Tina Bassir, TMMBA Associate Director

Congratulations to the new TMMBA class! We are excited to have such a diverse and motivated group of professionals join the TMMBA network. Class 12 students attended their first event, the Welcome Reception, two weeks ago and they’ll begin Orientation this evening with the Etiquette Dinner. After this weekend of classes, their class schedule picks up in January with the regular class routine.

 Here are a few quick stats about the incoming class:

• # of Students 71
• Monday Section = 36
• Wednesday Section = 35
• Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, India, Japan, Mexico and the US are all represented.
• 28% of students have an advanced degree
• Average years of work experience is 11
• 46 diverse organizations represented – listed below

Mikaela Houck, TMMBA Program Coordinator

We’re still accepting applications for the class beginning in January 2011. Here’s what we’re looking for:

• Online application profile
• Essays
• Resume
• Letters of Recommendation (2 total, one from your current supervisor)
• Official GMAT score
• Official transcripts
• $75 application fee
• English language proficiency (if your native language is not English)

Click here for full details on our application requirements. You’re welcome to contact the TMMBA Program office at 206-221-6914 or tmmba@uw.edu with questions.

Aaron Lykken, Manager – Academic Services & Technologies

It’s getting to be high noon for completing your TMMBA application, but will you be able to pull the trigger for the final application deadline on September 1st?  For those considering applying to the TMMBA program to begin classes this coming Winter, easily one of the most time sensitive matters that needs your immediate attention (if you haven’t already taken care of this) is preparing for the GMAT exam.  I think it’s safe to say that many people put this off because studying intensively for an exam doesn’t exactly equate to fun times and enticing party conversation.  But really, if you truly are serious about going to graduate school, you have to set aside time and invest in studying for this exam as it is a part of the path.  Practically all, if not every top business school across the nation requires the GMAT as a part of their application process so it’s time to take it seriously.  The actual content of the exam isn’t actually that difficult, but performing under a time constraint and taking apart multi-layered problems takes a healthy bit of practice.

There are three ways to approach taking the GMAT: wing it, self-study, and seeking the help of a test-prep course/tutor.  All three can lead to success but their level of success depends so much on each unique test taker.  Those who show up “cold” to the exam and receive a competitive score are extremely rare while those who are able to put in some advance prep increase their odds of success.  Self-study is very affordable (<$30 for a book) and you can learn a lot just by working through a workbook and learning the strategies.  If you have the money and prefer a more structured environment, the test-prep course and/or tutor is a wise choice.  Some of the biggest test-prep companies offer various work-compatible schedules, online, and even specialized programs for those short on time.

To find which option is best for you, do some honest reflection and make an assessment of your study needs so you can get the marks you desire.

So stop procrastinating and take care of business! (no pun intended…well, maybe)

Tracy Gojdics, Director

There are various ways to prep for the GMAT, including taking prep courses or using self-study materials.  To be honest, most of the applicants we have had use the self-study method utilizing test techniques and practice exams from Kaplan and Princeton Review.  However,  this year I’ve been hearing A LOT  about the Manhattan GMAT Preparation Guides.  We don’t necessarily endorse one GMAT Prep Guide over another, but I’m hearing the word “Manhattan” so much that I figure I should pass it along to others investigating GMAT prep materials.   Good luck!

Mikaela Houck, Program Coordinator

Although Tuesday officially marked our early application deadline, we’re still eagerly working through admissions until the Sept. 1 final deadline.  For those of you who are brainstorming recommender options, here are some tips to keep in mind:

1. We require two recommendations – no more, no less.  Your application will not be considered complete until both recommendations are received. Please do not submit supplemental recommendations; they will not be reviewed.

2. One recommendation must come from your current supervisor. TMMBA is a very intensive program, so it’s important that your employer, and especially your supervisor, is onboard with and supportive of this rigorous commitment.

3. Your second recommender should be a professional reference.  Whether it is someone working on your current team or a past colleague, the best person for the job is someone who knows you well and can personally speak to your attributes. Your recommender will be asked to touch upon your strengths, areas of improvement, and other personality characteristics (team skills, conflict management, leadership potential, etc), so be sure to ask someone who can provide specific and detailed examples.

