GMAT Preparation Tips 2023 - Check Strategy & Tricks to Crack GMAT

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Aarushi Jain
Updated on Mar 24, 2023 8:52 PM IST

Being one of the toughest exams for an MBA, it is normal to be a little nervous about taking the GMAT. While getting ready for GMAT takes time, preparing for the test with a solid study plan, dedication and hard work will certainly ensure that you will earn a good GMAT score. 

The amount of time you should spend preparing for the test will be unique to you although starting your GMAT preparation earlier will help you accumulate more prep hours. 

Candidates must score at least 650 out of 800 on the GMAT 2023 to be admitted to top b-schools that accept GMAT results. A score of 650+ is achievable with proper planning and a strategic approach to exam preparation, as outlined in this post's GMAT preparation tips.

General GMAT Preparation Tips 2023

Following are some of the tips that can help you clear the GMAT in order to get admission to MBA courses in India and abroad.

GMAT Preparation Tips

Practice Consistently

The essential step while you are preparing for MBA entrance exams is to practice consistently. Constant practice will help you in getting used to all the type of questions that are asked in the exam and raise your confidence while preparing.

Maintain a Study Journal

To keep a track of the topics that you have covered and the ones that are still pending, you can maintain a preparation journal or a diary. Keep a daily record of the topics, questions and GMAT practice tests that you are covering each day. This way, you can achieve your daily targets for GMAT.

Exponentially Increase your Study Time

Since GMAT is a computer-adaptive test, make sure that you practice questions of different difficulty levels to get used to the exam pattern. As the date of the GMAT exam draws near, increase your study time and cover the syllabus effectively.

Focus on Sectional Targets

Don’t stick to a single section while planning your daily targets. Make sure that you practice quantitative ability questions, as well as, verbal ability questions daily to achieve a balanced score in both questions. It is essential to achieve good scores in both sections as universities consider sectional GMAT cut-offs.

Eliminating Answer Choices

A good method to opt for tougher questions is to eliminate the wrong answer choices. In such cases, eliminating the wrong answers would be much easier than finding the correct answer. Statistically speaking, eliminating the wrong answers will give you higher chance, i.e. 20-30% or even higher, to choose the right answer.

Make Time Targets

Apart from targeting the number of questions that you should practice also make time targets. For example, the maximum time limit you are given to complete 12 questions in the integrated reasoning section is 30 minutes. Therefore, your objective when preparing for the test should be to complete 12 questions in 30 minutes. You can start by first completing the 12 questions in 45 minutes and subsequently becoming faster at answering the questions, following this technique for other sections of the test as well. You can start with easy time targets and then move to difficult time challenges.

Check out the GMAT Exam Pattern to know exactly how much time you are given in each section of the GMAT test.

Take Preparation Tests

One of the most important parts of preparation is the GMAT practice tests. Make sure that you take as many practice tests as you can to get used to the proctored nature of the test in order to achieve a score above 700.

Analyse your Performance

After every GMAT practice test, make sure that you have analysed your score on the test. Look back at the questions that you were unsure about as well as the questions that you got wrong. Practice more of such questions to get a hang of them. Preparing for the GMAT exam can be as exhaustive as preparing for any other preparation MBA entrance exam. Keep yourself motivated and select the colleges that you want to target. Talk to the counsellors and get extensive guidance about the exam. Keep your head in the game. Keep up with the daily targets, practice every day and you will achieve a score above 700. Balance your preparation with short breaks and proper sleep to keep your mind fresh.

Develop and Follow a GMAT Study Plan

MBA and business master's applications contain several components, such as essays, letters of reference, resumes, and so on, and the last thing you want to do is juggle all of the things while simultaneously studying for the GMAT in a tight timeframe. Set a GMAT study strategy early in your business school path to prevent this problem. 

You must also be familiar with the exam pattern and include them in your study strategy. It is the correct approach to understand the structure of the GMAT exam before developing a study plan. The exam is divided into four sections:

  • The Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA section): Assesses your ability to think critically and communicate your ideas.

  • Integrated Reasoning (IR section): Assesses your ability to analyse data and understand the information presented in a variety of formats.

  • Quantitative Reasoning (Quant section): This section assesses your ability to reason mathematically, solve quantitative problems, and interpret graphs.

  • Verbal Reasoning (Verbal part): Assesses your reading comprehension skills, editing skills, and ability to understand written passages.

Pick Your GMAT Study Material Wisely

There are countless test preparation resources available but choose wisely, as not all of these resources are reliable and carry the correct approach, study material, topics, syllabus, etc.

We recommend using GMAT Official prep materials to best prepare (and simulate the real test-taking experience). They employ the same GMAT scoring mechanism as the original test and feature authentic questions from previous tests because they were prepared by the GMAT's creators. Are you unsure about which Official GMAT Prep resource is best for you? This is a comprehensive selection of the most reliable GMAT preparation or study materials for test participants.

Practice Visual Literacy 

Time management is an important GMAT test-taking approach, as we have already discussed. But are you seeking a quick approach to boost your productivity? Learn to read symbols, charts, and tables using visual literacy.

