GRAD School / MBA News and GMAT / GRE Strategy

One of the most common questions that I get from folks beginning their GMAT prep as we head to the end of 2024, is which section order is the best? Before the GMAT released the new version of the test at the end of 2023, I would always say "whatever you prefer, just make sure you stick to your order after your third practice exam". Now, with every section possessing a uniform length and scoring impact, as well as a rumored (and likely) section adaptivity impacting your overall score, there is a more specific approach to ordering the sections. However, it does still rely to a degree on your personal proficiency, and you should definitely still finalize your order by the time you finish your third practice exam at mba.com.

The GMAT Focus is gone... Long live the GMAT Focus. As of July 2024, the GMAC has retired it's now temporary rebranding of the successor to the GMAT 10th Edition so that the test previously known as the GMAT Focus Edition, and all past GMAT exams, are now simply known as the GMAT. This is causing significant confusion among test takers and preppers, because there is now almost no way to readily differentiate between prep materials for the prior version of the exam that has been retired and the current version that was launched in November 2023, becoming the only available version of the exam as of February 2024.

After the GRE General Test started gaining traction as an alternative to the GMAT for business school admissions in the late 2000s, it soon became rather easy to find a GRE to GMAT conversion tool online. For a while, it was right on the official ETS GRE website. Applicants could plug their scores into the tool and in both directions a supposedly equivalent score would pop out.

While the GMAT Focus is still largely a derivative of the classic GMAT exam, there are some key distinctions that have become apparent as we at MyGuru become more familiar with this new version of the GMAC flagship business school entrance exam. Understanding how the GMAT Focus Edition is scored and what it tests can help MBA candidates immediately improve their performance. Furthermore, familiarizing yourself with the nuances of the exam will help you to aim for the top of that now 805 scoring scale!

I cannot count the number of times I've been asked by MBA candidates (and even folks considering the LSAT for law school admissions) who have for whatever reason been turned off by the GMAT - shouldn't I just take the GRE? After all, in every corner of the internet it seems that the GRE is championed as the easier exam - and why wouldn't it be?

Every year leading global business and management publications release their own MBA rankings. Using data from universities and MBA alumni, each ranking offers an overview of the best business schools globally or in a specific region.

In this article, we’re going to discuss best practices for data sufficiency questions on the GMAT exam. You can either read this article or watch this GMAT technical mathematics video on YouTube. To make things easier to digest, we’ve broken the contents of the video up into 3 parts. In this segment, hosted by one of MyGuru's most experienced GMAT tutors, we will specifically discuss the frequency and format of data sufficiency questions and their strategic implications. In segments 2 and 3, we’ll work through examples of data sufficiency questions and provide a clear outline of the problem-solving process.

At long last, ETS has finally converted more of their official online practice exams to the short form of the test that was launched September 22, 2023 - and it only took about four months! That said, as of today, January 22, the ets.org/gre PowerPrep practice exam purchasing website could not be more confusing.

Whenever you’re working toward improving a skill and pursuing a long-term goal, your path is likely to go through some periods of significant progress and other periods of stalled progress, or plateaus. This is often a natural part of the process of improvement, but sometimes those plateaus can be stubborn, and they may indicate you need to take a new approach. Plateaus can be especially problematic when the goal you’re pursuing is one with significant impacts on your life, as is the case when studying for the GRE.

The GRE has lots of downstream effects that influence your future path. Your performance on the GRE will determine what kind of grad school you get into, which will then determine the course the rest of your career takes. Therefore, as you go about your GRE prep, it’s crucial to be smart and responsive when you hit a plateau in your progress. 

Luckily, people tend to hit plateaus in their GRE prep for a few relatively common reasons, and they can each be addressed in different ways. In this article, we’ll look at some possible causes for your stalled progress in your GRE prep, and we’ll offer solutions for changing your approach so you can start seeing improvements again.

