1. Opt for a morning slot: Most people are more alert and efficient in the mornings. The brain is relatively tired in the afternoon. A heavy lunch and feeling sleepy could bring down your GRE GMAT or TOEFL score drastically.


2. Visit the exam center on the previous day: This is very important. You must locate the exam center, understand the entry, parking, and locate the actual test room within a large building well in advance. If you are from a different city, reach the place one day in advance and visit the exam center during the normal working hours. In some countries security will not let you in the building, which is Ok. Make yourself familiar to the place till the point you are allowed. This will reduce anxiety and delays on the exam day.


3. Sleep well: There is no use studying a bit more at the cost of relaxing a bit more. Remember GRE or GMAT do not test difficult concepts, rather the ability to handle the test is tested. People who are more relaxed are likely to perform better.


4. Carry required identification: Obviously if you do not carry the required documents you will not be allowed and you will forfeit the fees. Carrying some document which is not clear in some way will lead to unnecessary arguments with test administrators. They have nothing to lose.


5. Carry a light jacket/sweater: In our vast combined experience with GRE/GMAT/TOEFL Other standardized test centers we have noticed that air conditioning is not their core competency. The testing room is either too cold or too warm. Complaining to the admin and requesting to alter the temperature will waste YOUR time and nothing would change anyway. So dress in layers so that you can quickly adjust your clothing according to the conditions before the dreaded clock starts.


6. Reach the center well before time: If you get delayed in traffic you will be anxious and that will impact your performance. Avoid that possibility and plan to arrive one hour before the exam, two hours in cities like Mumbai and Bangkok where traffic could be more challenging.


7. Eat right: The success on GRE and GMAT depends a lot on how well you perform during those 3-4 hours. Hunger can distract and overeating could induce sleep. A heavy meal can lead to one extra trip to you know where and that could be a disaster. Depending on your knowledge of yourself and keeping the above words of wisdom in mind, plan to eat right. A fruit before the test is a good choice.


8. Locate the toilets/restrooms: Locate the toilets/restrooms before the examThere are more than one short breaks during the tests. If you do not come back to your seat within the stipulated time the next section will start and your American dreams will start to evaporate with the clock ticking and you still being at the wrong place. So please locate the most important room in the building before the test and remember the shortest path to it!


9. Follow all instructions: Before your test the admin will pass on some instruction and take your photograph. Just follow whatever is told. Save your brains for inside the test room, do not use it outside with the test admins.


10. Honesty is the best policy: app2us strongly recommends that you leave behind all your papers, currency notes, calculators, cell phones, USB drives and yet to be discovered future gadgets in a locker provided outside the test room. No writings on the shirt or your palm please. A permanent ban on all testing or worse things can happen.


Good Luck and let us know how these tips worked for you.

If you have high mathematical aptitude, an undergraduate degree in Mathematics or Engineering, and interest in Finance, it is an option worth exploring. Both GRE and GMAT are accepted, check with individual programs. TOEFL is required for international applicants.

Some of the top programs in Financial Engineering include:

• UC Berkeley Haas
• Columbia
• UCLA Anderson
• Cornell
• Polytechnic University
• Temple University

You can Chat Online with officials of the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business for a Q & A about MFE Program, on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 from 10:30AM-12:00PM PT .

Most of the top business schools tend to conduct a phone interview for the short-listed candidates. The interview is not to test the applicant’s knowledge but a general discussion aimed to understand the candidate better and to determine if the applicant is really interested in that business school.

Some of the commonly asked questions in the interview:

Tell us something about yourself. Speak for about two minutes highlighting your key strengths. There is no need to tell your academics or GMAT score. They have it

What diversity do you bring to our program? If you are a Indian male techie, this is very crucial because they presume you do not bring any diversity to a applicant pool already filled with your type. Think about all your achievements and skills far from IT and Computers and make a strong case.

What are your long-term goals? Be yourself. Make sure you do not contradict your essays.

Why our program? Your answer should reflect that you have really read their webpage and understood the main strengths of that B-school. Also project as if this is your top choice and you are very excited about the possibility of studying there.

If you do not understand a question request the interviewer to repeat it. In the end thank the interviewer for her time. Now the most important piece of advice if you are an international applicant – most people have a tough time understanding the English accent of people from other countries specially on phone. So in a phone interview you need to speak clearly and very very slowly with lots of punctuations.

The 2009 US News Business Rankings (ranked in 2008) are now available. The premium login for $14.95 will allow you to compare schools and see extensive profiles.

