One of the most significant advantages of the Executive Assessment is that it requires only modest preparation. That means that if you’re a busy professional, you can still find time during the week to study for the test in order to strengthen your business school application.

While you’ll likely find that preparing for the Executive Assessment is not a strenuous effort, there are some things you can do to make the experience even easier for yourself. These three preparation tips will help you study more effectively so that you feel fully prepared on test day.

1. Use preparation materials that are designed for the Executive Assessment test

The Executive Assessment is different from other graduate business school assessments, including in the topics that are and are not covered. For example, while other assessments often feature an essay-writing component, there is no such section on the Executive Assessment. As a result, if you use preparatory materials that are designed for other tests, you could end up wasting time studying topics that may not appear on the actual assessment. That’s why we recommend utilizing the official executive assessment prep materials that are offered by the Graduate Management Admission Council™ (GMAC™) to help you prepare more effectively.

Want to know what else you can do to make sure you are prepared for business school? Check out our Business School Self-Assessment Checklist.

2. Set aside time during the week that is exclusively for studying

The Executive Assessment test typically requires an average of 21-30 hours of preparation time for most people. While that is modest, it’s important that you still schedule those hours into your routine. Take into account how many hours in total you’ll need to prepare and how much time you can set aside each day or week for studying when choosing your test date.

It’s up to you how you set your study schedule, but ensure that you do have one. Many test takers find that arriving at the office an hour early in the mornings provides them with the best time to study. Others, however, find that studying in the evenings or for longer sessions on the weekends are better choices. Whatever works best for you, make sure you establish a routine and stick to it.

3. Complete Executive Assessment practice tests while using a timer

One of the Executive Assessment requirements is that you’ll have 30 minutes to complete each of the three sections—Verbal, Quantitative, and Integrated Reasoning—for a total test time of 90 minutes. That short test time is one of the advantages of the Executive Assessment, since it is much easier to schedule around your busy schedule. However, you’ll also need to be prepared for the timed nature of the assessment.

To do this, complete practice tests using a timer. This will help you get comfortable with the 90-minute timeframe and it will also help you see what, if any, mistakes you may make under actual test conditions. For example, you may find that when you practice under timed conditions, you’re more likely to not read questions properly and make simple and avoidable mistakes as a result. Being aware of this tendency can help you stay alert during the actual assessment so that you read questions with extra care and achieve a higher score.

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