This type of visual data is frequently used on the GMAT, therefore understanding how to evaluate it quickly is essential. You may also see non-standard mathematical notations (or symbols related to a problem) on the GMAT Quant section of the exam, so it is essential that you are acquainted with visuals and can remain calm.

Improve your Mental Maths

When it comes to the quantitative component, mental maths is a time-saving technique you will want to have in your arsenal. Resist the impulse to go for your calculator at every opportunity while practising. Instead, practise conducting mental calculations. Since you will not have a calculator during the GMAT's real Quant part, you must practise your mental maths skills.

Want to Know How to Get a Good GMAT Score?

Subject-Wise Preparation for GMAT

For efficient subject-wise preparation, candidates are first advised to go through the GMAT syllabusCandidates must also be aware of the exam pattern and structure so that they divide the preparation plan in a way that more marks are covered strategically.

Analytical Writing Assessment

  • The time allotted to solve this section is 30 minutes. An average student must complete the write-up within 25 minutes and keep 5 minutes for revising the content written.

  • This is a section that involves your thought process. Topics given for the write-up must be dealt with analytically with arguments and examples.

  • Stick to the articles that not only argue on a certain issue but also highlight notable examples.

  • Reading newspapers will also help you to crack this portion of the test paper.

  • Collect all relevant information related to the topics that you have noted. Go through the information in detail and try to memorize the important pointers, so that, you may remember them while writing the article.

  • Once you are done collecting information, start writing on the topics keeping argumentative points in mind.

  • While writing the write-ups keep a stopwatch to calculate the time taken to complete the write-up. This will help you to manage your time and be speedy with the article.

Integrated Reasoning Section

  • A total of 30 minutes has been fixed for the Integrated Reasoning Section of GMAT.

  • An average student must complete the maximum number of questions in 25 minutes and must keep 5 minutes for the purpose of revision and unsolved questions.

  • The questions of this category are framed out of topics like table analysis, graphics interpretation, multi-source reasoning and two-part analysis.

  • To conquer the chunk of questions in the integrated reasoning section, you must rigorously practice the topics provided.

  • Take help from good books and study material related to integrated reasoning.

  • If stuck on a topic then take help from your seniors and mentors instead of wasting time solving it all by yourself.

  • While practising this section note the time when you start the paper and when you end solving it. With regular practice of the time, you will be quick with the questions especially the tricky ones.

Quantitative Reasoning Section

  • 31 questions in the Quantitative Section are to be solved in 62 minutes.

  • You must complete the questions in a span of 55-60 minutes and keep the rest of the time for revising the answers and solving the leftover questions.

  • By solving more questions in this section, you will get a good grip on the topic.

  • Try to understand and memorize the mathematical formulas related to the topics.

  • Different methods must be tried to crack tricky questions in the Quantitative Section.

  • You must practice questions of data sufficiency and problem-solving keeping in mind the allotted time.

  • At the time of the practice session and main examination solve the easy questions first and then go on solving the tricky ones.

Verbal Reasoning Section

  • GMAC has allotted a total of 65 minutes to solve questions in this section.

  • There are 36 questions that you will have to solve within the given time period.

  • This section is all about the English language and its usage. You will solve questions from topics like Sentence Correction, Reading Unseen Passages, Critical Reasoning and much more.

  • To master this section read good English grammar books and read editorial pages of good English newspapers.

  • Practice questions based on testing grammatical skills and knowledge. This will cover all the important sub-sections of the Verbal section.

  • Critical Reasoning questions take help from experts and guidebooks as this section will test both reasoning as well as analytical skills.

Related Articles

GMAT Scores for Top US B-Schools (MBA Colleges) How to Prepare for GMAT Online Exam?
How to Score a Perfect 800 on GMAT? GMAT Percentiles Guide - What Your Score Means?

What is the Right Time to Start Preparing for GMAT?

Most of the time, GMAT candidates fret too much over an important question - what is the right time to start preparing for GMAT? To ensure that the GMAT 2023 aspirants do not face the same dilemma, StudyAbroad CollegeDekho spoke to some of the experts and previous year GMAT top scorers for an answer to the question - what is the right time to begin preparing for GMAT?

The perfect time to start preparing for a highly competitive examination like the GMAT is five months prior to the date of the exam. The previous year exam-takers say that for a normal mind to get used to a schedule takes around 90 days. Starting to prepare for GMAT five months before the exam date gives ample time for the brain to get used to a study schedule and the candidates can use the remaining days to provide an effective final touch to their GMAT exam preparation. Also, the experts and coaching centre teachers suggest that sometimes the test-takers put an undue burden on themselves by putting in long and strenuous hours to cram things up rather than focusing on strengthening the conceptual base. 10 hours a week from three months to the date of the GMAT exam, if done wisely, can be more than effective.

Can You Prepare For GMAT In 2 Months?

GMAT preparation is known to require somewhere around 10 weeks. While it is possible to cut down this time to 8 weeks or 2 months, a solid and smart Study Plan is required.

