How to start your GMAT preparation | 5 Tips To Crack GMAT
The GMAT exam is conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), and one can take the exam up to five times every twelve months. The duration of the exam is 3 hours and 7 minutes (excluding optional breaks) and has no negative marking. You can look at the complete and updated syllabus of the GMAT here.
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The GMAT requires a minimum of 5 to 6 months of dedicated preparation for a complete beginner by studying for at least 2-3 hours every day. With proper planning, one can get a good score on this exam. However, if you are confused about where to start, here are a few steps to begin with:
● Take a mock test before starting your GMAT preparation: It is essential to gauge your areas of strength and weaknesses before you start your preparation so that you can tailor your plan by focusing more on your areas of weaknesses and being in touch with your areas of strength
● Have a target score in mind: Before you start preparing for GMAT, look at the scores accepted by your target B-Schools. It is crucial to have a target in mind to be able to create a solid plan
● Schedule your examination as soon as you have created your study plan: A hard deadline will help you follow through with your plan. Set a GMAT preparation study plan early in your journey to b-school. Keep track of time as part of your GMAT prep plan. It will help you achieve your weekly goals with more discipline.
GMAT Exam Format
| Subject | Number of Questions | Time Limit (minutes) |
| Quantitative Reasoning | 31 | 62 |
| Verbal Reasoning | 36 | 65 |
| Integrated Reasoning | 12 | 30 |
| Analytical Writing Assessment | 1 | 30 |
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5 Tips To Crack GMAT | Prepare For GMAT
How To Prepare for GMAT Quantitative Reasoning?
This section has questions of two types of questions: Problem Solving and Data Sufficiency. Problems come from number systems, arithmetic, algebra, permutation, combinatorics, and geometry. To improve in this section, it is essential to:
● Learn Fundamentals: Ensure that you learn the basic concepts of the topic and make notes which can serve helpful during revision.
● Practice: While learning new concepts, it is essential to actively solve questions that test these concepts. Hence after learning a new topic, you should at least solve ten questions that test that concept
● Improve Speed Math: Since time is of the essence, as every question is given two minutes on average, and some questions can be calculation intensive, it is important to be quick with your calculations. Spend ten to fifteen minutes developing your mental math every day.
How To Prepare for GMAT Verbal Reasoning?
This section is quite challenging and needs extensive preparation. The skills that are tested are comprehension, grammar and critical reasoning. To ace this section:
● Learn the Basics: The three skills can be improved by learning what is fundamentally expected in the exam. Critical reasoning and sentence correction have some fundamental rules which are required to improve accuracy.
● Reading Habit: Having or developing a good reading habit is essential. You can solve the reading comprehension questions accurately only by developing a good reading habit.
● Vocabulary: As such, vocabulary is not tested in this exam. But you might come across certain words that might be uncommon. If you read regularly, your vocabulary will automatically be taken care of.
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How To Prepare for GMAT Analytical Writing Assessment?
This section tests your analytical thinking and how you convey your thoughts in writing. Two types of essays might come in the exam: argumentative essay and issue essay.
In an argumentative essay, you must analyze the given topic and logically present your statements. In an issue essay you are expected to offer an opinion on the given issue, either for or against it.
In both types, you are expected to express your thoughts in a logical and structured manner. Your evaluation will depend on how well you can frame the essay and how clearly you can express your points.
To ace this section, you must regularly practice writing essays on varied topics. Try citing real-life examples to bolster your opinion in the essay.
Also, reading editorials and op-eds in newspapers can be particularly useful in understanding how you should explain your views in a logical and structured fashion for your essay.
Preparation for the GMAT Integrated Reasoning Section
In this section, you can expect questions based on analyzing data. The data might be given in a tabular form, graphs and charts or in a written form. You can expect the data to be given in multiple formats in the same set, for example a scatter plot might be coupled with tables or data in a written format.
Please note that this section is not computer adaptive and also has a calculator provided. The difficulty of this section is linking the different parts of the data to arrive at the proper analysis.
You can improve in this section by being exposed to various forms of representing data like bar plots, spider plots and pie charts. Extensive practice of these types of questions will eventually yield higher accuracy.
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How Many Mocks Should You Take Before GMAT?
The number of mocks needed depends upon your target score. To achieve a score of 700+, you should take 10 or more mocks with proper analysis. After taking a mock test, ensure you analyse your performance sufficiently. You should note your weaknesses and questions where you are spending a lot of time and try improving your weaknesses and solving those questions faster, which are taking you a lot of time. No matter how many mock tests you can take, ensure you reach your target score in the last 4-5 mock tests before the GMAT.
Peer Learning for GMAT
For an exam like prepare for GMAT, learning from your peers is important. It is important to have a peer group to gauge your preparation from time to time and post and solve questions amongst each other.
Join the GMATPoint telegram group to discuss your doubts and test-taking strategies with your peers who are also serious about the GMAT.
Final Note for GMAT Preparation
The key point to keep in mind in the GMAT is to solve questions quickly. Hence even while practising, you should solve questions in a timed manner. The best resource for practising verbal and quantitative questions is GMATPoint. Here you can practice topic tests daily for free in a timed manner, compare your scores with other test takers, and gain a fair understanding of your level of preparation in all the topics.
As a part of your GMAT prep plan, you can check out GMAT daily targets and the tools you need for each step along the way. The timed practice of questions daily and regular mock tests will ensure that you improve your skills and achieve your desired score at the end of your preparation.
If you are starting your GMAT preparation from scratch, you should definitely checkout the GMATPOINT