GMAT/GRE

($) How the schools are adapting to coronavirus and what it means for you: Standardized testing and Round 3 apps

March 23, 2020 by EssaySnark

The schools are changing the things that they can. You’ve likely heard that a lot of schools are allowing Round 3 apps to be submitted without a GMAT or GRE score, with the caveat that a valid test score must come in later on — for example, by July 1st in the case of Columbia....

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($) Who / what situations are greenlit for an MBA app in Round 3?

February 5, 2020 by EssaySnark - Discusses HBS 2+2

Continuing our Round 3 MBA Strategy series today, we’ll follow up the recent posts about some risks and challenges in Round 3 ( part 1 and part 2 in case you missed them) with a flip to the positive: There’s a few categories of Brave Supplicant for whom we’re more inclined to see a potentially...

($) To Round 3 or not to Round 3?

January 28, 2020 by EssaySnark

As we introduced recently, it’s Round 3 Debate Time! How do you make a decision on whether to try for an MBA in Round 3? Are there standing rules for who should, or should not, try at this time of the season? Are there schools that you should never try at for Round 3, or...

($) Updating the admissions office on changes to your profile post-submit: GMAT/GRE/classes

January 21, 2020 by EssaySnark

As we’ve been discussing, there are certain situations where an update of your new status is warranted. The admissions office will want to know about things that have changed in your life. Today is a much more straightforward situation. You retook the GMAT or GRE, and now you want to let the admissions office know...

($) When to update the adcom after they have your app

January 15, 2020 by EssaySnark

You got your app in. Yay! You did your best to report everything about your background thoroughly and accurately. Double yay! Now you wander back to that app to admire your amazing work and… you discover an error. OMG NO! Or: You weren’t looking for a new job, but one falls into your lap. Lickety-split,...

($) What GMAT score do we see as “average” these days?

January 9, 2020 by EssaySnark

Not “average” in the context of what any specific school says is their class average. Definitely not “average” in what GMAC reports as the mean of all test takers. But “average” as the most common GMAT score in our dataset from this past season — the score that many candidates with decently-competitive profiles get, and...

($) Just In Time MBA App Prep: What if you JUST decided to apply to bschool? Like, NOW?

January 7, 2020 by EssaySnark

Most of the advice here on the blahg is about “DON’T DO IT!!” – meaning, a last-round app to bschool is very very challenging and has much less probability of success than it does in the first two rounds of the admissions season. There are many factors and reasons for this and we discuss them...

($) Taking the GMAT: How many times is too many? 2019 edition

November 5, 2019 by EssaySnark

This post first went up about a year and a half ago, and has been refreshed for reposting in Fall 2019. We wrote about this way back in 2014 but times have changed. The most important change is one that you probably haven’t given much thought to at all: The GMAT lets you cancel...

($) Quick “Is it good enough?” GMAT score post

June 19, 2019 by EssaySnark

We cover topics of GMAT score and GRE too in many posts, so this is just a quick-and-dirty reminder that a) there’s a lot of stuff in the ‘snarchives and b) if you’re asking “Is it good enough?” then most likely, that means you need to retest. 🙂 Because unfortunately many applicants get the disease...

($) GMAT or GRE – or Executive Assessment???

May 29, 2019 by EssaySnark

Yesterday we gave a breakdown of how to think about taking the GMAT or the GRE as your test of choice for the MBA applications you’re planning for. But what about the Executive Assessment? Most of you are aiming for a tippety-top full-time MBA program in the United States, and not for an Executive MBA...