You underestimated the GMAT. You thought you would be able to study a month or two and get that 700, but then between work, external forces outside of your control (ahem, Covid..), and trying to organize 5 applications to top MBA programs, you now have to wait another year to apply.

Since 2012, we have seen this happen year after year to our Merchant GMAT & Admissions students who did not realize the amount of work necessary to both crush the GMAT and put together an admissions application of the highest caliber to get accepted to their dream MBA Program with a significant scholarship.

Do not be that student this year. 

If you are set on next year, going to business school, leveling up your career and lifestyle no matter what, you want to start early in the process. This way you will not have any surprises, let downs, nor have to potentially deal with putting your application off to the next year because you were not prepared for either the GMAT or Admissions process.

So, why start early and what are the things you can begin doing in January to make sure you are the most prepared you can be? Here we bring you Merchant’s Top 5 Reasons To Jump on Your MBA Journey in January!

1. The average GMAT preparation time is 4-6 months.

You want to allow yourself time to enjoy the GMAT ride and really get to know it. This is a time of introspection, self discovery, reflection, and can even be compared to learning a new language. The process of preparing looks something like this:

• • Step 1: Understanding what is the GMAT and the business skills it is truly testing.
  • Step 2: Learn and Develop strategies and frameworks to discover how to study, keep homework logs, and reflect on incorrect answers.
  • Step 3: Practice, Practice, Practice.
  • Step 4: Mock exams and mistake driven analysis.
  • Step 5: Practice, Practice, Practice.
  • Step 6: Take the GMAT and allow plenty of time to retake.

“Yeah…That looks like a lot of work, but I’ve got this, I’m top of my class, in charge millions of dollars, my friends said it wasn’t that hard..heck, maybe I am a GMAT Savant?

If we had a nickel for every time we heard this…we’d have fistfulls and fistfulls..of nickels. The best way to find out where you stand in GMAT and how long you should plan to study is by taking an official mock exam from mba.com!  The official mock exam will be the best metric we can use to see what score you should be expecting as well as give yourself an opportunity to define where your strengths and weaknesses are in Quant and Verbal.  After you take your mock exam, we encourage you to reach out to plan a free GMAT consultation class where we will do a deep dive on your mock exam report  and be able to make an informed estimation of what type of program you need based on your results.  This is a free and easy way to make sure that you plan accordingly and do not get stuck missing round 1 or the whole year all together!

2. The Admissions Process takes between 3-5 months on average with some students beginning 1-2 years in advance!

The Admissions Process is a lot more than writing a few essays, talking to your bosses to write you a letter of recommendation, turning in your CV and reading practice interview questions. The admissions process is requires a lot of strategy, developing your story to align with the specific values of your target MBA programs, networking with past and present students, researching what classes,professors, clubs who will become a part of..the list goes on. Not to mention trying to do this for 5 schools with different timelines and requirements while studying for the GMAT and keeping together a healthy work/life balance at the same time.  To get a clearer picture of what the Admissions process entails and how we can help you to begin planning your strategy early check out our link HERE or directly set up a call with our Student Success Guru to book your Free Admissions Consultation.

3. Do not miss Round 1 if you do not need to! 

If you are set on applying next year, you should be aiming to apply in Round 1 (September). Taking into account your estimated time to study for the GMAT (4-6 months) + Admissions application preparation (3-5 months) you can see why beginning in January looks like a smarter and smarter decision. Round 1 will give you the best chance to be admitted into your reach schools with significant scholarships. As you move forward to Round 2 or 3 your chances for acceptance will reduce greatly, click here to see why.

4. Be prepared for the unexpected

Covid shocked the world this year as we saw industries get turned on their heads, new online GMAT procedures changing month to month, GMAT testing facilities closing, and imposed limitations on how many times you can take the exam. This really threw a wrench in many students’ GMAT preparation plans because they waited too long to begin with their studies and timelines did not match up.

New personal relationships spark, responsibilities inside and outside of work will appear out of nowhere, job promotions occur, job firings happen and we can never be sure of what external forces might appear to interfere with how much time you can commit to studying for the GMAT or working on your applications.

5. Start the year off on the right foot!

2020 was quite the turbulent year. Make your New Years Resolution to knock the GMAT out early. It is very easy to begin pushing the process back month to month until you realize that you are in May/June. Here at Merchant, we will put together a personalized program that will fit exactly to your needs and schedule while providing structure and coaching to make sure you stay on top of your weekly GMAT and application objectives!

If you would like to hop on the MBA horse, giddeeup and let’s ride. The Jouney begins January folks, jump on it.

If you need help with the GMAT or the admissions process we can help. 

For more information on our different GMAT products see:

• GMAT private classes – see the stories of Will, Teddy, Jessica and Nico and how they approached their GMAT journey with Merchant.
• Merchant Academy – a GMAT teaching innovation that makes taking the GMAT, like an MBA. CLick to find out more about the Merchant Academy format.
• Merchant GMAT Hall of Fame – a gallery of some of our clients over the last eight years.

For admissions help see some of the client stories on our admissions page.