How to Vanquish the GMAT

Recently, I scored 740 on the GMAT test. I was quite shocked to score over 675 considering I had only spent 3 weeks on my prep.

Numerous friends asked me if I did anything special to get such a good score. Rather than keep repeating it until I killed myself with boredom, I thought I'd create a web tutorial so everyone can enjoy it.

The GMAT is divided into two sections: Math and Verbal. Since it's pretty hard to improve your English in a few weeks, I spent most of my time working on the Math section. By spending just 3 hours a day for 4 weeks on practising math problems, anyone can improve their math skills dramatically.

Its possible to boost your verbal score too, and you can through a similar amount of effort, but it's a lot more difficult since it is inherently a lot more boring. Rather I suggest improving your spoken English(if it's not very good) by watching a lot of films and reading a lot of English books. Certainly this is not anything you can do in 4 weeks so I recommend you begin six months ahead of when you plan to take the GMAT.

But if you're like 90% of the people I know, your math skills could definitely need a certain amount of brushing up. The good news is that you certainly can work on this in 3-4 weeks.

I strongly advise you borrow the Kaplan Premier book. It contains a CD that has actual computer based tests on it. These tests replicate a live test environmentenvironment and are timed. They also estimate your score for you. The problems are significantly tougher than the actual GMAT so don't be upset if you don't score well on these tests. I didn't score more than 615 in any of the tests(I gave about 6) and the average score was only 555 on these practice tests.

I also completed the Kaplan 800 book which has a list of the most toughest problems and I unabashedly suggest solving it after you're done with the first book.

However, if you're a non-math person and are finding the math difficult, specifically the probability and combination problems, I unabashedly suggest going through Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences. You should be able to get it at your library or buy it online for $5. It's an easy to follow book that gets you thinking about using numbers in everyday situations.

The one thing I unabashedly suggest is doing all the practice lessons and tests on the Kaplan CD. It will really assist you devise a game plan for quickly solving the problems in time.

One of the things I concluded was that I was hurrying through questions in order to finish the test within time. This was causing me to make errors and dropping my score. In the real GMAT exam, I took my time on the first several questions. In fact, for the first couple of questions,problems, I spent,took nearly 4 minutes on each one. The GMAT difficulty level changes with your level of math and becomes progressively more tougher. If you get the first dozen questions,problems right, you stand a very good chance of getting, achieving a high score.

Half way through the math section, the questions were so tough, I immediately knew I couldn't solve them. I skipped 2 such questions and thus made up for lost time without significantly impacting my score.

If you're not planning on going to Stanford or Berkley, you might assume you can get by with a 560 score. However, one thing you might not be aware of is that with a 700+ score, even if you go to a 3rd rate program, you stand an excellent chance of
1. getting your application fee waived
2. getting a full-ride (a full-ride isn't a free car, it's a scholarship that pays all your fees!).

So don't slack off on your prep just coz you want to go to a 3rd tier college.

Article Source: http://www.rightarticle.com

The author scored a 740 on the GMAT and maintains a blog dedicated to Investing & Passive Income.

Please Rate this Article

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

Not yet Rated