What not to do in the gmat. - Learn from my story - I got 620.
Hi folks,
This is my story, how the gmat beat me. Dont make the mistakes I made..
1) I did every question in Kaplan 800, Kaplan Math workbook, Kaplan Verbal, Princeton Review Verbal, Princeton Review Math,
Official Guide ( orange ), Official guide supplements ( purple & green ), All seven of Manhattan series subject guides.
- over a period of 4 months. I pretty much got burn out. I had an obsession of doing every question available so that I was mentally prepared to face any question the gmat
threw at me.
* Wrong Plan. Dont do that. Focus on your weaknesses. After a certain point, if you know a particular question pat down, move on and work on areas your scared of.
2) I only did 3 or 4 practice tests. Spread out sporadically and between paper and computer format.I should have done alot more.
* Do alot of tests on the computer. It is way different than the paper format. When you have to analyze sentence correction grammer on a screen, compared
to looking at it on paper. I think even the math questions, the computer format, you have to be alert, pro-active and quick. You kinda get lazy when its paper/pencil practice.
3) When you take the test, do not rush yourself, just for the sake of finishing the test on time. Take your time and answer questions properly. Give each question a legitimate shot. I rushed into the quant section and really i guessed on a few questions.. and answered for the sake of finishing on time. Towards the end. I had like 10 minutes left.. with nothing to do.
4) Verbal - Be prepared to get some verbois reading comprehension. Be fierce and dont get bogged down in some arcane science passage. Where you just want to kill yourself and reading through that BS is so painful. Tough it up. Focus like a laser. answer the question and move on. I did not. I was'nt strong like that.
5) Take all your ten minute breaks. And also you get like small 30 second and 1 minute breaks between sections. Just relax and breath during those too.
6) Truly focus on your timing in math and shortcuts.. you should know 3 different ways to solve any quant problem. You cannot be unprepared for quant on test day, trying to find new ways to solve problems during the test. It takes too much time. Because i did not have stronger fundamental math skills. I was perplexd on some math questions, in retrospect, I realised i could have solved some of them with more time.
8) Hire a math tutor or join some sort of class which offers tutoring, if you have specific problems you cant deal with. If you have a weakness- WORK ON IT. dont ignore it.
cuz it will come back to haunt you.
9) Watch out for absolute inequality questions, co-ordinate geometry questions, word problems that have algebraic expressions all over them, exponent questions.
All these required subtle math skills with precision and timing. The ability to translate complex tricky questions into a simple solution.
You must be able to manipulate numbers for this test like no other. I could not.
10) Be calm during the test. Dont worry about finishing it. If you look at the big picure. if you put in 3 months on the test. what is 4 hours. nothing. be strong. do not think of anything else besides the next question. I did not. I was dreaming of stupid stuff, i was distracted.
11) I recommend taking a practice test like twice a week. To buld your stamina and your confidence. Just doing alot of questions wont help.
12) OG is probably the best guide. But certain sections of certain books are also good. I should have focused on some of them too.
Like SC manhattan guide is good for the grammer rules.
Word Problem guide by Manhattan guide is good if your weak on translating word problems.
Some Science passages from GMAT 800 for Cr are decent.
Basically work on different books whichever suits your weakness. OG is obviously the best, but these additional guides are useful in specific ways. dont go overboard and do everything available on the market.
13) My score was 620 ( M 38 V 34 )
I wish all of you the best of luck, i will figure out what to do from here.
Hi folks,
This is my story, how the gmat beat me. Dont make the mistakes I made..
1) I did every question in Kaplan 800, Kaplan Math workbook, Kaplan Verbal, Princeton Review Verbal, Princeton Review Math,
Official Guide ( orange ), Official guide supplements ( purple & green ), All seven of Manhattan series subject guides.
- over a period of 4 months. I pretty much got burn out. I had an obsession of doing every question available so that I was mentally prepared to face any question the gmat
threw at me.
* Wrong Plan. Dont do that. Focus on your weaknesses. After a certain point, if you know a particular question pat down, move on and work on areas your scared of.
2) I only did 3 or 4 practice tests. Spread out sporadically and between paper and computer format.I should have done alot more.
* Do alot of tests on the computer. It is way different than the paper format. When you have to analyze sentence correction grammer on a screen, compared
to looking at it on paper. I think even the math questions, the computer format, you have to be alert, pro-active and quick. You kinda get lazy when its paper/pencil practice.
3) When you take the test, do not rush yourself, just for the sake of finishing the test on time. Take your time and answer questions properly. Give each question a legitimate shot. I rushed into the quant section and really i guessed on a few questions.. and answered for the sake of finishing on time. Towards the end. I had like 10 minutes left.. with nothing to do.
4) Verbal - Be prepared to get some verbois reading comprehension. Be fierce and dont get bogged down in some arcane science passage. Where you just want to kill yourself and reading through that BS is so painful. Tough it up. Focus like a laser. answer the question and move on. I did not. I was'nt strong like that.
5) Take all your ten minute breaks. And also you get like small 30 second and 1 minute breaks between sections. Just relax and breath during those too.
6) Truly focus on your timing in math and shortcuts.. you should know 3 different ways to solve any quant problem. You cannot be unprepared for quant on test day, trying to find new ways to solve problems during the test. It takes too much time. Because i did not have stronger fundamental math skills. I was perplexd on some math questions, in retrospect, I realised i could have solved some of them with more time.
8) Hire a math tutor or join some sort of class which offers tutoring, if you have specific problems you cant deal with. If you have a weakness- WORK ON IT. dont ignore it.
cuz it will come back to haunt you.
9) Watch out for absolute inequality questions, co-ordinate geometry questions, word problems that have algebraic expressions all over them, exponent questions.
All these required subtle math skills with precision and timing. The ability to translate complex tricky questions into a simple solution.
You must be able to manipulate numbers for this test like no other. I could not.
10) Be calm during the test. Dont worry about finishing it. If you look at the big picure. if you put in 3 months on the test. what is 4 hours. nothing. be strong. do not think of anything else besides the next question. I did not. I was dreaming of stupid stuff, i was distracted.
11) I recommend taking a practice test like twice a week. To buld your stamina and your confidence. Just doing alot of questions wont help.
12) OG is probably the best guide. But certain sections of certain books are also good. I should have focused on some of them too.
Like SC manhattan guide is good for the grammer rules.
Word Problem guide by Manhattan guide is good if your weak on translating word problems.
Some Science passages from GMAT 800 for Cr are decent.
Basically work on different books whichever suits your weakness. OG is obviously the best, but these additional guides are useful in specific ways. dont go overboard and do everything available on the market.
13) My score was 620 ( M 38 V 34 )
I wish all of you the best of luck, i will figure out what to do from here.
