If you want to go to a top business school, a good score on the Graduate Management Admission Test - commonly known as GMAT - can go a long way. This is not the only factor of the admission process, but a high score will only strengthen your application package.
But the test known as the gatekeeper of the MBA is not going to be a push. Preparation requires a good number of months to give oneself the best chance of success. So, with that in mind, here are 10 tips from the GMAT
1. Consistency on intensity
One can compare GMAT presentations with learning to play chess. It is not only necessary to learn and know all the concepts and tricks; It is also necessary to be confident and quick to use them. This means quick calculations in the quant section. To improve this skill it is better to have shorter, daily training sessions during weekends.
2. Create a Learning Diary
The number of concepts asked in GMAT questions is finite. Therefore, a good way to improve and reduce your white areas is to keep a learning diary. This means that one should write every unknown presentation question (or there are questions that have taken you a long time to answer) and try to understand the correct answer and concept behind them. If you do this during your preparation, you will see that over time, your list of weaknesses will become smaller and shorter.
3. Set an exponential GMAT prep timetable
It goes without saying that you need to plan sufficiently and effectively during GMAT preparation. Furthermore, I suggest that you adopt an exponential approach in prep time planning; The more you achieve your exam date, the more time you should plan for GMAT preparation. So - if possible - it may be wise to choose a test date that occurs at the end of the vacation period, so you have a week or more to focus on the GMAT only before the test.
4. Train to use laminated drawing board during GMAT submission
Many testing centers provide only laminated drawing boards for calculations and drawings during testing. This can cause irritation for those who are not accustomed to using an erasable overhead marker - especially left-handed people, who often sniff their notes. After knowing this, you should practice it during your preparation phase so that it is not as surprising as possible on the day of the test.
5. Do not ignore the results of the GMAT test prep
The two prep tests available on the official GMAT website are cited by several sources as a good way to train in actual exam situations. This is absolutely true, but one should not reduce the results obtained from these Prep tests because they are not compatible with actual empirical, standardized test results. So use them, but don't think yourself ready when you have reached your target score in these tests.
6. Redo GMAT prep test
One can get a good GMAT prep test from many sources and companies. The good thing about test submission for better use of these companies is that most of them use an adaptive query algorithm - as does the actual test (those presenting with difficult queries do better). So it is a good way to use the same prep test many times because as you get better, the questions you face will be different. Therefore redoing a pre-test exposes you to a greater amount of questions.
7. Practice Educating Guessing
A good method for dealing with GMAT questions (especially in the oral section), about which you are not sure about the answer, is 'educated guess'. This means quickly ranking the five possible answers in order of their suitability and excluding incorrect answers. One can save time by quickly eliminating two or three incorrect answers and then guessing the rest. Of course, a fair assessment is preferable, but sometimes the lack of time presents some of this luxury.
8. Pay attention to your weaknesses… but in a measured way
One must always know the GMAT test areas in which one is the weakest. Nevertheless, one major mistake is to focus on one weakness for too long, as GMAT knowledge can also be forgotten easily and quickly. A good method might be to set pre-set questions of a certain base-level in each category to do each day. In the category you need to ensure your knowledge, additional questions and time should be planned at the top. So you can improve risk reduction without focusing on other areas.
9. Try to monitor your target GMAT score
Even if you do not necessarily need a 700+ GMAT score for your MBA application - perhaps only 500 or 600 - it is still wise to overshoot during preparation in order to at least safely reach your required score. To reach. Your preparation should target a GMAT score of at least 50 higher than you need. It is not uncommon for examinees to score 30 points higher or lower depending on their individual physical and mental status, depending on their physical and mental status on the day of the exam.
10. Set time milestones during the GMAT test
One of the most common worst-case scenarios during the GMAT test is the examiner fleeing towards the end time. A major problem is that most candidates do not recognize that they are staying behind until it is too late. It is difficult to compensate wisely in this situation, meaning the taker is forced to guess fast and wildly. A simple tool to avoid this scenario is to set and stick to certain milestones. For example, in the Quantity section, candidates should immediately know that they should have reached Q7 with 60 minutes left on the clock, Q15 with 45 minutes left, and so on. This strategy tells you long in advance that you may be behind schedule and therefore gives you the chance and enough remaining questions to respond.