The new GRE is going into effect on September 22, 2023, and there are some major changes on the horizon. Most importantly, the overall length of the test is being cut in half, from 3 hours and 45 minutes total for the old GRE down to 1 hour and 58 minutes for the new GRE. 

However, while the overall length of the new GRE is shorter, timing is still going to be a major challenge, and something you’re going to want to focus on a lot as you go about your GRE prep. You’ll be working against the clock throughout the test, and if you’re not prepared for that, it’s going to significantly hurt your scoring potential.

In this article, we’ll walk you through some tips and strategies for improving your timing as you study for the new GRE.

You may have heard the news by now—there are significant changes coming to the GRE, starting in September of this year (2023). The GRE does change from time to time, though it’s been a while since it’s undergone any change on this scale. 

The updated GRE is going to make the test-taking experience very different from what students have encountered over the past several years. If you’re in the middle of your GRE prep, and you’re thinking of scheduling a test date during or after September, 2023, you’ll want to keep reading so you can be prepared for what to expect.

One of the most important question types on the quantitative section of the GRE is Data Interpretation, which is sometimes referred to as Data Analysis. Unlike, say, the algebra and geometry questions, Data Interpretation questions don’t rely so much on your knowledge of mathematical formulae. Rather, they primarily test your ability to make sense of numerical information that’s presented graphically, usually in the form of some kind of graph or chart. 

While the actual mathematical concepts are not always as challenging as other GRE quant question types, Data Interpretation questions can be surprisingly tricky. And it’s important to learn how to work with them, since they account for approximately 20% of your GRE quant score. In this section, we’ve collected several tips and strategies for you to consider as you go about your GRE prep.

One of the main challenges of the GRE’s Reading Comprehension questions is that, unlike math, there are no set formulas to learn. This can make Reading Comprehension seem harder, if not impossible, to study for. It seems like the necessary skills are more deeply ingrained—you either have them, or you don’t.

But that’s actually not true. You actually can take lots of steps in your GRE prep to improve your ability to work with Reading Comprehension questions. In this article, we’ll take you through some of the most powerful tips and strategies you can use to improve your ability to tackle GRE Reading Comprehension questions and raise your score.

While much of the subject matter on the Quant section of the GRE will be familiar to you, one common question type is likely to be unfamiliar: Quantitative Comparisons. QC questions are extremely important to focus on in your GRE prep, as they account for over a third of the entire Quantitative section of the test. However, it’s likely that you haven’t encountered this particular question structure before.

If you’re studying for the GRE, then you’re probably already aware that vocabulary is a big component of the test. The GRE—or Graduate Record Examination—contains many questions that test your knowledge of academic English. Unfortunately, there’s no way to gain a comprehensive knowledge of every possible word you might encounter on test day. The English language is simply too vast. Even studying official past tests will only help you insofar as it teaches you the kind of words you’re likely to encounter on the test. The actual vocab words you’ll encounter on test day are unlikely to include many repeats from past tests.

But all that doesn’t mean there’s no way to prep for the vocabulary on the GRE. It just means you’re going to have to more strategic in the ways you study. That’s why we’ve compiled this list of helpful study tips, so you can make the most of your GRE prep.

If you’re considering applying to grad school, then there’s a good chance you’re going to have to contend with the GRE. The GRE—more fully known as the Graduate Record Exam—is used as an admissions test by many graduate schools in the US and Canada, for a variety of academic disciplines. The GRE’s wide applicability has to do with the fact that it measures a broad and general range of skills, including verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, analytical writing, and critical thinking.

In this article, we’re going to discuss best practices for doing technical mathematics on the GMAT exam. You can either read this article or watch this GMAT technical mathematics video on YouTube. To make things easier to digest, we’ve broken the contents of the video up into 3 parts. In this segment, hosted by one of MyGuru's most experienced GMAT tutors, we will specifically discuss the frequency and format of technical mathematics questions and their strategic implications. In segments 2 and 3, we’ll work through examples of technical mathematics questions and provide a clear outline of the problem-solving process.