4.  You must designate both your recommenders via the online application. Recommenders have the option of submitting the recommendation electronically or via mail. If via mail, you can contact TMMBA for the recommendation evaluation pdf.

5. Track the submission status of your recommenders. As part of the online application, you can see once your recommendations have been submitted.

Questions about the letters of recommendation requirement? Don’t hesitate to contact us at tmmba@uw.edu.

Dhawal Ogale, TMMBA Student (Class of 2011)

1. How to start

Once you decide you want to enter a B-School, the first hurdle is the GMAT. The GMAT exam should be scheduled early so there is enough time for your scores to reach the B-School and also so that it does not clash with your B-School application preparation.

2. Books / Material

GMAC suggests reading the “The Official Guide for GMAT Review”. You would also buy the Kaplan Review and Princeton Review. I have found the Kaplan more useful for Maths section and Princeton for English. I suggest you create your own cheat sheets of formulae and principles, something that you can read just before you head to the exam center. You should create these lists early and refine them as you study and solve practice tests.

3. Practice Tests

Solving Practice Tests is your way to ascertain your level of preparation. I suggest taking a practice test before you start your preparation. Then do one pass through the material and take another test. Your score should have improved in this test. You should take multiple tests as you tune up your preparation. A few days before the exam, you should take a test to evaluate your preparation. My score on this test was within 20 points of my score in the GMAT exam.

I did not buy extra practice tests on the internet. In hindsight though, I feel that more tests would have helped my preparation.

4. Understand Computer Adaptive Format of the Exam (GMAT CAT)

The GMAT is a CAT (Computer Adaptive Test) which means the difficulty of questions on the exam changes with the examinee’s answers to previous questions. Though the GMAC (Graduate Management Admission Council) does not confirm this, the first 10 questions have at least a little more weight than rest of the questions. The reason could be that if you answer the first few questions wrong, it gives you easier questions and they carry lower marks thus lowering your score. However, if you answer the first few questions correctly, then you get more difficult questions and they carry more marks thus increasing your score.

As you near the end of a section, questions carry progressively lower weightage. So if you have to nearly guess on the last 3 questions and you did good on rest of the questions, then you will still get a good score.

5. Keep Track of Time

Each question on the GMAT gives you about 2 minutes on the average. You might want to spend a little extra time on the first 10 questions and later catch up on that average time of 2 mins per question. On my exam, I kept calculating constantly (something I won’t recommend you do). However, if you keep some ballpark figures in mind, such as the first 10 questions in 20 mins, 20 questions in 40 minutes, etc. If you are going too slowly, you might want to speed up.

6. Process of Elimination

Let’s accept it – there will always be questions where you don’t know the answer. You can roll a dice to choose your answer (probability = 1/6 = 16%). As you can figure, rolling the dice is probably not a great choice for you. How about tossing a coin instead (probability = 1/2 = 50%).

To get to the coin from the cube, you will have to apply the Process of Elimination where you rule out obviously wrong answers and increase probability of getting the right answer.

On one of your scratch papers, you can make a table of question numbers and 5 answers for each (one row for each question). As you read a question and its answers, cross out answers you think are obviously wrong. This should become an involuntary action – read an answer choice and if you think it’s absurd, you cross it out on your table. Thus, if you decide to guess the answer for a question, you have already narrowed down to a smaller list of possible answers.

7. Complete All Questions

The GMAT exam penalizes you for not attempting a question more than for a wrong answer to that question. So make sure that if you have only 5 mins (or perhaps 3 mins) left on the clock and have 10 questions, then take about 10 seconds each and answer the remaining questions.

8. Keep list of Universities handy at the exam center

At start of the exam, you’ll be asked a list of 5 universities that your score will be sent to. In my case, I gave a list of top universities from some list, but not specific universities that I had researched. In the end, I never applied to those universities and thus wasted this resource. If you are thinking of applying to the Foster Business School, make sure you have the appropriate department code handy.