An Interview with Riadh Hamida, a GMAT expert.
What do you advise MBA applicants who ask you “How can I score 700 or plus at the GMAT?”
The first question they should ask themselves is: “How committed am I?” The GMAT is a standardised and adaptive test and as such it requires you to think and work differently. Also, the GMAT is very difficult and painful, and takes a lot of your time and energy, so you need to be psychologically prepared as well. Last but not least, your objective is not only to achieve a high score at the GMAT: your objective is to get admitted, and hence the necessary focus on other parts (essays, interviews and letters of recommendation) of your MBA application.
What are some of the most common mistakes in GMAT preparation?
Many English bilingual or English mother-tongue test takers do not score highly in the Verbal section of the GMAT. The same happens for people that think they will score high in the Quant section because they have an engineering background. The GMAT needs and requires you to be committed not only to hard work but also two different kinds of work. The GMAT tests your critical reasoning skills. Also, do not believe that because you are committed it means that you need to work 10 hours a day. That is counterproductive. If you work 2 hours a day, and slightly more over the week-end, that will be enough.
The full version of this article can be found on PrepAdviser.
