Any MBA's in the house?

[atek3]

If you wanted to go to business school Fall of '06, when would you take the GMAT?  I'm setting up an appointment to take the test, but would like to have ample time to study.

thanks,
atek3

[roo_ster]

Plan to take it 1-3 times, depending on how swift you are and what sort of score your preferred school requires.

Princeton Review books generally have a good basic skills brush-up and (just as important) test-taking information & technique.

What I did was:
1. Pick up PR study guide.
2. Brush up on the basics & study the test-taking techniques
3. Take GMAT & see where weak
4. Go back & focus intensely on weak area(s)
5. Take test again.

If you haven't taken one of ETS's Computer Aided Tests (CAT) before, it behooves you to study how it works and to give yourself a "rehearsal" before going for record.  It has a different feel from your usual paper & pencil scantron exam.

My first test I was in the top 25%, the second I broke the top 10%.  That was all I needed, so I did not try to maximize my score with a third attempt.  (Generally, there is no real increase in scores AFTER the third attempt.)

[K Frame]

MTNBKR is an MBA. He's on a mini vacation, though.

[...has left the building.]

I just started as a Portfolio Manager with a company that is going to pay most of my MBA costs I'm also going back in '06 but have not taken the GMATs yet.

[mtnbkr]

[q]MTNBKR is an MBA. He's on a mini vacation, though.[/q]
I'm baaaaack.

I took mine the semester before I was to start grad school (was still an undergrad).  I don't know if you can take it too early or not.  If I were in your shoes, I'd try to take it by this Fall, giving you ample time to study and take it again if necessary.  

Maybe the test has changed in the 10-11 years since I took the test, but the only prep I did was to work my way through one of the test prep books.  It wasn't a hard test, I scored in the top 10% or so.  Then again, I normally score well on that sort of test (top 5% or better on every standardized test I took in grades k-12).

Don't sweat it, it's about as hard as the SAT (or it was when I took it).

Chris

[K Frame]

"Don't sweat it, it's about as hard as the SAT..."

You mean you chumped them both and you're STILL where you are in your life?

Cripes, the dumb are lucky!

[Unisaw]

I took mine just before completing the application to an MBA program.  The hardest part for me was the math -- I hadn't used geometry in about 15 years!  I believe the rest of the test was easy -- I don't even remember much about it.