Executive Assessment advice from the EMPOWERea team
66 articles on EA strategy, study plans, pacing and the executive MBA application.
You Don't Need a PERFECT Section
One stubborn question can quietly wreck an entire Executive Assessment section. Here's the math behind it, and how to work steadily instead.
Reviewing a Practice Test Should Take LONGER Than Taking It
Your practice test score is the headline. Here's how to read the story under it, and why a real review takes longer than the 90 minute test.
Switching Tests Won't Fix a STUCK Score
Stuck on the EA or the GMAT and eyeing a switch? Your habits come with you. Here are the five to fix before you change anything.
BOOK the Test Date, Then Build Backward
No test date means months of drift. Here's how to book a realistic Executive Assessment date and build every study week backward from it.
Inference Questions: The Right Answer Is BORING
On Executive Assessment inference questions, the exciting answer is usually the trap. Here is how to spot it and pick the dull one that MUST be true.
Weekend Warrior Studying DOESN'T Work
Six hours every Saturday feels like serious Executive Assessment prep, but you're relearning the same lesson each week. Here's the week that actually sticks.
More Books Won't SAVE You
Three new Executive Assessment books feel like progress. They aren't. Here's why one plan you actually finish beats a shelf you never touch.
Word Problems: TRANSLATE First, Solve Second
Wordy EA Quant questions aren't hard math, they're messy English. Translate each sentence into short notes first and watch the problem shrink.
Let It GO. On Purpose.
Some Executive Assessment questions are built to eat your clock. Learn to spot them, guess smart, and spend your minutes where the points really are.
Pick a Target Score. A REAL One.
Your EA target probably came from a coworker or your ego. Here's how to build a real one from your schools and your own data, then train to hit it.
You're Not Nervous. You're EXCITED.
Nervous says you didn't train. Excited says you did. Here's how to earn the right word before you sit the Executive Assessment.
Two-Part Analysis: Two Answers, ONE Mistake
Two-Part Analysis hands you two columns, and most people solve the same problem twice. Find the link and get both answers from one piece of work.
90 Minutes Is SHORT. Train Like It Isn't.
The Executive Assessment is only 90 minutes, so why does your last section fall apart? It isn't the clock. It's how you trained. Here's the fix.
ESTIMATE. The Test WANTS You To.
Wide-apart answer choices are a hint to stop doing exact math. Learn how to round your way to the right Executive Assessment Quant answer in seconds.
Business Travel Is NOT an Excuse
Your trips aren't wrecking your Executive Assessment prep. Flying with no plan is. Here's how to turn airports and hotel rooms into real training.
What Your 100 to 200 Score ACTUALLY Means
A 3 point drop on your Executive Assessment practice test probably means nothing. Here is how the 100 to 200 score works and which section to train next.
Pronouns: Who Exactly Is "IT"?
One two-letter word sinks more Sentence Correction answers than any fancy rule. Learn to ask who 'it' really is, and those wrong choices fall away.
Be the COMMANDER of Fewer Questions
Thousands of new practice questions won't raise your EA score. Owning fewer, and redoing them until your process is clean, will.
You Are NOT Allowed to Say "I Have No Idea"
Every missed Executive Assessment question has a cause. Here is how to find it before you click Next, and why "no idea" is never an answer.
Pick Numbers. Stop SUFFERING.
Variables in every answer choice? Swap in small, friendly numbers and Executive Assessment algebra turns into arithmetic you can check and trust.
Graphics Interpretation: READ the Axes First
On Graphics Interpretation, the tallest bar is where the trap sits. Learn what to read before the data, then prove it on a fresh practice question.
Rusty at Math? GOOD. Now You Know What to Train
Haven't done math since college? Good. EA Quant tests a small, predictable set of ideas, and your rust shows you exactly which ones to rebuild first.
Test Day Starts the NIGHT Before
You trained for weeks. Don't let one late night, a new breakfast or a 7 a.m. work email take points off your Executive Assessment score.
The Points You're Missing Are EASY
You keep studying the monster questions while easy ones quietly cost you points. Here is where your Executive Assessment points are really hiding.