With average GMAT scores for MBA applicants going steadily up, you’ll need to prepare well for the test. While it doesn’t measure your intelligence, and not even your future success as a business manager, the GMAT is one of the most important documents in your application file. Indeed, many business schools attribute merit-based scholarships to applicants with the highest GMAT scores.

There are literally thousands of books and online resources to help you prepare for the GMAT. In this blogpost, we suggest 4 books that critics and test takers have found particularly useful. To make sure you choose the right one for you, take a free online test from start to finish to identify your strengths and weaknesses. Check out your selected business schools minimum and average GMAT entry scores and define your personal goal. Then, read the information below and get the book that best suits your needs.

The mere idea of having to take the General Management Admissions Test (GMAT) is enough to unsettle most people. And yet, GMAT average scores have been going up, with top business schools boasting average entry scores higher than ever. Apart from adding the Integrated Reasoning section in 2012, the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC – the organization that runs the GMAT) hasn’t changed the test since it created it in the 1950s.
Why are scores going up, then? Because people are studying better.
The sheer amount of resources now available to test-takers allows contemporary students to aim for higher grades – if they use them wisely. Here are some general tips for you to join the 700+ ranks.