I learnt a lot of things from GMAT, and like most of the people who prepare for GMAT, I also thought of writing a success story once i finished my exam [hoping it might help/motivate someone].
My GMAT score is not a great score to call it a success [yet?] [neither is it low like my first time] but the preparation has taught me some valuable lessons, most of which are not new and have been written about and recommended many many times by a lot of folk on various online forums.
Among the many things i learnt one was about the way i learn: I learn best from myself. I decided to write my GMAT story a little differently by documenting my learning's into 5 categories
GMAT Quantitative
GMAT Official Guide 12 - Test Taking Strategies
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My GMAT score is not a great score to call it a success [yet?] [neither is it low like my first time] but the preparation has taught me some valuable lessons, most of which are not new and have been written about and recommended many many times by a lot of folk on various online forums.
Among the many things i learnt one was about the way i learn: I learn best from myself. I decided to write my GMAT story a little differently by documenting my learning's into 5 categories
GMAT Quantitative
- I make silly mistakes, because I am over confident & can get cocky at times.
GMAT quantitative is not difficult [its not easy either].
It is important to understand and study inequalities for good quantitative score.
Probability is only important if your quant average scaled score is above 47, else don't waste your time with probability.
If you are weak in Quant, seek help, don't be ashamed & afraid.
Learn to read the questions very carefully.
Pay attention to every word in the question.
If a question has "Integer" in it , think only about integers.
If a question doesn't mention number type [integer/fraction/decimal/real], it means the number could be anything, don't just check for integers.
Don't need to learn how to compute standard deviation, just need to learn how it varies when data set is varied.
Irrespective of your practice score level, learn how the plots of some simple functions look like [line, parabola, circle].
Learn how to use the given answers before jumping to solve the problem [it always helps!!].
Along with inequalities, if you learn to deal with absolute values, you are sure to improve your score.
If you make silly mistakes in math, they will increase in data sufficiency - pay more attention.
The Official Guide Math solutions are meaningless in many instances.
If you learn how to solve math problems using the official guide solutions, you will never complete 37 questions in the given 75 minutes, they are just too long.
If you do a lot of math in your head, instead of writing some steps down, change it NOW!
Writing down the given information and the solution steps, improved my score at least 2 points [I am pretty sure!!].
The Official Guide 12 has some good collection of reference material in the chapter 4 - Math Review.
You don't need to learn to solve unimaginably difficult problems to ace GMAT Math, just learn the basics and solve every problem in Official Guide.
You can get 10 questions wrong from the 37 and still get a 47-49 in quant.
If you get about 10 questions wrong in the first 20, you will be lucky to get a 40+.
- I am scared of English language in a testing environment.
NYTIMES is the best resource to help you learn GMAT like English.
You don't have to know grammar [in detail] to score well on GMAT.
The only way to improve GMAT reading comprehension is to start reading articles, preferably online.
For me, reading the complete passage before reading any question worked very well in Reading Comprehension [82% hit rate].
I never read the question stem, before I understood the passage in Critical Reasoning.
I don't think through completely while analyzing a Critical reasoning question.
Some Critical Reasoning questions are easier to solve when visualized as mathematical equations [~33% I think].
Critical Reasoning DO's: Read Carefully.
Critical Reasoning DO's: Understand Exactly.
Critical Reasoning DO's: Don't bring in your own knowledge of subject matter.
Verbal DO's: Elimination is a great strategy.
Verbal DO's: Consider all answer choices [especially if Verbal is your weakness].
Critical Reasoning DO's: Answer choice with "should" is wrong. [most of the times].
In verbal, I tend to assume, and wrongly answer questions based on my imagination, instead of what has been asked.
The negation technique works very well for assumption type questions in Critical Reasoning.
If you don't engage with RC & CR questions, they are super difficult.
It is important to understand why an answer is wrong more than to understand why an answer is right.
To rule an answer wrong, you only need to convince yourself.
I am pretty good at narrowing down the possible answers to 2 [almost always!].
I struggle picking the right answer from the last 2 [refer #20 above].
If you get about 12 questions wrong in verbal, you will end up with ~32-35.
I normally get 3-4 questions wrong at a stretch in verbal.
- Unlike something' s in life which you can be good at only if you are gifted [such as poetry, Olympic athlete etc..] GMAT aptitude can be improved over time with dedication, practice & improving confidence.
Don't fool yourself by thinking you will score a home run on the test day, if you have never scored one before in training.
