GMAT Preparation Tips and Advice
You Can Easily Increase Your GMAT CAT Score by 50 to 100
Points
Despite the official statements from the test-makers
at ETS (Educational Testing Service), you can improve your GMAT
score dramatically by simply spending some time becoming "streetwise"
about the GMAT CAT. Quite simply, this is the lowest-hanging
fruit of your preparation and should not be ignored under any
circumstances.
Keep in mind that the GMAT is a game and just
like chess, baseball, tennis, or any other sport, those who
know how the game is played have a huge advantage over others
who are ignorant of the game's idiosyncratic rules.
As a test taker, you should know:
- The computer-adaptive structure of the GMAT
- The types of exam questions asked and their
common fallacies
- How to manage your time wisely
The computer-adaptive structure of the
GMAT
The computer-adaptive test (CAT) version of the
GMAT is designed to get a more accurate assessment of your skills
while asking you fewer questions than its paper-based predecessor.
Here is how the test now works. The first question you will
see in a given section will be of average difficulty. If you
get the answer right, your next question will be slightly more
difficult. Conversely, if you get the question wrong, your next
question will be slightly more easy. This also means that the
software will ask you different types of questions in a rather
unpredictable order as determined by its algorithm.
You can not skip a question or go back to an earlier
question. Unlike the paper version, once you click the answer
confirm box, your answer can not be changed.
The types of exam questions asked and
their common fallacies
Examples and explanations of these can be found
in the individual component sections of the GMAT in this website.
We strongly encourage our clients to spend time learning these
before brushing up on their verbal and math skills.
How to manage your time wisely
Practice
The main way to master your GMAT time management
skills is through practice and the practice theme is one you
will repeatedly see throughout this website. We believe it is
very hard to overstate its importance. Therefore you are strongly
encouraged to take at least a few mock GMAT exams in the computer-adaptive
format and try to simulate the actual testing environment. (Refrain
from taking food breaks, engaging in telephone conversations,
etc. half way through a section.)
Spend adequate time on the first 5 questions
If you recall, we discussed how the GMAT CAT's
algorithm affects the difficulty of questions you are asked
based on your previous answers. The more difficult questions
are weighted more heavily than the easier questions. After you
have answered the first 5 questions, the testing software will
give you questions to fine tune your score within a rather narrowly
predetermined range. Thus, your answers to the first 5 questions
will make a HUGE difference in your final section score.
For this reason it is imperative that you answer
these pivotal questions with extra care. Always double check
your answers to these questions and verify that the incorrect
choices are indeed incorrect. If you are unsure of one of these
first questions, at the very least, take a very good educated
guess using process of elimination.
Don't waste time
This probably sounds self explanatory but we mention
it because we've had clients tell us how they revisited the
help screen or requested extra scrap paper after they began
their test. These activities, if undertaken once the section
has begun, will take time away from working on the questions.
Read the Questions Carefully
As silly as this may seem, the undisciplined test
taker will feel the stress of the clock during the timed sections
and will try to cut corners to save time however and whenever
possible. As a result, questions are often misinterpreted. We
will guarantee that you will encounter questions when you sit
for the GMAT with incorrect choices that were deliberately designed
to exploit a misinterpretation of what the question is really
asking.
Avoid Random Guessing
You must select an answer before the GMAT CAT
will allow you to move on to the next question. Even if you
don't know the answer, you will still want to take an educated
conjecture to avoid random guessing even if you are running
out of time on that particular section. Usually you will be
able to identify at least one choice that is clearly wrong.
Eliminating even one incorrect choice will improve your odds.
Eliminate the Deliberately Deceptive Wrong Choices
With practice, you should begin to learn how to
recognize the GMAT's deliberately deceptive wrong choices. There
are a few common patterns here that will begin to become apparent
as you proceed through your preparation.
The first is commonly found in the Problem
Solving section and involves an erroneous answer based on
following a common computational error. You can avoid these
deceptive choices by using scrap paper, checking your answers
and using estimation to at least judge the general size of the
correct choice.
Practice, Practice, Practice
As we stated at the top of this page, there are
tips and techniques to taking this test that will raise your
overall score significantly. As a result, this is a test that
you can prepare for despite what its test-makers state. We strongly
encourage you to practice using the actual questions from previous
exams as we have detected a material difference between the
quality of the test questions prepared by ETS and those written
by the GMAT prep companies. We also strongly encourage you to
practice taking the exam in its computer-adaptive format.
Finally, while we believe every test taker will
benefit by reviewing each GMAT exam section, we encourage you
to spend the most time studying and practicing questions in
your weakest subject area. This will provide you with the most
efficient use of your test-prep time.
Don't Wait Too Long to Take the GMAT
Should you need to retake the exam, you will want
to have time to register for the test again and have the new
score submitted to the school in time. Waiting a long time into
the admissions season to take the exam is also bound to cause
undue stress in most test takers. With some proper planning
and insight, you can eliminate most of these negative energies
and become much more focused on maximizing your GMAT score.
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