAT score” or the “right amount of work experience,” instead of listening to the word of the admissions officers, who are at pains to explain that the process is holistic in nature (meaning that they evaluate all criteria with no particular scorecard), you expose yourself to, at best, a risk of wasting your time and at worst a risk of wasting your energy on fruitless endeavors. It is crucial that you be your best candidate and thus you need to present your full story, not just some simple stats.
Eating, Drinking, and Sleeping GMAT
February 19, 2012
Back in December, I had my own Test Day. With all my time recently focused on the GMAT, I was a little concerned that the LSAT would be a little tough, but a few practice tests told me that I still remembered my stuff from when I taught prospective law students many years ago. In the days leading up to the test, I didn’t worry about it too much. This was a mistake.
It wasn’t that I needed to study more. The GMAT and the LSAT overlap significantly (good news for those of you considering joint JD/MBA programs!), and one of the advantages of working for Kaplan is that I get to study test-prep every day with my students. I knew the material backwards and forwards.
The problem was one of scheduling. Unlike the GMAT, which has tests every day, the LSAT is four times a year—at 8:30 a.m. And while working with students every night may be useful for learning to answer questions, teaching till 10pm isn’t conducive to functioning early morning!
So, I ended up waking up at 6:30 a.m. to travel to the testing site in central Boston, even though my alarm had been set to wake me at 9:30 a.m. every day the week before. Not only was I bleary, but the schedule shift messed up my stomach! I planned a big hearty breakfast, but wasn’t able to get even half of it down.
I did get a little time to wake up on the ride to the testing center. And when I cracked the booklet and looked at the first problem, a surge of adrenaline gave me tunnel vision, an experience I’m sure my GMAT students all shared. I tore through the first two sections, and I was feeling great. But halfway through the third section, I crashed. Despite years of looking at test-materials, I just couldn’t focus—the letters were swimming before my eyes. I barely made it through, and when I got to check my answers on my official score report a month later, I learned that I had gotten more problems wrong on that one section than I did on the other three sections combined.
Lucky for me, the LSAT lets your bring food into the testing center, and during the 15-minute break I gorged myself on dried fruit and caffeinated soda, waking me up for the remainder of the test. I’m not sure how well I would have done on the GMAT. Being forced to rush to the locker to wolf down a granola bar would have been stressful, at the very least. But despite all of that, I’m glad this happened; it gave me a valuable lesson to share with all of you.
First, manage your schedule. Morning people should sign up for morning test slots, and night people should aim for afternoon testing. But if your schedule forces you to take a test at a ‘bad’ time for you, plan ahead. If you do get stuck with an a.m. test, make sure you’re getting up early every day for a week beforehand to shift your schedule; conversely, try sleeping late for several days before a 4 o’clock test if you know you normally get tired at 6. Also, eat a filling pre-test meal. I didn’t get enough food, and what I did eat (a Pop Tart) was filled with the kind of sugars that give you a spike of energy before sending you crashing down. I did get one thing right, at least: coffee. I had my daily cuppa joe, but I resisted the urge to down two or three more to wake me up. Overcaffeination is dangerous, a sure way to make sure you can’t sit through the test.
I hope all of you can learn from my hardships. Remember, test preparation isn’t just about studying. You need to actually prepare to take a test. Going in focused, awake, and energized can give you a huge advantage over other test-takers, so plan accordingly for test day success!
