Feb 5 2010

How to prepare for GMAT ?

The number of GMAT registrations was around 3 million in 2008 alone. Last year, almost all universities saw record number of applications. The applicant volume is so high that there are hundreds of applicants per seat.You have to compete with so many people for that one seat of yours.

Although, GMAT is not the only criterion for your selection, it is definitely among the most important. So, how to prepare for this test in a way that chances of scoring high and thus chances of securing a seat are multiplied ?

Decide your target score: First, you need to have a target score. If you have a few schools in mind, check out what is their minimum GMAT score requirement (if any). This will give you an idea of how much you should score to comfortably clear the requirement of the minimum score.

Book a test date: Next, you have to decide and book the test date. The number of test-takers is increasing and you may not get your desired test date if you delay booking the date. Booking well in advance will also help you stay focused.

Take a diagnostic test: Before you start your GMAT preparation, it helps to know where you stand. You can download the GMATPrep software from mba.com and install it on your PC. Take the full test. Once you complete, you will be given a score. If you are way off the target score, you know what you have to do; Work Hard !

Commit yourself: You can join one of the many commercial GMAT prep companies. You can, as many many others, study for GMAT on your own. What ever method of study you choose, you have to commit some time everyday for GMAT. This is very very important if you plan to score high.

Start with the basics: The best thing you can do is grab a high school text book and go through the concepts. Once you have got a fair idea of the basics, you can start practicing problems from the text book itself. You should feel confident with the problems.

Proceed to next step only if you are sure you have covered the concepts ( of both quants and verbal).

Get the official Guides : Buy the GMAT official guides(OG). These are the only books that contain real GMAT questions (though they are retired). This is the best GMAT investment one can make. Start working on this book only if you have reviewed the basics. Work out every problem in the OG.

Start taking practice tests: Make it a point to take at least one practice test every weekend. Of course, the more, the better. After you finish taking a test, review each and every question (even the ones you got right). You have to analyze your test and understand where you are making most number of mistakes, where you are slowest etc. Analysis of the test is extremely important.

Following are things to be done simultaneously with the above,

Maintain an error log: Maintain a log of mistakes you make. You have to maintain the list of questions you got wrong and the nature of the mistake. Over time, you will have a database of your mistakes and probably you will notice a pattern in your mistakes. Maybe you make a lot of careless errors. So you can start working on making your calculations more careful. This is a very effective method. Check my detailed post on GMAT error logs.

Make flash cards : Note down important formulas/rules into a separate notebook. Keep reviewing this notebook whenever you have the time. This will help you commit important stuff to your memory.

Participate in forums: There are a few great discussion forums on the net. You can find a short list of them on the best GMAT resources page. There are a lot of people who can help you understand tricky concepts and teach you things you never knew. Participate on these forums actively. Join the discussions, put across your point of view, ask questions etc. This is one of the best ways to learn.

Read online magazines and editorials : GMAT is a computer based test. You will have to do a lot of reading from the computer screen. So, it is a good idea to get used to reading from the computer screen. I have suggested few online resources in the post on the GMAT verbal section. Read and understand stuff which you generally find boring, this will help you in your Reading Comprehension.

And above all, stay tuned to gmatcafe.com :)

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Jun 23 2009

GMAT Verbal Section

The Verbal section of the test measures your ability to read and comprehend written material, to reason and evaluate arguments, and to correct written material to conform to standard written English. – The GMAT Information Bulletin 2008

The verbal section of the GMAT is the final section you will face on the GMAT exam. Since this is the last section, one tends to be exhausted and tends to lose concentration. This is where taking a lot of full length practice GMAT tests helps ( full length means taking all 3 sections AWA, Quants and Verbal). With enough practice, one can train his/her mind to stay alert for the full 4 hours of the test.

The verbal section consists of 41 multiple choice questions, which must be answered within 75 minutes. This section consists of a mix of three question types; Sentence Correction(SC), Critical Reasoning(CR), Reading Comprehension (RC).

Sentence Correction (SC):

Sentence correction questions present a sentence, all or part of which is underlined. This is followed by 5 answer choices. All the five choices present different ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these choices repeats the original underlined part of the sentence; the other four are different. If there is no error in the original sentence then choose Choice A (which repeats the original underlined part). If there is an error then, the correct answer would be one from Choices B,C,D or E.

Sentence correction tests on effectiveness and correctness of expression. The test-taker is supposed to give attention to the grammar, choice of words and sentence construction. The correct answer would be one that produces the most effective sentence; this answer should be clear and exact, without awkwardness, ambiguity, redundancy, or grammatical error.

