When is the GMAT?

There is no specific date (like there is for the SAT) that you must take the GMAT. So you have the liberty of scheduling a date and time for your testing at the nearest testing administration site.

Great. So when should I take the GMAT then?

Since your test taking skills are best during school, you should take your GMAT exam ideally near the graduation date of college. You can be extra aggressive and take it the summer before your junior and senior year or the summer after graduation. Of course once you start your job, you probably want to focus on your job for the first 6 months. So if you’ve already started your job, you should wait until at least 6 months before preparing for the GMAT. The GMAT is valid for 5 years so you should take the GMAT sometime in your mid 20s–certainly before your early 30s–in order to position yourself well for the MBA application season once you are 2-5 years out of college.

I’m several years out of college. Is it too late to take the GMAT?

Don’t worry. You didn’t miss the boat! Thousands of people are in your shoes. You might not be used to the pressures of test taking so will need to pay extra attention to doing several practice exams mimicking exam-like conditions.

Mimicking exam-like conditions?

I mean rather than just running through questions on a practice exam bit by bit, you should schedule an entire morning or afternoon to take the exam with a timer. Especially with the Computer Adaptive Test (CAT) format of the exam, you should take these practice exams AS IF it were the real thing, at least several days before your real exam and preferably earlier.

What else should I take into account?

Since you have a busy life with work, extracurriculars, and socializing you want to get the GMAT out of the way ASAP before you start applying to business school. Why? Because later on you’re going to be even more busy. You’ll need to spend time on your job, but also any community groups you are a part of. Member of an organization that holds ambitious yearly events? Put in the effort and participate on the board in a leadership position. Trying to get a salary raise so you can mention it on your Bschool application? Do what you need to do to get there. And of course when you apply, you’re going to need to budget time to research each school you apply to and get a sense of which ones are right for you. The list of things to do will get really hectic once you start applying, so take my advice. Take the GMAT now and get it out of the way before you start your business school applications.

Which one should I do first? Study for the exam? Or schedule for the exam?

This is a personal preference. I would recommend you to schedule the exam a few months in advance when you plan to take it. Pay the $250 (yes, not cheap) it costs to take the exam so that you are invested into the exam-forcing you to study. Otherwise, if you casually study for the exam, you may never progress anywhere.

This article was authored by GMAT tutor and expert, Zeke Lee. Zeke is the inventor of The GMAT Pill Study Method and has aided numerous students ace the GMAT exam in as little time as possible. Although his secret techniques were limited to wealthy students who could afford $200/hour a few years ago, Zeke has now opened the door to his special strategies to the average student. Online GMAT Prep

Tags : academics, Business, business school, career education, exam, exam preparation, gmat help, learning, mba, online gmat, online video, psychology, take gmat, take the gmat