Knowing the best way to prepare for your GMAT can be the difference between a great score and a mediocre one; a spot at the top or floundering in mid-level obscurity. For this reason, it's imperative that aspiring Business school students show some management-level decision making skills when it comes to choosing the best GMAT preparation model.

Things tend to change. What was new and modern few years ago is no longer as useful, attractive, and innovative as it used to be. This is as true in the business world as everywhere else. The skill set that defined a successful manager ten years ago has been updated and expanded. Consequently, what business schools seek in their applicants has changed. To meet these new requirements and to better assess the reasoning and analytical skills of future MBA students, the Next Generation GMAT will replace the current version of the test beginning on June 5, 2012.

GMAT has announced that the test will be changed after the 5^th of June because the old version does not fully capture candidates' logical thinking, analytical reasoning, and general data management skills. With these skills in increasing demand, the new IR section is a logical step in GMAT development. Lee Milligan, Admissions officer at Copenhagen Business School, commented on the addition of the new IR section: "I think the changes will add to the relevance of the test for the MBA and they are therefore necessary. Critical reasoning using limited information from multiple sources is one of the usual approaches participants undertake as part of MBA classes. An MBA is all about learning to deal with complex business issues and figure out relevant solutions."

What does a cat do when it prepares for sleep on a cold night? It tucks in its paws and rolls up its body to make itself as round as possible. It does so, obviously, to keep itself warm, to minimize release of heat through the body surface. Given its volume, which cannot be decreased, the cat is minimizing its surface area. In other words, the animal solves the problem of the body with the smallest surface area for a given volume, making itself more spherical. This cat appears to know something about isoperimetric problems! And you, if you plan to take the GMAT, should familiarize yourself with them as well.

Despite some similarities between the Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree and the Master of Economics (M.Econ.) degree, the two are quite different. Your choice of degree should depend on the specific topics you want to master, the blanks in your resume you want to fill, and the opportunities you seek in your academic or professional career.