Most test-takers believe that Sentence correction is the only question type in the Verbal section that can be mastered quickly. And they are right ! There are few commonly repeated question types and can be mastered with a fair amount of practice. One only needs to remember a few rules.

Critical Reasoning (CR):

Critical Reasoning questions require the test-taker to understand and analyze a brief passage (sometimes referred to as “stimulus”), this is followed by a question and then by 5 answer choices. The question may ask the test-taker to draw a conclusion, to identify assumptions, or to strengthen or weaken the argument.

Critical reasoning requires detailed analysis of the presented stimulus. Some suggest that one should read the question first and then the stimulus; some suggest reading the stimulus first is better. Try out both and figure out which works best for you.

The key to critical reasoning questions is reading closely and understanding the stimulus and the question. The advice to read closely may seem like an obvious thing, but GMAT verbal questions are known to play with the language. So one should get into the habit of reading very closely on the GMAT. This is essential because even the answer choices will be so close that if one misses the underlying meaning, he/she would end up choosing the wrong answer choice.

Critical reasoning questions can be mastered with a lot of patient practice. So develop the habit of reading closely. This skill will be helpful to you all your life.

Reading Comprehension (RC):

Reading comprehension is probably the most feared question type in the verbal section.As the name implies, it tests the ability of the test-taker to understand the substance and logical structure of a written selection. The GMAT uses reading passages of approximately 200 to 350 words, covering topics from social sciences, biological sciences, physical sciences, and business.

One has to read the passage, understand what the passage says, read the question, understand what the question asks, read the answer choices, understand them and then pick up the right choice. The challenge lies in managing to do all this in a short span of time. Obviously, one needs to have a lot of practice to manage to do all this in the stipulated period of time.

If one is strong in critical reasoning, then it is half battle won against Reading comprehension. If you have a long time before you face the GMAT, you can improve your reading by reading online magazines or editorials. Pick up stuff which you would generally not read. Get the habit of reading long articles on the computer screen.

Related Resources :

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Mar 26 2009

Format of the GMAT exam

Now that we know what is GMAT exam. We will go forward with the format of the exam.

There are 3 parts of the GMAT exam.

  • Analytical Writing Assessment (60 minutes, 2 essays)
  • Quantitative Ability ( 75 minutes, 37 questions )
  • Verbal Ability (75 minutes, 41 questions)

Analytical Writing Assessment: The GMAT begins with Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA). The test-taker is required to write 2 short essays. The GMAT provides a simple word-processing program for this purpose. Each essay has to be completed in exactly 30 minutes.

The first is the Analysis of an Issue, in which you need to analyze the issue presented and explain your views on it. The second essay is Analysis of an Argument, in which a given argument has to be critically analyzed and evaluated. For both the essays, the emphasis is on the “Analytical” part, and not on the “Writing” part.

Quantitative Section: As the name suggests, this section contains questions on mathematics. This section begins after an optional (in my opinion,recommended) 10-minute break.  The 37 questions in this section comprise two kinds of questions : Problem Solving (PS) and Data Sufficiency (DS). These two types are intermingled, with no fixed number for each type.

Verbal Section: After another optional (again, recommended) 10-minute break, the verbal section begins. The verbal section in GMAT tests basic English skills coupled with reasoning and analysis. The 41 questions consist of three types : Sentence Correction (SC), Critical Reasoning (CR), and Reading Comprehension (RC). The three types are intermingled, with no fixed number for each type.

Computer-Adaptive format

The GMAT is a Computer Adaptive Test (CAT). The essays are not adaptive. The quantitative and verbal sections, however, are adaptive. By adaptive it means the difficulty level of every question (barring a few experimental questions) apart from the first question depends on whether you got the previous question right or wrong. In other words, if you answer a question right, the next question presented will be of higher difficulty and if you get a question wrong, the next question will be from easier levels.

Few points to remember (in no particular order):

  • Reading from a book and paper is different from reading from a computer screen. Get used to reading questions from a computer screen.
  • Pacing is extrememly important. There is heavy penalty for questions left unanswered.
  • Due to the adaptive format of GMAT, your score will reduce drastically if you have a string of wrong answers.
  • Practice at least one full length test from the two free GMATPrep tests provided by www.mba.com. Of course, the more you practice, the more equipped you are to sit through the four hour grueling session.
  • Time is the most expensive resource even on GMAT. If I say every second counts, I am not exaggerating.

Related Resources:

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