If you’re planning to apply to a top MBA program this coming fall (or even if you’re just starting to think about it), this is the perfect time to start preparing for the GMAT. Why?
Because starting your preparation now will put you in position to take the GMAT by late July. If you get the score you are aiming for, then great. You can put the GMAT out of your mind and start planning the rest of your application. If not — and it is not unusual for an applicant to take the GMAT two or three times — then you still have plenty of time to prep some more and take the GMAT again, before you start pulling together your Round 1 business school applications in October.
When it is early in the calendar year and applicants ask us, “What can I do NOW to most help my MBA admissions chances in the fall?” we often say, “Start earlier! Give yourself more time than you think you’ll need, for everything — the GMAT, your essays, your letters of recommendation.” Sometimes they listen, and sometimes they don’t. But the ones who do listen always become advocates of the “Start early!” school of thought.
If you haven’t yet taken the GMAT and want help in maximizing your score, you are in luck. We have classes starting in dozens of cities worldwide this week, in all sorts of formats . You name it, we’ve got a GMAT class for it. And taking our 42-hour, seven-week Full Course (our most popular option) will leave you with plenty of time to take the GMAT in July, setting up the calendar for you beautifully in the back half of the year.
About the Author
I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.
For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.
My work covers the full MBA application deliverable: career planning and profile evaluation, application essay editing, recommendation letter editing, mock interviews and interview preparation, scholarship and fellowship essay editing, and cover letter editing for funding applications. Full bio with credentials and admit history is here.
I am the author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, the best-selling essay guide covering M7 MBA programs. I have written and updated the guide annually since 2013, which makes the 2026 edition the thirteenth.
The reason I still write and edit essays every cycle: a good MBA essay carries a real applicant's voice. Writing essays for F1GMAT's Books and Editing essays weekly is how I stay calibrated to what current admissions committees respond to.
Contact me for school selection, career planning, essay strategy, narrative development, essay editing, interview preparation, scholarship essay editing, or guidance documents for recommendation letters.