Study Plan has to befit the personal needs, however following tips can be helpful:

Focus On Exam-like Preparation

If you are starting your preparation 2 months before the exam, not only the syllabus but also speed and accuracy need to be practiced. Hence it is better to focus on preparation methods which cover all these aspects. Mock test prep and practice paper solving are the best methods to do so.

Detailed Revision of Weak Topics

Mock Scoring will help in finding out the weak topics and a slot could be added to the timetable for their detailed revision and reference.

Keep a Slot Unidentified

Everyday study hours keep at least 2 hours free of any label or identification so that they can be used to prepare for favourite topics or weaker topics as per the current requirements of the study schedule.

Prioritize Stronger Points 

Once better portions of weaker sections have been cleared and performance has improved the focus can be shifted onto stronger sections so that accuracy and speed could be increased.

Exam Day Tips for GMAT Online Test

Here are the last-minute tips for GMAT online test 2023:

Before the Exam

  • Practice and understand the online whiteboard tool.

  • Review the Policies and procedures and get ready with all the ID requirements.

  • Do a system test before registering for the test to ensure your computer is ready on test day.

During the Exam

  • Log in at least 15 minutes before your exam time.

  • Remove mobile phones, watches, notes, scratch paper, headphones, and any other devices.

  • Touchscreens, graphics tablets and the use of a stylus will not be permitted.

After the Exam

  • Official scores will be posted in the account within 7 working days after taking the exam.

  • Complimentary unlimited score sending will be allowed.

  • GMAT score shall be valid for five years.

  • Score cancellations and retakes will not be permitted with the exception of checked technical issues and authorized retakes.

Need Expert Guidance on Applying to Top Universities with GMAT?

FAQs on GMAT Preparation Tips

Can I do my GMAT preparation and score well without external help/coaching?

Yes, it is possible to score well in GMAT without external help or coaching. However, enrolling in a coaching centre or tuition classes can help boost your chances of scoring well. Regardless, to score well in GMAT without external help or coaching, candidates must stick to a well-organised and scheduled preparation strategy.

How much time do you need to prepare for the GMAT?

A good GMAT study regimen includes between 10 and 15 hours of study each week. Doing the math, it offers you anything from 6 to 9 weeks of GMAT preparation—assuming you can be 100% consistent every week and don't decide to take the GMAT twice.

Is it hard to get 700 on GMAT while preparing for the exam on your own?

No, it is not hard to get 700 on GMAT while preparing for the exam on your own. There is no magic formula for achieving a 700 GMAT score. You'll need patience, consistency, and consideration whether you take a class, study on your own, or work with a tutor to get there. A 700 on the GMAT is an achievement that only one out of every eight test-takers accomplishes, thus the trip will most likely be difficult.

How long should I study and prepare for GMAT to get 700?

Ideally, the greater your target score, the more hours you should devote to your studies. A 700+ score requires around 120 hours of preparation, which equates to approximately 16 weeks or 4 months of preparation time with 10-15 hours of study time per week to ace your GMAT exam in the first attempt.

Can I prepare for the GMAT at home?

Yes, you can effectively prepare for the GMAT at home and achieve your desired score by following these guidelines: Find a study area that is peaceful, well-lit, and conducive to concentration. Take care not to become distracted. To increase efficiency, take timed short breaks while preparing.

What is the right time to start preparing for GMAT?

There is not really a right time to prepare for the GMAT. You must be mentally ready to take the test and prepare for it. Usually, it will take three-four months to complete the entire syllabus. Experts advise starting your GMAT preparations about five months before your earliest business school application date. This will give you roughly three months to study and prepare for the GMAT, as well as plenty of time for your official score reports to be forwarded to your preferred MBA institutions.

Where can I find the preparation material for GMAT?

One can find all the study material for the GMAT on the official website of GMAC. It includes both online and offline prep material. Apart from GMAC, here is a short list of the best GMAT preparation books:

  • Kaplan GMAT Prep Plus
  • Manhattan Prep All the GMAT
  • The Princeton Review GMAT Premium Prep
  • Mometrix Test Preparation GMAT Prep Book

Can I prepare for GMAT in two months?

Yes, you can prepare for the GMAT exam in two months. One can certainly prepare for the GMAT in 8 weeks or 2 months. For that, all you need is a clear idea of the exam structure, the right preparation material, the right plan and an understanding of your strengths and weaknesses and working on them.

How to prepare for GMAT?

Before beginning with the preparation, you must understand the structure of the test, types of questions, etc. After you have a clear idea of the same, you need to set your exam target, get the right preparation material and start preparing. Lastly, take a lot of GMAT practice tests to know better about the GMAT exam pattern, the GMAT question types and to improve your GMAT scores.

Can I prepare for GMAT in one month?

Yes, you can prepare for the GMAT exam in one month. Ideally, the GMAT preparation should take three to four months, but with concentrated attention and a smart technique, you may absolutely prepare successfully in one month. That being said, it is entirely possible to increase your GMAT score with one month of study and the right GMAT preparation tips. You just won't increase your score as much as someone who studies for three months or more.

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