New business school aspirants, that is, those that have just decided contemplating pursuing MBA from an internationally reputed business school are often confused as to what they should do first: take the GMAT (or other standardized tests required for admission) or look for business school and aim accordingly.

MBA and business school forums are brimming with discussions and responses on the above topic, with the successful b-school candidates sharing their experiences and proffering their point of view on the issue. At Skill-Guru, we decided to look into the issue and reached the conclusion that: it is better to give the GMAT first and then take up the business school search. However, just keep in mind that in your frenzy for GMAT preparation, you do not miss the important deadlines for various schools. It is not as if we recommends being totally aware about the business schools. In fact, the first thing you would have done, even before facing dilemma over GMAT test and MBA institute research is look for some of the best MBA destinations and their admission criteria. Read more…

SAT exam ghosts haunt the day dreams of high school students and the undergraduates do not know what it is to sleep peacefully at night because GRE and GMAT nightmares do not let them be. What is it about these standardized college and university admission tests and the need to get straight A’s? Isn’t the answer obvious?

Of course, the answer is pretty much obvious and that is that all of us want to get into the best possible college in the country. However, is it the be-all and end-all of life? A more intriguing question than the previous one is: are these standardized tests the best way to judge the competency and eligibility of students across a particular age?

If you ask the test takers or those intending to take the test, you will discover that more than half of them think that by memorizing formulae and cramming words/meanings, they will get straight A’s in all the sections of an entrance test. What is worse is that when you actually see someone succeeding by merely learning by rote, when you actually in all earnest paid attention to grasping all the important concepts and exploiting your logical faculties day-in and day-out.

Getting less than 650 in any of the sections in the SAT exam is considered not-so-cool, which makes the poor High School student hate himself or the entire education process and give up in despair. Parents are not doing a very decent job either, by continuously encouraging their children to get more than 2050, without realizing that their kid is sinking deeper and deeper and at a very fast rate.

No one is saying that standardized tests should be scrapped. They are important in their own way and they do help a university in selecting the best candidates for its curriculum. However, these tests should not resort to creating filters in the student society, treating some students as the filtrate and others as the residual compound that is left in the sieve. Does it sound rude? Well, sometimes SAT exams, GRE exam and GMAT exams make a student ‘feel’ this way and nothing can be worse than that, right?

The need of the hour is to take into account various other factors that determine the eligibility and competence of the students. ETS has already taken a step ahead in the process by introducing various changes in the GRE exam structure and making the whole thing based on logic and reasoning.  Major business schools are giving sufficient weightage to the overall profile and achievement of the foreign candidates and not just their GMAT scores.