In this article, we’ll work through a standard GRE Quantitative Comparison question from the ETS Official Guide to demonstrate how estimating can be more efficient than calculating the exact answer. You can either read this article or watch this GMAT sentence correction video on YouTube.

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Should I take the GRE or the GMAT?

If you’re considering applying to grad school, you may have asked yourself this question. Figuring this out is a crucial stage in your grad school trajectory, as these tests not only require significant lead-time for registration, preparation, and score reporting, but the GMAT and GRE are also structured differently, serve different purposes, test you on different skills, reward different thinking styles, and can be viewed somewhat differently by MBA programs and grad schools.

On the GRE, the Quantitative Comparison questions ask you to compare two numeric quantities—Quantity A and Quantity B.

The Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) plays a critical role in the admissions process for many of the world’s top graduate schools. Considering that a difference of 15 points can make or break your chances of being accepted into the programs with the highest-earning job placements and determine whether or not you qualify for scholarships that could save you thousands of dollars in the long run, hiring a good GRE tutor is an investment worth considering. Of course, whether or not a GRE tutor is worth the cost depends on your needs and goals as a student. If your raw score is relatively close to your goal and you consider yourself to be a self-motivated student, a tutor may not be necessary. But if your score needs serious improvement and you thrive with the one-on-one attention that only a tutor can provide, hiring a GRE tutor may be for you. In this article, we’ll investigate a variety of factors and considerations to help you decide if a tutor is right for you.

If you want to improve your GRE score, you have many options at your disposal. You can self-study using free or extremely low-cost GRE prep materials from ETS, invest in a slightly more expensive self-paced GRE course, or enroll in a more expensive live in-person or online GRE course. Most people would agree though, that if you have the financial means, the most efficient and effective way to improve your GRE score is to enlist the help of a private GRE coach.

To save your time, we've compiled all the essential formulas to know for the GRE, so you could just jump right at it and start your GRE prep.

If you are thinking about how to study for the GRE, perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind is that proper planning will lead to a higher GRE score. The GRE is not like an IQ test. The more you study for the GRE, in general, the higher you will score. One basic mental mistake students often make is to keep toxic thoughts in their head about being “bad at math” (or verbal) and thus viewing GRE prep as a process they must endure, but which probably won’t help all that much. That’s wrong. While perhaps not a completely linear relationship, the more you prepare, the better you’ll do. Yes, how you prepare matters a lot too (more on that below). But just showing up and putting in the time is certainly an important part of the battle here.

In this continuation of our MAT review video series, we approach working through a standard MAT style analogy that focuses on words that require specific content knowledge. 

This video covers questions with specific content on the MAT. There are questions which will require additional background or contextual information the MAT. It is unlikely that students will have a grasp on all facts needed to complete these analogies, so it is essential to maintain good test taking skills to approach these questions. See below for our approach to questions with specific content.

In this continuation of our MAT review video series, we approach working through a standard MAT style analogy that focuses on classifying words based on groups. 

The MAT tests many types of analogies including classification analogies. These classification analogies are a form of analogy that compares terms based on what group the term belongs to. This video demonstrates a strategy to approach to identify the answer to these sometimes seemingly obscure terms.

In this continuation of our MAT review video series, we approach working through a standard MAT style analogy that focuses on affixes. 

The MAT tests on a number of analogies, including affix analogies. Affixes are part of a word that indicate a definition. At the beginning of a word, these are called prefixes. At the end of the word they are referred to as suffixes. As prior videos have described, it is important to have a working knowledge of affixes to succeed on the MAT. Below we provide a systematic strategy on approaching these affix questions. 

In this continuation of our MAT review video series, we approach working through a standard MAT style analogy that focuses on words that are action oriented. 

