JOIN USWhat's your GMAT strategy?
Graduate Manage-ment Admission Test (GMAT) is the most common admission test taken by students wishing to pursue their MBA degree in India and abroad. These scores are accepted in most global B-schools:US—Harvard, Stanford, MIT and Ivy League; UK—LBS; Australia —Melbourne Business School; Singapore - NUS; India - IIMs, ISB; and Europe - INSEAD.
Around 34,000 students take this test each year. One needs to take the GMAT test by the month of May in order to apply for Round1 deadlines for Fall (August) intake of the next admission cycle.
GMAT is a standardised aptitude test to compare applications from all over the world. It is a computer-adaptive test that delivers questions of varying difficulty levels based on a student’s answer to the questions that come up.
We recommend an average 2-3 months preparation plan on the core concept of verbal, quantitative and analytical skills, with 2-3 hours of inputs per day. Through the test series, students will be able to take 19 GMAT practice tests, which include 10 paper-based GMAT tests to test conceptual understanding and 4 CBTs to get accustomed to the computer.
Lastly, we advise everyone to take adaptive tests to get a simulation of the actual GMAT test.
Here are some last minute preparation tips for GMAT test takers from our achievers:
Anant Bhatia - GMAT 680 - Bangalore
In the last 3-4 days, never attempt a new mock test. Just in case you don't do well, it will take your morale down. Use the time to revisit the questions that have been incorrectly attempted in the previous tests. See if you can get them right.
Revise the silly mistakes that you do, usually in quant, such as not reading the question fully or skipping key words in DS such as integer, whole number, positive integer, etc.
Avoid attempting new questions. Revise the questions attempted previously and try to revise the related concepts.
Contemplate on your strategy. Think of tests in which you have performed well. Think of strategies that have worked to boost your score. For instance, giving more time to the first 10 questions or RC strategy to make notes key words, etc.
Go through the notes, if any, that you have made previously while studying.
Revise the template for essays. Be sure to use the same or nearly the same template in the actual exam. It helps to take the pressure off and to concentrate on sections that count more. Remember, essay section is easy and is included only to warm you up and not to wear you out (optimistically thinking).
Get the things to be carried for actual test all in one place to avoid last minute anxiety.
Rakesh P - GMAT 710 - Cochin
These are some things which I practised during my last minute sleepless GMAT days:
In the last few days, I think students shouldn’t get bogged down by new concepts. It’s the time you should be focusing only on practice.
In most mock GMATs, there are chances that a student may be tempted to skip AWA. Students may find it difficult to focus for such a long time during their mock exams and they may feel quite comfortable to do it in the real exam. Since I am not that good in putting things across through an essay, I practised AWA in the last two mock GMATs which gave me a confidence boost.
The best thing for you to do during the last few days is to do a few mock GMATs (may be every day until the day of the exam). However, on the previous day of the test, do not attempt a mock GMAT as there are chances that you may get disturbed (poor score) or over-enthusiastic (high score) by the score. On this day, you should give your minds a break, relax and focus on the fundamentals to give your best on the exam day.
To sum it up:
*Don’t get bogged down by new concepts. Keep practising what you have learnt.
* Don’t leave AWA fully. At least, include it in your last few mock GMATs.
*On the day before the test, better avoid a mock GMAT. Relax and focus on fundamentals.
Devarshi Kalraiya - GMAT 700 - Bangalore
*If possible, one should refrain from taking a full-length test in the last two days leading up to the test as a bad score can let one's confidence down. I personally did the mistake of taking tests three days before the actual exam and scored a paltry 560 in it. Somehow brewing faith and with some unnerving resolution, I did not take any more tests. Besides, the actual exam needs a free and fresh mind before the exam.
* If you have not gone through the problem discussion forums of some good websites (probably due to the availability of excessive study material, which was my case), you can visit them and try out the questions (specifically SC and CR), not in a time-bound manner, but leisurely, just to recheck that you have got the basics right and to reinforce your faith and confidence. You can probably check out 700-800 club-level questions.
*You can analyse all previous mistakes. I spent around two days to review all the wrong ones. If not done till now, one can try to identify patterns of mistakes. It's easy to categorise mistakes based on one’s understanding. For instance, mistakes based on cause could be categorised as:
*Hurriedly marked due to shortage of time
*Conceptual
*Silly (misreading the question stem, for eg, ‘except’ questions, yes/no data sufficiency questions, etc.)
*Approximation mistake
After categorising, think. How can you avoid it? A focused thought process will automatically help you device innovative solutions.
* In the final days, students should spend more time strategising. For eg., creating a mental time line - say for quant, at 55 minutes one should be starting question 11, on 35 minutes question 21, on 15 minutes question 31 and so on. This helps in proper time management because getting a 50 in quant requires a mere 30/ 31 right answers out of 37 and it will be to one’s advantage if these 6-7 questions are evenly spaced out, rather than being all stacked up in the end.
* If you have the habit of quickly writing down each variable/ equation present in the quant question, as you read the question, then this is a terrible waste of time! I used to do this, but then, cautiously overcame this habit. Questions are fairly simple and at least 20% of them could be done orally if we have a good mental focus. Saves a lot of time. Moreover, writing parts of the question only renders you breaking the flow on understanding the question and you end up reading the question again after noting down each variable. It results in a loss of good 20 - 25 seconds per question.
*Maintain all your regular habits. For instance, in case you work out, do that. It is a great stress buster and one need not take an off from work one day before the test. Let everything be normal. The more you hype the exam, the more it gets on to your nerves. No need for intensive study in the last 1-2 days. Only quick concept and formulae revision will do.
*A day before the exam, take a walk alone and imagine the whole set up which you are possibly going to face the next day. Right from entering the test centre to nailing that first question, followed by the break, things you'd do in the break, and then going back to the test, etc. It helps alleviate anxiety.
*The most important thing - listen to some rock music, hang out with friends, possibly go out somewhere for dinner and be completely relaxed. If your brain had the capacity to accommodate something big all this while, it would already have. So, you just relax. Lastly, sleep well. Time a good seven hour sleep at least.
(The author is a senior manager, Career Launcher)