There are a zillion ways to train for GMAT, before you start to prepare, identify how you learn best.
Official Guide[s] by GMAC is the best resource for GMAT preparation. Period.
Any other study aid is either supplementary to the prep or a sheer waste.
Unless you are very good at adaptive testing, give yourself at least 3 months to prepare for GMAT.
Study only from reliable resources.
When searching for explanations for Official Guide questions, I always referred solutions by Manhattan GMAT instructors.
Dr. Ajay Amar of AustinGMATReview is very good, and I have learnt a lot from him, sadly my verbal score doesn't reflect my learning's - Thank you Dr. Amar.
Yes I took a class for GMAT preparation.
I decided to not read a lot of explanations online for OG questions I was not sure of, not sure who was writing them, and not sure how true they were.
Get an exam date while studying, and make sure you study around that time of the day to develop stamina.
GMAT CLUB & BeatTheGMAT are awesome resources, the stories [both success & not so successful - like me] helped me learn.
Minimalistic approach is good enough for GMAT, as long as you understand the important topics to cover.
GMATCLUB Iphone app is awesome to track Official Guide question times & statistics.
Learn to think positive, even if you are not doing well on practice questions.
It is important to learn from your mistakes & make an effort to not repeat them.
When online bloggers and other write about error log and its importance, they are not kidding - error logs work & are needed, especially if you want to break 700 barrier or get close to it.
Some of the people who report success stories do so to market or propagate a specific agenda - use judgment.
I spent ~about 3 hours on AWA, some very good resources available online. I scored a 5.5/6 both times.
- GMAT preparation is a journey, filled with learning's.
GMAT is not a skill test.
GMAT is a test of applying a few skills well.
If you don't do well in the GMAT its not the end of world.
If you don't do well on GMAT, it doesn't mean your are dumb or stupid.
GMAT preparation is a journey, filled with learning's.
Learn to focus -for at-least 75 minutes at one stretch.
I never made an effort to pace myself [my score reflects it!]
BTW I am a perfectionist , but I learned the hard way that you cannot be a perfectionist for GMAT.
Lessons learnt the hard way stick with you.
I spent a lot of time studying, but most of the time the longest break free sessions were only during the practice tests.
I distracted myself a lot by referring to a lot of material. A big NO NO!!
I realized [again] my attention span is very limited.
You need patience to make improvements, it doesn't happen overnight.
I need to make my own strategy, what work's for X will not necessarily apply directly to me.
GMAT Official Guide 12 - Test Taking Strategies
- I wish I read these long ago!
PS pg 150: Pace Yourself.
PS pg 150: Use the erasable notepad provided.
PS pg 150: Read each question carefully to determine what is being asked.
PS pg 150: Scan the answer choices before attempting to answer the question.
PS pg 150: Don't waste time trying to solve a problem that is too difficult for you.
DS pg 268: Do not waste valuable time solving a problem.
DS pg 268: Consider each statement separately.
DS pg 268: Judge the statements in tandem if neither statement is sufficient by itself.
DS pg 268: Answer the question asked.
DS pg 268: Be very careful not to make unwarranted assumptions based on the images represented.
RC pg 356: Do not expect to be completely familiar with any of the material presented in reading comprehension passages.
RC pg 357: analyze each passage carefully, because the questions require you to have a specific and detailed understanding of the material.
RC pg 357: Focus on key words and phrases, and make every effort to avoid losing the sense of what is discussed in the passage.
RC pg 357: Read the questions carefully, making certain that you understand what is asked.
RC pg 357: Read all the choices carefully.
RC pg 357: Select the choice that answers the question best in terms of the information given in the passage.
RC pg 357: Remember that comprehension - not speed - is the critical success factor when it comes to reading comprehension questions.
CR pg 484: Read Very carefully the set of statements on which a question is based.
CR pg 484: Identify the conclusion.
CR pg 484: Determine exactly what each question asks.
CR pg 484: Read all the answer choices carefully.
SC pg 656: Read the entire sentence carefully.
SC pg 656: Evaluate the underlined passage for errors and possible corrections before reading the answer choices.
SC pg 657: Reach each answer choice carefully.
SC pg 657: Try to determine how to correct what you consider to be wrong with the original sentence.
SC pg 657: Make sure that you evaluate the sentence and the choices thoroughly.
SC pg 657: Read the whole sentence, substituting the choice that you prefer for the underlined passage.
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