In preparing for the MAT, the action analogy requires specificity. While many students will encounter terms that are unfamiliar, there are ways to diligently break down the question and answer in order to increase the likelihood of reaching a correct answer.

In this continuation of our MAT review video series, we approach working through a standard MAT style analogy that focuses on words that are lesser or greater than their counterparts. 

This video provides an approach to degree analogies where terms are compared based on their relationship. These terms typically are related by a lesser or greater degree than the other term. These questions require a systematic approach and can be challenging. We recommend that you watch this video a couple of times in order to hone your approach to these question types.

In this continuation of our MAT review video series, we approach working through a standard MAT style analogy that focuses on proper nouns. 

This video looks at proper noun style questions, which may require some contextual knowledge. The MAT is a test that primarily tests on the ability to define relationships through analogies. This video uses an example of geographical landmarks to illustrate how to approach proper noun questions.

In this continuation of our MAT review video series, we approach working through a standard MAT style analogy that focuses on math. 

The MAT presents as an alternative to the GRE for many students applying to graduate programs. MAT math focuses primarily on definitions and sequences rather than calculations. The MAT is composed of 120 questions over the course of 60 minutes. The main focus of this test is on test taker’s ability to solve analogies. We hope this video aids you in preparing for common math analogies on the MAT.

COVID-19 has made taking in-person standardized tests such as the GRE impossible indefinitely across much of the world. Just in the past week Pearson Vue, the largest testing center company in the U.S., announced that all of their centers country-wide are closed until at least April 16. In response to these circumstances, beginning March 23, the Educational Testing Service (ETS) is at least temporarily offering a “GRE General Test at Home” for test takers in several nations including the U.S., Canada, and Hong Kong.

A high GRE Analytical Writing score won’t help you get admitted to a top graduate program, but a below average score can keep you out of one.

The Analytical Writing measure assesses critical thinking and analytical writing capabilities. It evaluates your ability to communicate and support complicated ideas, design and test arguments, and engage in a clear and intelligible discussion of an issue. It doesn’t assess how much you know about a specific topic.

In this continuation of our MAT review video series, we approach working through a standard MAT style analogy that tests your grammar mastery. 

Grammar may be something you wanted to avoid by taking the MAT instead of the ACT, SAT, or GMAT. But the way that the MAT tests grammar is based on the relationships between punctuation marks and what they actually indicate from a definition standpoint, rather than sentence completion as seen on the GMAT.

In this continuation of our MAT review video series, we approach working through a standard MAT style Analogy via a technique using the “Pivot Term.”

A “Pivot term” is a term that cannot relate to the blank in the analogy; it helps you correctly determine the relationship between the given terms in the original analogy before evaluating answer choices. It’s imperative to identify this relationship before looking to the answer choices, as you will be better able to narrow your focus to pair the blank to one term vs. anything in the list of choices.

Should I take the GRE or the GMAT?

It’s an increasingly common question given the growing acceptance of the GRE. 10 years ago, very few MBA programs accepted the GRE as part of their admissions requirements. 5 years ago, a growing number of schools accepted the GRE in theory, but it was still a clear minority of students who were in fact applying to MBA programs with a GRE score instead of a GMAT score.

Master’s degrees are becoming increasingly common, and it’s not hard to see why. In some fields, an advanced degree is necessary for even entry-level jobs, and for others, like STEM fields, it can mean an even higher salary, more and better prospects and more exciting work. But, it’s also not hard to see why many professionals are reluctant to take the plunge into traditional graduate school. Doing so means leaving the workforce, moving to a new city and going into tens of thousands of dollars of debt.

This is the first in a multipart series on how to go about studying for the GRE or GMAT. We don’t plan on going into detail on specific concepts covered on the GRE or specific test-taking strategies in this series. Instead, the intention is to cover higher level, foundational issues around preparing for these exams, such as what type of support to get, what materials to use, what mindset to cultivate, etc. This article is being posted on our GRE blog, but we’ll switch from GRE to GMAT over time, as the concepts are broadly applicable to both exams.

