Written by Sameer Kamat

In the GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) questions, identifying the structured of the paragraph is the first and the most important thing to do. The expert GMAT teachers at GoGMAT, continue their GMAT preparation series on MBA Crystal Ball. This time the spotlight is on the Critical Reasoning questions within the GMAT syllabus. And yeah, there are examples and a sample question for you to sink your teeth into.

Written by Sameer Kamat

The GMAT syllabus can appear to be vast and scary. So preparing for the GMAT test involves more than just knowing every GMAT verbal and quantiative concept perfectly. Knowing how to guess intelligently on difficult GMAT questions can save you time and get you some good scores too. In the GMAT preparation series written by GoGMAT for MBA Crystal Ball, this week’s focus is on how to sharpen your guessing skills with some cool tips and tricks.

Written by Sameer Kamat

The GMAT Preparation series by GoGMAT for MBA Crystal Ball readers continues. In this post their GMAT tutors share some ideas on how you can manage the test time optimally, even if you haven’t mastered the entire GMAT syllabus.

Written by Sameer Kamat

It’s GMAT Preparation season. So we got our friends from GoGMAT to prep you up before your GMAT test dates. In this exclusive GMAT preparation series, the GMAT tutors and experts from GoGMAT will cover  tips, techniques and advice on a range of topics – including GMAT syllabus (how to prepare for GMAT verbal questions and GMAT quantitative challenges) and general strategies (like the art of intelligent guessing and time management) for tackling difficult GMAT questions.

Written by Sameer Kamat

Notre Dame University (Mendoza), Olin (St Louis) and Simon (Rochester) were three MBA programs (apart from the regular suspects Harvard, Wharton, Kellogg, Chicago Booth) where Sourya Biswas applied with a GMAT score of 750.
A high GMAT score doesn’t guarantee anything. Neither do strong MBA essays or a good MBA resume, if you consider them in isolation. Sourya Biswas got the ingredients right and two bschools offered him a full-ride (100% scholarship).
But along the way, he had his share of highs and lows. Sourya persisted and did not give up on his ambition. He shares his MBA application strategy and success story.

Written by Sameer Kamat

Sonal Yadav thinks of the Vanderbilt MBA program as the ‘Harvard in HR’. She had a bit of a rough ride with her GMAT score and she was pretty clear about the schools that she wanted to apply to.
And many of her advisors and well-wishers painted a bleak scenario for an international candidate trying to get into a Human Resources role in an American company.
But she went ahead and applied to the Vandy MBA. Minutes after she had wrapped up a fantastic interview with the Vanderbilt admissions officer, she got a shock. And then soon after, a pleasant surprise. Sonal has written interesting articles for a US-based newspaper. See if her flair for journalism comes across in her writing.

Written by Sameer Kamat

When MBA education costs are spiralling out of control, a full-tuition scholarship can mean a lot to Indian candidates with pockets that aren’t as deep as their other MBA classmates.
Smeal MBA granted a full-ride (100% tuition waiver) and more, in terms of a steady income (stipend) to Kumar Pushkal.
He stands tall and confident today, as the entrepreneur in him knows very well that he’s already got his RoI even before he starts his MBA program at a top school known for its Supply Chain specialization.
In this guest post, he describes how and what he did to get not only an admit but also a whole lot of free money from one of his top choice business schools.

Written by Sameer Kamat

MBA scholarships are tough to come by at the good business schools. Convert $20,000 into Indian Rupees (what would you do with the extra 10 lakhs that you save?) and the MBA success story sounds so much better.
For Ankit Chopra, all this came after he had put in more than the usual share of MBA application effort. Starting from his GMAT preparation to the time it took to write the best possible MBA essays.
The end result was that the helpful Associate Dean from the Simon MBA program was advising Ankit on the electives he should be taking in the course that would be aligned with his career interests.

Written by GMAT Preparation

While preparing for the GMAT, most of the candidates start planning in advance for a high GMAT score in the Quantitative and Verbal sections. The score out of 800 for these two sections seems to be the only aspect that matters.  The AWA section which has a score on the scale of 0-6 is totally off the radar.

One reason for that might be because the AWA score doesn’t get too much attention on B-school websites. Almost all of the top schools talk about their average GMAT scores, but there’s usually no reference to the AWA score. So many applicants assume, if it does not figure anywhere on the school site, it may be unimportant.

Written by Sameer Kamat

Two questions that we get often get from aspiring MBA applicants regarding taking a career-break for completing their MBA application. As opposed to forced career breaks (lay-offs, redundancies, down-sizing), here candidates are talking about a voluntary break from their hectic jobs.

1) “I want to produce a high quality application as I am targeting some of the top tier schools. I need some time off to concentrate on my GMAT preparation and MBA applications. After that I would have to manage MBA essays, recommendations, prepare for interviews for multiple schools which would also be quite demanding. If I’m able to take a break (of around four months) from work I’m sure I’ll do a good job with my MBA application. Or if my managers and the HR team don’t agree, I don’t mind leaving my job to focus full-time on GMAT preparation and MBA applications. Would this break be justified?”