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

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.

Practice Consistently

The essential steps 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 the 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 them 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.

Subject-Wise Preparation for GMAT

For an efficient subject-wise preparation, candidates are first advised to go through the GMAT syllabus. Candidates 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

• 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 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 of 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 in 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.

• Or you can register with us and let our trained and highly experienced test prep faculty, who are dedicated to helping you with your preparations for the highly renowned management admissions test. You can make use of our test prep services including personalised evaluation sessions, additional tutoring sessions and result-oriented strategies, among much more, to score better for your GMAT test.

Verbal Reasoning Section

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

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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 our 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 tests 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

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