In this continuation of our MAT review video series we discuss a slightly different and generally considered to be trickier type of analogy tested on the MAT.

One of the slightly more complex question types on the Miller Analogies Test involves needing to recognize changes in the literal letters in the words used in the analogy instead of analyzing a more typical contextual or meaning-based analogy. These types of analogies can be particularly tricky, because if you are not aware that they happen, it's possible to fall into what Stefan describes as some "cleverly laid" traps hiding in the answer choices.

Here are some key takeaway from this MAT analogies video:

1. Start by understanding accepted analogies (e.g., you can't relate word B to C)
2. Identify the pivot term in the analogy
3. Recognize MAT analogy relationships can be based on letters or rhyme, not always context. 
4. Words that are "kind of" or "sort of" alike is generally not specific enough for an acceptable MAT analogy
5. Avoid clever traps (e.g., the relationship trap, where you focus on one relationship between two words that doesn't exist between the other two words)

This video was produced by MyGuru Director of Online Instruction and expert online MAT tutor Stefan Maisnier. Visit our YouTube channel for more MAT analogy videos.

There are two games you must win if you want to score well on the GRE. The first is what I call the “outer” game. It consists of the how-to’s for getting right answers — the x’s and o’s, if you will — including math concepts, vocabulary, formulas, strategic elimination strategies, time management, and other such tangible applications. The outer game is where GRE students spend most of their time, and it’s what our online GRE prep courses do such a great job of teaching.

There is certainly a lot of content you must master to earn a high score on the GRE. Your mathematics, verbal reasoning, reading comprehension, and writing skills will be tested and obviously are key to earning a 90^thpercentile GRE score (or better).

The GRE’s Quantitative section doesn’t test particularly advanced math, but it does demand that you apply a variety of fundamental concepts in many novel ways.

One of the first thoughts that befuddles many potential GRE students is – How exactly do these Quantitative Comparisons work? This is the subject of today’s video tutorial with our Director of Online Tutoring – Stefan Maisnier.

The GRE may not be a fun test, but it’s also not a cruel test. Unlike other standardized exams you need to take to get into grad school, the GRE lets you use a calculator on the Quantitative section. In fact, the GRE actually provides you with a calculator.

The GRE includes verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and analytical writing question types. Today, we will be going over 5 practice problems that fall under these three categories.

Do you remember studying a ton of vocabulary for your SAT back in high school? Well, you probably took SAT right before the ETS reconfigured the whole thing and removed the vocabulary section.

Like the thousands of other humanities people getting ready to take the GRE, you may not have thought about exponents since high school. You probably spent your undergraduate years thinking a lot more about existentialism than exponents, and now need to feel confident enough about that tiny superscript number to work with it over and over again on the GRE.

Perhaps the most overwhelming thing about the GRE is the test itself, as a whole. This article from HappySchools outlines the content and general format of the exam. The terrain covered by even the most conservative subsections can feel constantly in flux – and when most questions are asked only a single time on the test, prepping on a smaller scale often feels futile. But further compartmentalization actually breaks the test into fully digestible pieces, and when we look at the species of questions that exist in a micro-sense, we can see better when certain skills are being evaluated more than others. Noticing these differences is key to succeeding on the test, as going without often leads us to throw all of our skills at each question, a process that is draining and overwhelming. By noting the differences and curating our approach in a more fine-tuned way, we can save energy for later in the test, and have a better sense of question-consciousness, where we as test takers are responding to the questions as they are being asked, and not as we fear them to be.

As you're planning to take the GRE, you'll want to set up a structured study plan for yourself.  There's no single, correct way to do this, and each student approaches this test slightly differently.  Some students may opt for a rigorous prep course, while others might work with a tutor.  Still other students strike off on their own, get a few books, sign up for a few online resources and study the material themselves.  No matter which approach you decide to take, though, you'll want to find a way to structure your studying and measure your progress—and one of simplest and most effective ways of doing that is to simply take tests as you go along.

