How to Attain Your GRE/GMAT Target Score
Oluwatobiloba Sande: Ope, when did you decide to go for your graduate program? When did you get admission, and how many years did you take to graduate?
Opeyemi Sunmola: I decided to pursue my MBA between 2017 – 2018 and I got admitted in 2020. I decided to gather experience because I knew they will not allow me to do it if I don’t have enough experience. I wanted to apply in 2020 and finish in 2022 but that is when I used to do more research in schools and courses I wanted to take.
Oluwatobiloba Sande: How many years of experience did you have?
Opeyemi Sunmola: I had 4.5 years of experience. I think if you have 3 to 8 years of experience, you are fit for an MBA. Being a finance manager, I choose GRE because I could use it basically for programs. I got my admission in May last year and scored 325.
Oluwatobiloba Sande: Damilola, what about you? Can you let us know the GMAT you scored?
Damlola Ojo: I got 49/51 in maths and 36/51 in English. The GMAT score is 51, so we were given 51 questions for maths and 35 questions for English.
Oluwatobiloba Sande: Can you build upon the methods and the process you use to prepare for the exams?
Damlola Ojo: I use professional test taking, reading, and research. I started with a test on the GMAT website and got 400/800.
I read and researched on how to score the highest GMAT. I wanted to submit my results in August, so I choose this root to do research. So I got the materials for Manhattan, Capland, and the normal Capland. I read them for a week and I was doing two per day because they were 10.
Capland and other books have a GMAT test for free so every Friday I was doing a GMAT test. I already knew I was good at maths but not English, so I decided not to read English but to concentrate on Maths so that I can excel in it.
The most important thing that I did was to find a way of doing the GMAT system. It is easy if you know the questions to answer. Like I said, there are 31 questions in Maths and 36 questions in English. In Mathematics, you can get 18 questions correctly and get 48, you can also get 25 correct and you get 42. So if you get the first question, you go to the next and if you get the first 15 questions correctly, you are likely to get not less than 45. If you want to confirm this, just go to their website, register, and take their practice test.
You cannot do that for English because it doesn’t add up progressively like a math test. So I had a plan to work towards passing the first 18 questions and even if I fail the rest, I don’t care. If you fail the first 5 questions and get the rest, you get 46. So I ensured I get the first 18 right and do the rest anyhow.
I also found out that GMAT marks you down if you don’t finish your questions. For instance, if you do the first 25 questions correctly and don’t do the rest, you get 42. For English, if you get a question wrong, you get 49 and it’s progressive.
So I took my final test from Caplan, and Harttam, but I advise you use Caplan because It’s harder than GMAT. If you can do well in Caplan, you can be sure of success in GMAT. Scoring 600 in Caplan you can get 640 in GMAT.
Oluwatobiloba Sande: Thank you so much for that information. Ope?
Opeyemi: I did my test 3 months ago. The first thing I did was a diagnostic test to see where my understanding lies. So for the GRE, it has 3 sections. It can be 3 or 2 questions and you have to choose. Just like in the GMAT, each question is adaptive. If you do well in the 1st question like sentence completion, the second question is going to be harder. The least score you can get in GRE is 150 and the highest is 170. If you fail everything, you get 130/170, and if you get everything you get 170/170.
So after taking the diagnosis test, I was focusing on my points and asked myself why I failed some questions because my calculations were correct. So I discovered that the GRE has the way they treat each question. I had to learn a lot of words and also read the text. I used Hattan for quantitative, and Caplan and Copper for verbal. When I had difficulty, I used other materials. For quantitative, you have to check your answer well before submitting it.
GRE is all about understanding to answer the questions correctly and therefore you need to prepare well.
Oluwatobiloba Sande: You didn’t mention the written aspect. Is there any essay writing that you have to take up for the GRE and GMAT?
Damilola Ojo: There is no need to waste your time in essays just focus on verbal and maths only.
Ope: The school looks at both and then they get the average score for the essay and the analytical. An essay is an added benefit indicating that you can reason well. It shows if you can communicate well in English, so it’s equally important in GRE. If you can get like 4.5 and above, that’s excellent.
I took time to prepare for my essay to see how I structure my sentences. There are two essays, an issue, and an argumentative essay. In the argumentative essay, you pick your side, and you are given time to argue against another person who will pick another side. Make it more convincing to score an average of 5.
Oluwatobiloba Sande: How did you know that your score was satisfactory and how did you do it?
Damilola Ojo: I did my research and realized that my GMAT score should be 680 and above. You can also concentrate on your essays. Africans are required to get at least 640, Indians 720 while Americans should get a score of 750.
