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MBA Applicants Spend 12-16 Weeks Studying for GMAT?

10.28.2009 · Posted in Career Articles

If you’re getting ready for the GMAT exam, you might know by now that most people study for the GMAT in 3-6 months. Some get ready for up to a year or even more.nnWhy so long?nnExorbitant $1500 prep programs revolve around 12-16 week courses that eat up your Saturday afternoons. 12-16 weeks!nnEven an intense-college course on sub-atomic physics takes only 9 weeks (in a quarter system like at Stanford) or slightly longer for semester system colleges.nnI’ve never taken a sub-atomic physics course before, but trust me-there’s a TON more rigorous material in a 9 week sub-atomic physics class than there could possibly be on the GMAT.nnMost of the concepts on the GMAT were discussed in high school. You’ve seen all this stuff before! So all you really need to do is to review high school math and English and maybe learn a few new concepts. You’d also need to familiarize yourself with the different ways the GMAT guys try to trick you on the exam.nnSo since most MBA applicants study 12-16 weeks for this exam that covers high school level material, why then is the average GMAT score in the low 500s? Seems like a perfectly legitimate question!nnAt first, I thought the only two reasons were 1) the content 2) the exam is very trickynnBut it wasn’t until my two friends came out of the exam that I realized there’s actually a THIRD reason. You see, my two friends came out of the exam disappointed with their scores.nnMe: “How did you study?”nnThey handed me a stack of the GMAT prep books they used to study. Within minutes I was absolutely confused!nnThe prep book was full of grammatical terms like participial phrase, dependent clause, and subjunctive. It would take me forever to understand what those terms mean. nnNo wonder why students takes 12-16 weeks to prep for the GMAT! They allocate their time learning these useless fancy grammar terms. The critical reasoning section was also filled with these weird terms I did not understand.nnWithin a few minutes, I found myself falling asleep to these prep books! Not a good thing!nnThe quant section did an equally stellar job of putting me to sleep. As a visual learner, there’s only so much I can absorb by reading a book.nnIt was clear to me that part of the reason my two friends didn’t do well on the exam was the ineffective approach of the prep resources they used. These prep books used confusing words. They taught concepts-which are important-but they were missing something important-an efficient thought process. So what happened was my two friends understood all the concepts, but they didn’t know how to think through exam questions in a time-pressured environment.nnDuring my two weeks of rigorous, marathon-like studying, I didn’t spend my time on “concepts” and instead created an efficient thought process with frameworks that help me identify what is being tested.nnBut I can see how I could easily have ended up studying away 12-16 weeks of my life had I prepared the way my friends did for the GMAT. I eventually showed my friends my thought process and they retook the exam with success. You can read more about our story.nnSo back to the original question: Why do most test takers study GMAT for 3-6 months?nn1) the material is very difficult 2) the test is very tricky 3) confusing, inefficient studying techniquesnnThe content is tough, but it’s not impossible. Yes, the exam is very tricky so understanding the ways the GMAT guys try to trick you is important.nnAnd yes, learn from the mistakes of my two friends. Make sure you stay away from confusing prep books that can waste away your precious time. Be smart about how you study because remember–how you study is perhaps the most important aspect to getting a good score.

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