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Comments on GMAT prep options for a recent college grad

by | Sep 9, 2013 | Bschool admissions, Business School, Education, GMAT | 0 comments

The email below was sent to me by a 2012 graduate of Princeton, who I met when I returned to campus for my wife’s 10th reunion last year. Since meeting him, we’ve had several conversation about his career and his desire to use his academic background in the sciences to eventually embark on a career in Biotechnology.

Recently, he and I met for brunch and had a great chat about his desire to get an MBA at some point in the future. Following that brunch, he sent the email below to ask for my advice on preparing for the GMAT exam.

I went pretty high-level with the response, but it should be a pretty decent starting point for anyone who is thinking about taking the GMAT. With a test that hard, one needs to take a very measured approach to preparing for it.

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AP wrote:

Hey Marquis,

Thank you again for taking time out of your day Sunday to take me out to brunch and give me mentorship as I continue developing a career after Princeton.

I know you mentioned that you scored very well on the GMAT, so please let me know if you have any advice on the best way to prepare for it. I believe I will be taking it in the fall. Take care

Sincerely,

AP

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My response:

Hey AP,

Thanks for the email. I apologize for taking so long to write back, but I wanted to make sure I had time to sit down and type out a well thought out response to your GMAT review question.

As you think about tackling the GMAT exam, there are 2 primary avenues for you to prepare:

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  1. GMAT class: If you have an extra $750-$1500 available and don’t trust yourself to guide yourself in studying, this option will have a lot of value. I’m not 100% sure, but I’d guess that a higher percentage of the applicants targeting top schools sign up for GMAT prep courses because the instructors are trained in the ins and outs of the test and, most importantly, the classes provide the structure that many folks need to ensure that they study when they’re supposed to do so.

    The traditional GMAT class format is the live, classroom-based experience. You’d sign up with the prep company, receive a set of prep materials, and then agree to attend classes for a couple of hours per week. In those classes, trainers will go through all of the concepts in the GMAT exam in very good detail and will walk you through examples to demonstrate the thinking that you should be using as you solve the problems. I believe the leaders in the classroom GMAT prep game are Kaplan, Princeton Review, and Veritas Prep.

    The other option that has become very popular in the past few years are online classes for GMAT prep. From what I’ve heard, the materials in the online classes are just as good as the classroom prep options, but they don’t provide the regimented schedule of a classroom setting. It’ll be up to you to carve out the time to review all of the materials, complete the practice questions, and do the timed sample exams. If you have it in you to do that, then you could save as much as $500+ by going with the online option. Off the top of my head, Manhattan GMAT and Veritas Prep come to mind as especially popular online GMAT classes.

  2. Self-study: This is the more difficult approach, but, if you’re cash-constrained and can’t afford a class, then this is the way to go. Given that I was broke before business school, this is what I did and it turned out pretty well for me. It takes a lot of work and focus though.

    The first thing you’ll need is 1 or 2 good GMAT prep guides that you can review on your own. When I did self-study, I used the 2001 version of this book: http://www.amazon.com/Kaplan-GMAT-Premier-Practice-Tests/dp/161865053X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372767656&sr=8-1&keywords=kaplan+gmat. I found the Kaplan book to be fantastic, so I can vouch for it. I didn’t use any others, but I’ve heard great things about the prep guides from Manhattan GMAT and Princeton Review.

    Once you have your materials in hand, you’ll have to set up a schedule to guide your studying. This is where you need to be especially disciplined. I’ve seen lots of folks intend to study on their own, only to end up kicking back and being lazy for most of the time and then having to scramble and cram right before the test date. In my case, I studied 6-7 days per week for a solid 3 months before the test date. I read the Kaplan prep book cover to cover several times, did multiple practice tests from the included CD-ROM, and did as many individual practice questions as I could find on the Web (This was in 2001, so there weren’t as many practice questions available as there are now).

    Some people are very against self-study because they say that it leaves too much to chance, but, if you’re willing to push yourself to buckle down and do it, you could save a TON from doing it.

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You’ll notice that I left out the option of getting a personal GMAT tutor. I recognize that some people go that route, but those tutors are so expensive that you’d have to be ballin’ out of control to be able to afford that. If you can, then go for it, but I’m not going to advocate for that as a realistic option.

I hope the info above is helpful. Let me know if you have any other MBA-related questions.

Marquis