Here are the top 25 Business Schools:

1 Harvard University Boston, MA
1 Stanford University Stanford, CA
3 U Penn (Wharton) Philadelphia, PA
4 MIT(Sloan) Cambridge, MA
4 Northwestern University (Kellogg) Evanston, IL
4 University of Chicago Chicago, IL
7 Dartmouth College (Tuck) Hanover, NH
7 University of California–Berkeley (Haas) Berkeley, CA
9 Columbia University New York, NY
10 New York University (Stern) New York, NY


11 UCLA (Anderson) Los Angeles, CA
12 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (Ross) Ann Arbor, MI
13 Yale University New Haven, CT
14 Cornell University (Johnson) Ithaca, NY
14 Duke University (Fuqua) Durham, NC
14 University of Virginia (Darden) Charlottesville, VA
17 Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) Pittsburgh, PA
18 University of Texas–Austin (McCombs) Austin, TX
19 Univ of North Carolina–(Kenan-Flagler) Chapel Hill, NC
20 Indiana University–Bloomington (Kelley) Bloomington, IN
21 Univ of Southern California (Marshall) Los Angeles, CA
22 Arizona State University (Carey) Tempe, AZ
22 Georgetown University (McDonough) Washington, DC
24 Emory University (Goizueta) Atlanta, GA
25 University of Rochester (Simon) Rochester, NY

Now you can get a prestigious Chicago GSB Executive MBA at Singapore. The Executive MBA is a 21 month program. The program begins in June and runs for 21 months. In each quarter 2 courses are offered and face to face classes are conducted for 2 weeks during a quarter. The faculty at Singapore comes from the main Chicago campus. The MBA degree is awarded by the University of Chicago.

Neither GRE nor GMAT is required but those with insufficient academic preparation may be asked to take GMAT. TOEFL is not normally required but you can be required to take TOEFL if you fail to demonstrate basic English proficiency.

It is not required to be a resident of Singapore for enrolment to the Singapore campus. Many students fly from other countries to attend this program. Some of the companies that recruit at the Singapore campus include GE Money, Deloitte Consulting, Lehman Brothers, Cargill, ABN Amro, Microsoft, Motorola, and many more.

Website of the Chicago GSB Executive MBA Singapore campus.

Unlike BS, MS or PhD applications, there are usually three deadlines for MBA applications. Applications received by each deadlines are evaluated in one batch. You are restricted to apply in one round only. A large number of admissions are offered in the first round. So the probability of admission reduces significantly in the second round, and even more so in the third round. According to Harvard Business School MBA Applications webpage , “We encourage applicants to apply in the first or second round, as space in the class may be limited by the third round.”

Third round decisions are so late that often there is not enough time for visa related paperwork or for the English proficiency classes, if required. Admissions to top B-Schools are anyway competitive. It also takes a lot of time and efforts. If you want to maximize your chances, you should only apply in the first round. What if you miss the first round deadline? Apply next year, in the first round!

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PhD program in Finance equips students with knowledge in the theoretical and empirical tools of finance. The degree prepares students for careers in research and teaching or for the corporate world in the areas of Corporate Finance, International Finance, Portfolio Management, etc. Candidates with a PhD in Finance are much sought after both in industry and academia and are highly paid.

All leading business schools offer a PhD program in Finance. An MBA degree is not a requirement, but is helpful if you have one. The candidate should have an undergraduate degree in a quantitative field or other wise demonstrate high quantitative aptitude. According to Wharton website, “Candidates with undergraduate training in economics, mathematics, engineering, statistics, and other quantitative disciplines have an ideal background for doctoral studies in this field”. Either GRE or GMAT is accepted, but it is always good to check the website of your target program. Relevant work experience may add value but is not required.
Some of the reputable PhD in Finance programs are offered by the following Business Schools:

• Wharton
• Stanford GSB
• Kellogg
• MIT Sloan (Financial Economics)
• Chicago GSB

On the day of the GRE GMAT and TOEFL tests, there is an option to report your score to upto 4 Universities for free. This is a significant opportunity to save a lot of dollars if you plan ahead.

Identify ten Universities where you would like to apply. Then identify the middle four according to ranking and reputation. These are the safest Universities to report your score to. In case you end up with a very low GRE score then you may still be applying to these 4 Universities as against your dream school which could be ruled out due to a poor score. If you do not do careful planning then you may end up wasting this wonderful opportunity.

• George Washington University
• Penn State University
• Princeton University
• Rochester Institute of Technology
• Texas A&M University
• University of Arizona
• University of Florida
• University of Houston
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• University of Kansas
• University of Utah
• Virginia Tech
• Washington University in St. Louis