The coveted cover letter was a valuable tool for job seekers. It acted as the key to the HR gatekeeper lock. Unfortunately for the cover letter, the rise of tech, social media, Millennials, and good old fashioned networking is leading the way for MBA grads and business majors. In fact, there is a very good chance your cover letter won’t even get read. According to Fortune, approximately 90 percent of recruiters admit to never reading them. Oddly, most job posts still require a cover letter. Even if the […]
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During application season, most Business School applicants assume that once they’ve submitted their applications that the process of applying to Business School is ostensibly over. While they are certainly free to believe that (and can ‘rest on their laurels’), they’re missing out on several steps that they can take to potentially improve the strength of their overall applications. Most Business Schools receive thousands of applications across the application Rounds.  All of those applications take time to review – often weeks or even months can go by before an Admissions […]
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We’re now just beginning the first full week of 2017 and this is a time of year when many people look to define their goals for the coming 12 months. The start of any year can be seen as representative of the potential for new opportunities, journeys and challenges and it can provide you with a great ‘leaping off’ point for some career-defining (and future-defining) work. Since you’re reading this article, you’re almost certainly considering Business School as part of that future. You might even be in the process of […]
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The GMAT is a predictable, standardized Test, so Test Takers have the potential to properly learn the content that will appear on the Exam. Over the Course of their studies, many GMATers improve their scores to a high-enough level that they feel comfortable scheduling their Official GMAT appointments. Without fail though, a certain percentage of those same Test Takers score at a significantly lower level on Test Day (relative to how they were scoring on their practice CATs). Their shock at earning a lower score almost always ends in the […]
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Any time a looming application deadline approaches, you’re more likely to see a group of Test Takers scrambling to jam as much extra study time into their schedules as possible. While putting in that extra study might seem like a logical idea (especially as far as earning that Official GMAT Score before the deadline is concerned) the reality is that quantity of study is not the same as quality of study (and/or efficiency of study). If you’ve been studying a certain way for some time and you haven’t achieved your […]
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We are currently right in the middle of “GMAT Season” – that busy time of year (after most of the Round 1 deadlines have passed) when many GMATers are still studying for their Tests while working on their applications for Round 2 AND juggling their lives, career, family, holidays, etc. Finding the proper time for all of those areas can be challenging, so staying organized is essential. To that end, planning ahead is a big part of successfully achieving all of your goals during this time of year. By extension, […]
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Studying for the GMAT can be a challenging endeavor for many Test Takers. Arguably, one of the most common score goals for Test Takers (if not THE most common score goal) is 700+, but only about 10% of those same people can actually achieve that goal. One of the interesting aspects of scoring at that level though is that while you don’t have to be a ‘genius’, you do have to be able to figure out WHY you’re not getting questions correct... and then do specific work to fix those […]
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Recently, someone who is currently studying for the GMAT asked for my insights into why so many GMATers seem to experience a big drop in their Verbal Scaled Scores between their practice CATs and Test Day. The discussion was detailed and included some insightful follow-up questions. Below is the relevant content of that discussion.  Test Taker X: I wanted to ask you about the recent trend of very low verbal scores on the real exam. I have seen an increased number of topics on this - in which test […]
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The process of putting together a strong overall application involves a number of different ‘steps.’ However, many prospective MBA candidates come into the application process with an unrealistic sense of how long it actually takes to put together a ‘winning’ application, so they inevitably miss the Round 1 application deadlines. Some part of the application just isn’t strong enough (for many, it’s the GMAT Score, but sometimes it’s some other feature) and those same applicants are often really ‘upset’ about missing Round 1. However, there are some significant advantages to […]
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By John Karageorge MBAinsight.com The coveted cover letter was a valuable tool for job seekers. It acted as the key to the HR gatekeeper lock. Unfortunately for the cover letter, the rise of tech, social media, Millennials, and good old fashioned networking is leading the way for MBA grads and business majors. In fact, there is a very good chance your cover letter won’t even get read. According to Fortune, approximately 90 percent of recruiters admit to never reading them. Oddly, most job posts still require a cover […]
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By GMAT Club Verified Reviewer bgbeidas How I aced the GMAT (760 Q49 V46) Man have I been looking forward to writing this post and thereby signaling the end of my GMAT journey. Before I launch into the juicy deets (study materials, practice CAT scores, etc), I think it would be worthwhile to provide you all with some background info on me. Also, please pardon the woeful tennis pun in the title. Four months of maniacal studying really took its toll. Retired professional tennis player (less impressive […]
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Right now, we’re in the midst of GMAT ‘season’ - that period of time when most Test Takers are aiming at upcoming Round 1 or Round 2 application deadlines. As such, the larger number of people studying for the GMAT generates a higher rate of frequently asked questions about how best to study for the Exam. There are a variety of different GMAT study materials available, but a small percentage of Test Takers decide to use non-GMAT based study materials during their studies. As odd as it sounds, they believe […]
