Just signed up to take the GMAT, any advice?

I'm taking it May 22, and I would recommend buying:

http://www.amazon.com/Official-Guid...9748/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335574834&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Manhattan-Str...dition/dp/098417804X/ref=cm_lmf_tit_2_rsrsrs0

Start by taking a practice test and seeing what areas you really need to focus on. The GMAT changes on June 5th, so make sure you get the books for the current version and not the new one.

 

Then why do you take GMAT not GRE? I thought GMAT is required for b-school, and GRE is for grad school, i.e. master's degree, in general.

 

That was the conventional thinking even in the late '90s when I was in school; but worthwhile or even relevant jobs for fresh non-accounting business undergrads are so rare and random that it just makes sense to focus on grad school or do a complete bachelors reboot as quickly as possible.

 

But the MBA stuff is so general that one has to have some real world business experience to be able understand it in practical terms.

 

This doesn't sound right to me. Which master's degree requires GMAT now?

 

If you're getting your MSA (Masters of Science in Accounting) or a MBA with a concentration in Accounting, then you would take the GMAT.

I'm assuming you want to get your CPA, so you're probably going for MSA to fulfill CPA requirements.

 

No, no. Go with your adviser's words.
But still doesn't make that much of sense. A big part of GMAT is verbal and reading, more in depth than GRE and is more of testing your appitude of using words properly. I am not sure how is that a predictor to one's success in accounting mater's degree.

 

I wouldn't stress too much. I signed up for it literally 2 days before and study time was limited to one day of cramming. I ended up with 660 or something like that.

 

Why do you need a master degree for accounting? Can't you just get a CPA and save the two year for some real practice time?

 

That's completely ****ing wrong. I don't even have the patience to explain how, but after ten years in a professional job and getting repeatedly rebuffed for even the slightest increase in analytic or managerial responsibilities in the same field, no; this statement is total "street smart/book smart" bull****.

 

Take a class and understand whatever you are doing right now, its not enough.

Get over it and suck it up.

 

I only needed a 400-something a few years ago when I took it and got a 570 IIRC. I spent a weekend reviewing the math material on mba.com (I hadn't taken any math in about 6 years at the time) and a little bit of the other material (grammar, critical thinking). Then also took the practice test they have on that site. That was the extent of my studying.

I would caution you that while you only need a 450, you never know who else might look at this score later. If you ever want to work for someone like the big consulting firms (not sure if the accounting firms look at it) they will look at this score, so do as well as you can.

 

My advice is to do your work, practice hard, and most importantly have fun.

/any other athlete

 

The hardest part of the GMAT is the timing. That would be my advice while you study; take plenty practice exams so you get the timing down (I think it is around a min to 1.5 mins per question). Also, you can't use a calculator.

The definition section was probably the hardest section (time limit aside).

Overall, it depends what sections you are best at will depend how much time to allocate. Also, how well you are at taking standardized tests.

Be prepared to absolutely be brain dead. Whoever says its easy is lying. It is tough, but completely in your reach to get a 450. I'd recommend trying to score higher, your ultimate goal should be to get into a top tier school bc of the networking capabilities and the top firms only hire from them.

I used different Princeton reviews and scored fairly well(not what I wanted tho). I studied for roughly a month or two every night after work. Best of luck.

Current M.B.A student