When's the last time you read the editorial section of a newspaper?  In case you haven't picked one up in awhile, that's the section in which the editors, speaking for the newspaper as a whole, express the paper's stance on pertinent issues of the day.  Strong editorials don't have to be particularly long, but they clearly articulate the point of view of the editorial board, offer strong support for why the editors feel the way they do, address and refute counterarguments, and wrap up with a strong reiteration of the main argument, sometimes with a call to action.  The best editorials capture the passion and conviction of the writers—in a manner such that those who already agree will be galvanized, and those who disagree may in some cases be persuaded to rethink their point of view.  These skills, it just so happens, encapsulate the kind of writing that can knock a GRE essay out of the park.

What if I told you that there was an alternative to the GRE that included no essays, almost no math, was administered in less than one-third of the time and offered for less than half of the cost? If you’re a liberal arts grad like me, you’d probably be rather excited about this incredible entrance requirement alternative! Well, this exam already exists. It’s called the Miller Analogies Test (MAT) and it is accepted by hundreds of graduate schools across the country, primarily for acceptance to programs with focuses in the humanities and social sciences.

At MyGuru, we are generally adamant that the best way to prepare for the GRE is to use official practice materials. But, until recently, the Educational Testing Service made this a bit more difficult than it needed to be.

Time management is important in all walks of life: at home, at school, and at work.  In this article, we'll talk about time management when you are creating and executing a GRE study plan. Before reading this article, if you’d like to take an interesting, short quiz from Mind Tools on how good your time management skills actually are, click here.

The purpose of the GRE’s Analytical Writing section is to test your critical thinking & analytical writing skills. These skills include your ability to properly articulate and support a complex idea, and build strong arguments while composing a well-structured and coherently written essay. One thing to note is that this does not assess your specific knowledge on a given topic.

While you may be taking the GRE to get into graduate school, it may relieve you to know you won’t have to use math that you’ve learned past your sophomore or junior year of high school. Long-winded and drawn out problem solving and arithmetic is not the style of the GRE. So what’s the catch? If the math is so easy, why are you even reading this article on how to tackle the math section? The challenge behind this section draws from the way these limited mathematical concepts are presented to you. In a sense, you need to often systematically deconstruct the problem in the way it’s presented, to determine what is really being asked of you. Once you are able to determine what the question is asking, the actual “number-crunching” or math involved is much less than you might think.

In part one of our “Common Test Taking Strategies” series, we noted that strategy is an intrinsic part of preparing for standardized tests, and that without the proper strategies even the most advanced students find themselves performing below their full potential.  We discussed several proven test taking strategies, including using official test prep materials produced by the same company administering the exam (i.e., the Real ACT Prep Guide if you’re taking the ACT), focusing on what the question is actually asking, scanning all potential answers before choosing one, assuming nothing when deciding which answer is best, and making abstractions concrete.

In part two, we’ll cover five additional test taking strategies:

• Reading and retention “pauses” for long reading comprehension passages
• Answering easy questions first
• Time management
• Providing overly structured responses
• Test “mentality”

Of all the different questions that students work on as they prep for the GRE Verbal, none seem to routinely cause as much trepidation as the Text Completion. If you’ve taught the GRE as much as I have, then you know the particular sigh of fear and pre-emptive defeat that students give when they turn to page to see a sentence riddled with long underscores.

Vocabulary is one of the biggest and most important aspects of the GRE. You will need to start studying vocabulary well before you take the test, because it is a slow process. There is a limit to how many words you can effectively study at one time; it is impossible to learn thousands of words by cramming at the last minute.

There are no real shortcuts, either. Some people try to learn root words in an attempt to minimize study time, but this technique does not work very well on the GRE, for various reasons: