Are you looking for MBA in the US without having to appear for GMAT? Well, for regular full time MBA programs from the top, accredited business schools, the only way to skip GMAT exam is to give GRE instead and submit GRE scores! Yes, that was what had happened in 2009 when a news report read something like this:

“No GMAT? No problem, says Harvard” and inside it turned out that “HBS is accepting either of the GMAT or GRE”. So, see, there is no skipping the standardized tests, at least if you want to complete your MBA from a well recognized and accredited university.

There are many diploma mills and unrecognized universities that offer MBA programs without GMAT. Please do not fall for them. (I am not saying that all such universities that offer MBA without GMAT are non-accredited. In fact, if you know of a good, accredited business school that does not require GMAT or GRE scores for admission to regular full time MBA programs, then do let us know about it. )

MBA without GMAT is possible in case of Executive MBA programs and online distance learning MBA programs. These two are very much in demand. In case of executive MBA, the working professionals get to complete an MBA degree without having to forego their work and at the same time reap the benefits of campus education through weekend classes. In case of online MBA, students and professionals get to acquire business education at a cheaper cost, without having to relocate to another city or country.

It is not as if all the business schools that offer Executive MBA have done away with the need for GMAT scores. Wharton and Duke still insist that professionals and executives applying for their executive MBA programs submit GMAT scores, (usually 680+). On the other hand, business schools such as NYU Stern and Kellogg have scraped the need for GMAT scores, the rationale being that the professionals, usually with 10 or 15 years’ experience behind them do not need to be adjudged on the basis of GMAT scores.

Similarly, majority of the online MBA programs do not require the applicants to take GMAT exam or any other standardized tests. But again, there are business schools that state GMAT scores as important admission eligibility requirements. These are usually the best business schools in the world that insist that their online distance learning MBA program is on the lines of the full time MBA programs and hence, there should be no difference in the cost or eligibility requirements.

George Bernard Shaw quoted: “Reading made Don Quixote a gentleman. Believing what he read made him mad” Oh am well on the way to being another Don Quixote (mind you, not Quixotic!)

Reading comprehension and sentence correction questions are an integral part of the GMAT exam and one way to master your reading skills is to read a lot: not only trade journals and magazines but classic and contemporary literature too, by which I mean the amazing world of books (fiction, adventure, philosophical, political, epics, poetry, classics, history, law etc)

Wondering what reading big, fat, ancient (and modern) tomes can do to your GMAT verbal score? Well, for starters, you come across new words and new usages for the words you are already familiar with. There are various new phrases, complex sentence structures and you get used to reading write and correct grammar. The direct result of the last part, that is getting used to perfect grammar sentences is that whenever you comes across a sentence with only slightest grammatical errors, your ears perk up in attention, a great instinct that comes in quite handy to solve sentence correction questions.

It is a great way for non-native English speakers to improve their English comprehension skills. As they read books from diverse genres, they become more aware of more and more words and grammatical structure. GMAT test takers have reported an increase of 50 to 100 points in their GMAT scores, based totally on the improvement in their verbal skills on account of reading classic and modern literary works. Read more…

As I sit here observing my exam scripts from school and college, I repent over my deteriorating mathematics skills. In senior high school, I was a perfect 100 scorer and my PSAT scores in math were 700+. I performed handsomely on SAT and in the other competitive exams taken over the years in college. Nevertheless, the declining trend in the mathematics and even verbal scores is very much visible and this has forced me to think, would it have been better if I had taken the GMAT right after my college, when I still remembered a lot of mathematics from my school and college? Read more…

A lot of people have been asking this question lately, that is when is the right time to take the GMAT and hence begin the preparation, if they want to begin their course in Fall 2012. Well, taking in view all the parts of the admission procedure, it is suggested that you take your GMAT latest by October 2011!

There are many reasons behind this, the major one being that you need to apply in all the three rounds, focusing on some specific colleges in each round. The first round for most of the business schools begins in November and the third round application deadlines get over by the end of March. GMAT exams and GMAT scores are only one of the various parts of the entire admission process. There are many other things to take care of too: choosing the right colleges, sending the applications, writing the application essays, appearing for interviews, losing sleep due to admission anxiety, braving the tension due to pending acceptance, applying for financial aid, arranging for sources of tuition fee and many other things. Read more…

Yes, the most interesting types of questions asked in GMAT exam, after GMAT verbal ability questions,  are here for you to solve. They are very easy and exciting and give your mind the correct level of exercising that it needs. So go ahead and solve this GMAT reasoning question:

Five friends Michael, Sam, Vane, Neo and Ryan participated in a race, each with a different colored Read more…

Lately, we discussed a lot of strategies on GMAT time management, GMAT verbal ability and how companies are hiring more and more number of business graduates with high remuneration packages. However, in all this, let us not forget that the most important thing that will get the Perfect GMAT score is taking more and more GMAT practice tests. Therefore, here is a short test for testing your GMAT sentence improvement skills Read more…

Time is one thing that is in short supply in all the standardized tests and not only GMAT. The reason behind this is simple: the test makers want to judge your efficiency because anybody can solve those questions if given an unlimited amount of time.

Therefore, you need to have a proper time plan Read more…

1.  In how many ways can 7 men and 7 women sit down at a round table in such a way that no 2 men sit next to each other?

Solution: Clearly, the men and women are to sit in alternate positions. When we fix the position of one man, say at the top, the rest 6 men can be arranged in 6! ways. Read more…

The data sufficiency questions are designed to test candidates reasoning ability. Basic knowledge of arithmetic, algebra and geometry is prerequisite to solve questions on data sufficiency. These questions indeed take lesser time in comparison to other questions, but then they can be very tricky. Just keep in mind that you have to see if the data is sufficient to get the desired the answers, please do not sit down to actually solve them.

How to solve data sufficiency questions:

1. Read the question and understand the formula and rule required to solve it.
2. Take statement I and use the information given in it along with the statement given in the question. Check if you can arrive at a solution. Do not try to solve the question, first ensure that a solution can be obtained. The student should be careful not to read any more into a statement than what is given.
3. Take statement II in isolation to statement I. Combine the information given in statement II with that of already given in the question. Check if you can arrive at a solution. Remember not to use data from statement I.
4. If a solution is not arrived at from either statements I or II individually, combine the data available from the two statements and check if you can arrive at a solution.
5. Select the right option.

Some important points for data sufficiency

Questions of data sufficiency are designed to tempt the students into making wrong and invalid assumption. This fact can be illustrated with the help of following examples.

Example: If a question asks for a numerical value, the question is answerable only if a statement provides data with which one can arrive at a unique value and not a range of values.  Now students are not required to calculate the value of 2⁹. We have to simplify tell whether statement I and II are sufficient to answer the question.

Now, try this test for GMAT data sufficiency problems.

I am not going to discuss some valuable tips and strategies to crack the GMAT exam and get the most coveted perfect score. A lot has been said about these things and I do hope that you, the GMAT test takers who aspire to study in the best business schools, have done a lot towards that end.

Every wondered if Solomon or Hercules were to sit for GMAT exam? Would they find it easy or difficult? Who is more likely to clear it? The wise Solomon or the hard-working Hercules? The test developers develop the test in such a way that only a wise and hard working candidate can get the Perfect score, thought the emphasis is more Read more…