by Rich Cohen; Co-Founder, EMPOWERgmat - Rich.C@empowergmat.com
This series of emails and PMs focuses on situations that many Test Takers face during their studies. The names of the original posters have been changed to protect their identities.
Triage-ing Rare Question Types
Hi Rich,
In the math section, I strongly dislike mixture problems and in the verbal section, I strongly dislike the 2 part boldface questions. If time is an issue, would it be wise for me to skip these questions right away to save time? Test day is this Wednesday so instead of trying to get better at those question types, I would just keep on going through everything else.
Manos
Hi Manos,
For the sake of performing well on each of the overall sections, you would likely find it beneficial to dump a few questions that are "problematic", so that you can spend more time on the other questions (and on finishing the section on time). The categories that you mentioned are relative rarities on the GMAT – you’ll likely see just 1-2 Mixture questions and 0-1 Bolded Statement questions on the Official GMAT, so dumping those questions wouldn’t hurt your score much (if at all), especially if you’re using your time to correctly answer other questions.
GMAT Score Needed to Be Competitive at a Top Program
Dear Rich,
I plan to apply for the top 10 B-school in US and/or the top 5 of Europe. Kindly let me know the kind of score I should get to have a realistic chance of getting into any of them. Thanks.
Norrington
Hi Norrington,
Your questions are probably better answered by Admissions Consultants, so I'd recommend that you contact experts in that field (some of them post in the Admissions Forum on this site). The short answer is that the Top Programs have their pick of the best applicants every year, so those schools can be very selective and the application process is competitive. As such, you’ll need to have a competitive GMAT score, a strong OVERALL profile and you have to make sure that you’re properly ‘marketing’ yourself in your applications and interviews. "Realistic" is an interesting word in this situation, since the Top Business Schools can only accept a certain number of students; this means that 70% - 95% of applicants will be rejected. Most applicants will want to have a 700+ overall score with a high Quant Scaled Score, although there's some "wiggle room" if other aspects of your application are extraordinary (meaning that applicants get into Top Programs every year with GMAT scores in the 600s).
Retaking the GMAC CATs For Extra Practice Questions
Rich,
I was wondering how many repeats does it take to squeeze the GMATPrep1 dry? Meaning how many tries would it take to get all of the questions out of that test?
Ozzy
Hi Ozzy,
I'm a big fan of the free material that's available from www.mba.com (the practice CATs and problems), but I have to ask WHY you'd be focused on squeezing every available question out of the software? Plenty of fantastic practice material can be found elsewhere (and at a reasonable price). I imagine that your time is valuable, so you might be better served purchasing the OG (or the supplemental books) and practicing with those, rather than retaking and retaking and retaking those practice CATs. If you’re looking for suggestions for practice materials, then I'd be happy to recommend some additional resources. If you're looking for advice on how to put together a "plan of attack" for prepping for the GMAT, then feel free to contact me directly.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