Ope: I wrote GRE twice, the first one I got 322, and my point was 165, and the second time, I got 325 with 168 points. So that is how I decided to go to Colombia.
Oluwatobiloba Sande: Ope, between the first and second test, how many months of preparation did you use?
Ope: I wrote the first in 2018 and the second in 2019. I just needed like a month to focus on quantitative so I used Man Hattan. Preparation time depends on you because you have to realize the amount of work you need to do to get the score you are looking for.
Oluwatobiloba Sande: What matrix do you use to prepare for the exams?
Damilola Ojo: I didn’t ask anyone, I just looked at both GRE and GMAT and I immediately decided to do GMAT by seeking how I can get the best scores.
Ope: Many of my friends were doing GRE so I got materials from them. I went through all of them and chose the one I could easily understand.
Oluwatobiloba Sande: How many hours can you put into your studies?
Damilola Ojo: I studied for 6 hours a day for 3 weeks. If you want to do your exams after 3-4 months, you can study for 2 hours a day.
Ope: I studied for 4-5 hours a day.
Oluwatobiloba Sande: How do you think your original score was a determinant in making decisions and why it forms the basis of funding?
Damilola Ojo: It adds a 15% determinant of why you can get funding. With a higher score, you get higher funding.
Ope: For GRE you have to score above 320 and for GMAT you have to get more than 700 to get funding.
Oluwatobiloba Sande: So what are the best tips you are leaving for the GRE/GMAT students?
Damilola Ojo: Take time like 4 – 5 days to rest before the exam to reduce anxiety. Secondly, do your research on how they score, do a lot of pre-testing to know what you should concentrate on, and take breaks when reading to entertain yourself like watch a movie.
Ope: First, ease yourself before going into the exam room, manage your emotions during exams to reduce pressure, and do more tests to learn more. During exams, you can skip a question and come back to do it later. Lastly, find out what works for you and stick to it, and seek advice from people that can help you.
Oluwatobiloba Sande: What advice will you give to candidates in terms of making decisions?
Damilola Ojo: If you are good at maths, the GMAT is the best for you. All you have to do is to put a lot more effort into maths to get 51. But if you are strong in English, you better go for GRE.
Ope: Go for GMAT if you are poor in English and good in maths but if you are good in English and poor in maths, go for GRE.
Ola A: On which test suits you, I think Samuel has some insights. Could you please share your thought?
Samuel Odeoye: Any test is acceptable by many business schools. The GRE is not suited to the way we are taught here in Nigeria, just take it as a course for those going into the MBA program. It’s not about getting the scores, but a preparation for joining a post-graduate stage. They teach you a lot of basic skills that you will not get anywhere in the education system here in Africa.
You should bear in mind that to succeed in GRE you should know that it is a practice test and not intelligence. If you practice, you must surely get a good score.
Some people took the exam three times, five times, and even six times. Start preparation early, do your exams and apply for the first and second round in time.
Q&A
I work in finance and management, should I go for GMAT or GRE test?
Ope: Look at the programs you are interested in and the requirements. If an MSA in finance makes more sense to you than an MBA, then go for it.
Do you have to choose the school you want to go to before or after your exams?
Damilola Ojo: Know the school you want to apply to before writing the exam because if the school marks out on higher English marks, you have to polish your English before you can do the test and apply. Think of the school before doing the test and sending your scores to the schools you have chosen.
Ola: It depends on the timeline. If you are taking exams earlier, send test scores to a school after exams that are fit for you. Give yourself time and know the program you are applying for.
Samuel: Practice the test every week and use the average to assess the schools you apply to. The context about your finances, time to write exams, and self-awareness are all important.
Conclusion
We are a community of MBA students looking forward to creating more political and inclusivity in Africa. We are doing this by increasing our representation globally. Why are we doing this? Because we want to reach people who may not have the resources by empowering them to get into an MBA program and return it to Africa in some way through a friend, brother, or sister through five different ways:
- Empower young Africans in the top 150 global MBA programs in 7 years.
- Strengthen existing community connections amongst African MBA students by connecting African clubs.
- Be a catalyst of financial independence by providing for qualified MBA candidates
- Bridge the gap between the qualities and be educated and talented Africans making sure that businesses are paying closer attention and investing a lot of money to accessing talented Africans across sports.
- Ensure a continual pipeline. Provide information regarding the MBA program in your first or second year in the university to plan for your MBA program.
Our Guiding is Selflessness, appreciating difference, creativity, inclusivity, accountability. You are welcome to join us to do much for the community.