Your Guide to GMAT Preparation
The Graduate Management Admissions Test (Yes, that’s what GMAT stands for) is designed specifically for students interested in applying for MBA or graduate business schools, in India or abroad. Before you start preparing for the exam, it is important to understand the purpose and significance the GMAT test comes with. Critical thinking and analytical skills are the most desirable skills here, and therefore, knowing how to think logically will take you a long way as opposed to simply mugging up things.
Overall, there are four sections within the exam that tests a student on various parameters, all in a precise time span of 210 minutes. So what are these sections? Quantitative multiple-choice sections, verbal multiple choice section, integrated reasoning, and one written essay. To understand the structure of the exam better, let’s look at the sections in detail:
GMAT - A BREAK-UP AND ANALYSIS
SECTION 1- Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA): This section consists of one 30-minute essay. It measures your ability to think critically and communicate ideas after analyzing an argument. To put it shortly, the section tests you on your comprehension skills as much as writing skills.
SECTION 2- Integrated Reasoning Section: The 30-minute Integrated Reasoning section consists of 12 questions that measure your ability to analyze and synthesize data in different formats and from multiple sources. Watch out for this tricky one, because unless your fundas are clear, acing this won’t come easy!
SECTION 3- Quantitative Section: The 75-minute Quantitative section consists of 37 questions that measure your ability to reason quantitatively, problem-solving skills, and interpret graphical data.
SECTION 4- Verbal Section: The 75-minute Verbal section consists of 41 questions that measures your ability to analyze texts, draw inferences, and convey meaning effectively in English. This is one section where scores always remain unpredictable. So the possibly best, and the only way to crack this is with practice.
GMAT - THE PREP BEGINS AT PICKING THE RIGHT HELP RESOURCES
According to the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC), nearly 2/3rd of applicants start preparing for the GMAT around six months before taking the exam, and about 1/3rd start preparing three months before taking the GMAT.
Whether you want to join GMAT prep classes or take the self-study route, the choice is really yours but you must be accompanied with smart planning. GMAC, the council that administers GMAT exams has its own official study guide and a free software to help students prepare for the exam. You can also find countless books, resources and study plan to crack GMAT on the internet. Given below is a list of resources that you absolutely cannot afford to miss out on:
The Official Guide for GMAT Review - This guide includes questions from previous years, to help you decide where you should focus your efforts. It also has test-taking tips and strategies students should use while taking the test.
Free GMATPrep Software – In addition to 90 practice GMAT questions it also contains tools to make your own practice set and a guide to the GMAT quant section. This software works great for students as it also preps you on the format as well as the kind of questions you’d see in the actual examination.
Manhattan GMAT Strategy Guides - The guide is a set of 10 books which provides a comprehensive overview of all topics seen on the GMAT. They are designed to provide a substantial learning impact for students by helping them work on the comprehension, skills, and strategic thinking that the test usually revolves around.
Kaplan GMAT 800: Advanced Prep for Advanced Students - What can you find in this book? Tips for test taking, proven strategies for getting a perfect score of 800, and focused guidelines for tackling each question type, all combined for the ideal preparation tool for the most ambitious of students.
GMAT- THE TIPS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Your preparation should start with taking a mock test, so you know how much practice you require to reach your target score.
Familiarize yourself with the exam. Before taking the exam, it’s better to know where you stand- and attempting sample papers are a great way of analyzing your preparation status. It's a computerized test, so the familiarity or comfort level grows considerably with each session.
It is advisable to build a daily schedule of 2-3 hours every day as opposed to reserving long hours far and in between. Most of the students who crack GMAT with high scores also stated they split their preparation over the week instead of concentrating it over the weekends.
While practicing make sure you’re keeping the atmosphere around real time. A calculator will be provided during the Integrated Reasoning section only, so do not use a calculator while solving any other section during practice.
It’s always a good idea to start the preparation with easy questions and topic as the rate of interest and the concentration will increase with each solved problem. It is the easiest way to boost your confidence.
Talk to people who have recently taken the exam and it would be super helpful, just like the post-viva interview sessions with your friends in school days.
GMAT - A REMINDER
Once you have scored well and got admission into your dream college, now you got to think about the expenses of B-School and living abroad. Approaching a bank could help but not everyone can negotiate with your typical financial lenders to get the lowest interest rate on the loan amount. This is where Credenc comes in- to help you through the entire loan process and even beyond, that too without any service charges. Credenc provides a single window platform where students can compare the interest rates of different banks and NBFCs. And it doesn’t stop here. Credenc also negotiates with banks on your behalf to ensure the lowest possible interest rate so students get the best loan offer without even going to the bank.
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