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When it comes to studying for the GMAT, there are LOTS of different resources for you to choose from. As such, assembling the perfect combination of study materials can be a tricky task. What materials should you start with? What’s the ‘best’ way to learn the basics? How can you be efficient so that a 3-month study plan doesn’t balloon into a 6–month to 12-month study plan? Advice can come from so many different sources that you might not be sure whose advice to follow. Clouding the issue even further […]
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The process of successfully getting an invitation to attend your first-choice Business School requires a variety of intermediate ‘steps’ along the way. As that process requires a significant investment of your time, money and energy, it’s important to stay organized and plan a reasonable timeline so that you can accomplish all of the necessary tasks that are a part of crafting a strong Business School application. At this time of year, many applicants are planning for the upcoming Round 1 application deadlines. Thankfully, for those people, there’s still plenty of […]
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Over the years, the EMPOWERgmat Team has worked with tens of thousands of Test Takers, helping each to score at a higher level on the GMAT. I’ve dealt with almost every situation that you could possibly imagine – from the obvious to the subtle.  I’ve seen certifiable geniuses get ‘stuck’ and absolutely ‘average’ students score at remarkably high levels on the GMAT. Of all of the situations that I’ve faced, one of the most frequent actually has nothing to do with the intelligence or test-taking ability of the individual at […]
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Whether you know it or not, the top Scaled Score that you can receive in the Quant section of the GMAT is a Q51. These days, that score represents about the 97th percentile, meaning that 97% of Test Takers can’t (or won’t) do what it takes to score at that level.  The Q51 has become something of an obsession for a subset of Test Takers – they become fixated on it and spend an excessive amount of time trying to achieve it (when that time and effort would almost certainly […]
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When it comes to defining an overall score goal, many GMATers will simply state “700 plus” (or the far-more vague “as high as I can get”). For those Test Takers who really want to score at a high level, you might hear them brazenly state “750 plus.” Of the many challenges that come with training to score at that level, there is a much larger ‘math problem’ with that type of score goal – historically speaking, only 1-2% of Test Takers can score at that level on the Official GMAT. […]
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As we’re nearing the end of June, many Business School applicants are just beginning their GMAT studies (or are deep into their current study plans). To celebrate the approaching middle-of-the-year and all of the study activity that will be taking place over the next several months, we’ve decided to reward our Blog readers with a special discount code that you won’t find anywhere else. For the next 7 days (up through July 4th), you can use the discount code… Summer30 … to receive 30% off your first […]
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**Note: I will NOT be discussing any individual questions from this new book. Doing so would cheat YOU, the reader, out of experiencing those questions “fresh.” On Test Day, you have to be prepared to deal with any GMAT concept at any time in each section, so knowing anything beyond the obvious (it’s Geometry because I can see a picture of a circle; it’s an Assumption question because the prompt asks for the ‘assumption’) would diminish the process that you have to go through to answer the question.** You […]
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In 2016, when GMAC adjusted its testing parameters to allow Test Takers to retake the GMAT a mere 16 days after a prior attempt (down from 31 days), many saw that change as a great opportunity. To be fair, there are some significant benefits to the shorter ‘cooling off’ period; for example, if you’re on a tight application deadline, then you can easily schedule another GMAT attempt before the deadline passes. However, if you score lower than you want to be scoring on Test Day, rushing back in so soon […]
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Most MBA Applicants face a harsh reality when it comes to prepping for the GMAT and working on their applications – EVERYTHING takes longer than the Applicants think it will. You’re not the exception. You may have read a few stories about the exceptions, but those stories don’t apply to you. You need more time than you think you do, so plan accordingly. Most Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) preparing to take the GMAT. You probably read a story about someone who picked up a book, studied […]
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Taking full-length CATs at regular intervals throughout one’s studies is an essential part of the study process. Each CAT, when properly taken in full (and in a realistic, test-like fashion) provides data that can be used to evaluate your progress and give you a better sense of your strengths and weaknesses.  For almost all Test Takers, there will be a point (or a series of points) in which the CAT results appear to show little-to-no actual score improvement. When those situations occur, it’s important to stop and truly evaluate how […]
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When it comes to studying for the GMAT, there are LOTS of different practice resource to choose from. While individual Test Takers will vary on how they ‘best’ learn, the reality is that taking full-length CATs (with the Essay and IR sections) under realistic conditions is an essential part of the study process for ALL Test Takers. The Quality of the CATs that you use matters a GREAT deal Taking full CATs is truly the only way to gauge your ‘readiness’ to face the Official GMAT. In that […]
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On the Official GMAT, certain subjects and question types appear more frequently than others and are thus worth more to your overall score. For those Test Takers who are looking to maximize the value of their study time (and score at a high level), knowing which areas to focus on can make a huge difference in how they perform on Test Day. To that end, the EMPOWERgmat Course was built with a structure that gives Clients the most time to prepare for the most valuable concepts and Tactics. Stage […]
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If you’re familiar with the format of the GMAT, then you know that the Quant section of the Test consists of 37 questions that must be completed in 75 minutes. At some point in the history of the GMAT, someone thought to him(her)self “37 questions in 75 minutes is about 2 minutes per question, since 75/37 =  a little over 2 minutes… therefore I should plan to spend no more than 2 minutes per question…” That concept was the beginning of one of the laziest thoughts in the history of […]
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