Application tips: Tests

Hi there! after spending some days by the Mediterranean seaside with my parents before leaving for NY I am back in my hometown to finish off the final details and to get ready for the departure.

Just a few days before leaving, let's go through "the beginning of everything".

The application process...it's a tough thing and I now remember myself in August 2005, preparing for the Toefl. It was the very beginning of this crazy adventure....

Anyway, I will divide this post in separate sections to try to be clear enough.

(1) TOEFL

I refer to the Toefl test first since it is in my view the first hurdle to go over. I know that this may only useful for international students but it is important. If one is fluent in English (i.e. fluent enough to achieve the score demanded by top schools) , preparing and taking the Toefl test will be without any doubt the easiest thing within the application process. In any case, it takes time and therefore, it's my advice to get rid of it at the earliest.

It is a test that does not require a deep knowledge of the English language (as opposed, for instance, to Cambridge exams such as the Advanced or the Proficiency) but rather a practical knowledge of it. You will not be requested to know every single grammar rule or so. In a nutshell, if you can speak English quite properly, you will not have problems. Having said that, I recommend to do some practise and the best way is by taking some sample exams to learn the mechanics and to get the feeling of what the exam is like. There a lots of books for this purpose but I would go for the official Toefl book, which should be more than enough. In any case, if your English is not that good or if you feel like you may need some further help, you may enroll a Toefl preparation course. Having said that, I do not find it necessary to take a Toefl course if you have a reasonable level of English.



(2) GMAT

In an ideal scenario, passing the GMAT should be, in my view, the second step. I say so based on my experience, which was not the ideal one. I took the GMAT for the very first time in late October 2005 with very slight prior preparation, assuming that I wouldn't have any trouble in achieving the score that I needed, given that I didn't find the underlying concepts difficult and that I was fine with the Toefl in my first try. But I was wrong.

I only achieved a poor 550 score. I realized that I needed some true preparation and that I was forced to co-ordinate the preparation of the GMAT and the number of the applications I was thinking about submitting (at that time I was still working, which made things even more difficult for me, given the tight deadline I was facing). Things turned even more difficult for me due to a hectic final quarter of 2005 at work due to massive M&A deals flow. In that scenario, I couldn't make it for the second round of most schools (i.e. early January) and then I decided to quit my job and go for an "all in" bet with the third round (i.e. mid February)

Once I was free of work pressures, it was time for me to focus on both the GMAT and the applications (mainly the essays). I had less than two months to achieve a good GMAT score and to complete 7 applications with their corresponding essays. Pretty tough schedule!! Now, maybe you may understand better why I think that getting rid of the GMAT a.s.a.p is important...

Anyway, focusing on the GMAT...As the very first headline, I wouldn't say that it is a difficult exam. The key here is easy to summarize:more and more practice. That's it. In my case, such practice implied attending a 4-week preparation course offered by Kaplan (two days a week, 3 hours each - around €600) and doing sample exercises and exams on my own . Concerning personal practice, I bought three books: (i) the official GMAT book, which can be purchased online at at www.gmac.com. . Note that this book is the only one containing original GMAT questions from past exams and that makes it particularly useful; (ii) an overall prep book by Princeton Review (the other big company, along with Kaplan, making big money out of this MBA applications world), which is regarded as more convenient for verbal section purposes; and (iii) a book by Kaplan focused 0n above-average difficulty quantitative questions. I found all of them very useful. Buying these books (or other similar prep books) is a must.As you probably already know, the GMAT comprises two main sections: the quantitative section (i.e. maths) and the verbal section.

Concerning the quantitative section, don't be afraid at all. Most of the math concepts are those that you probably studied at high school. You may be a little rusty but after some practice (and some explanations if you are attending a course) you will feel comfortable. It is very important to do sample exercises and tests to get to know some tricks that may be useful and, more importantly, to save time when doing the exercises. Time is probably the most scarce resource when talking about the GMAT.

As regards the verbal section, you will find reading comprehension, sentence correction (both self explanatory) and a third type of questions that demand applying some logic rules. I found particularly tricky the latter but, again, after doing dozens of them you will feel much more confident.

Finally, the GMAT also contains a drafting exercise. All the books (and, of course, the prep courses) will provide you with some techniques and tips that will allow you to get a good score. In any case, note that schools do not pay much attention to this part of the exam and, if for any reason, you do not get at least 4.5 out of 6, Stern will request you to take a pre-term seminar on written English. Having said that, I believe that there is a strong correlation between the quant. and verbal scores and the English writing score.

A month, that was it. It was tough but it was just around four or five weeks of GMAT preparation and I'm glad to say that I achieved a 700 score with 6.0 in the writing section. It's a good score - not magnificent - which basically puts me close to the Stern's average score. After consulting with some top MBA alumni friends, I was told that the line between an acceptable and an innacceptable score depends on your background. In other words, schools do not expect an arts undergraduate to perform as well as an engineer. Given my legal background, I was told that a score around 640 could be enough for me. This is not an official report at all but I just want to tell you to be calmed and don't get blind by the magic 700 figure. It's obvious that the higher your score the stronger your application but bear in mind the previous point.

One final point to make. It will depend on your particular situation, but I think that focusing deeply on the GMAT for a short period of time may be more efficient than spending long months of slight preparation. So, if you can focus on the GMAT for a few weeks, do so!!Next post will be on the application forms themselves. That's all folks!Ciao