7 tips to do well in GMAT

After I gave my GMAT a lot of friends came to me to asked how I scored so much. I think everyone has his own unique style of studying and something that might work for me might not work for you but still here are few things that might help you. Have a look and see if they might work for you.

Here are the 7 tips to score high in GMAT.


1) Do and Redo the OG - As I have mentioned in my previous posts, doing OG again and again( in a period of time) will help you to get tuned to the questions that are asked. Also you will be doing the questions that have already come in GMAT so you would have a fair amount of idea of how exactly you need to approach the questions.

2) Don't expect a pen and paper for rough work - Some people believe that they would get a pen/pencil and a paper. In fact even I wasn't aware of that. You actually get a marker and a square checkered sheet having 5 leaflets. So be aware of that and don't panic when there is some deviation with the settings in which you gave your mock CATs.

3) Maintain an error log which can help you trace your errors. - This is really helpful. You continuously practice questions and commit errors. Unless you maintain it somewhere and keep referring it on time to time chances are you will repeat those same mistakes. So whenever you find a good concept or commit an error, enter it in your error log. In this way  in a month or so you would have a notebook which will have lots of key concepts, referring that will help you improve your accuracy over time.

4) Give mocks as if you are giving the real test - Don't skip AWA. The thing is GMAT is a long gruelling exam. During the end you will find it hard to concentrate. So boost your stamina by giving as many CATs as you can in the same setting. Don't smoke in between(unless you can in the exam center as well), Don't take breaks more than the allotted time. In this way you will be preparing yourself to face the same thing as in the real GMAT.

5) Don't try to score a 800 - When I was at my last leg of the preparation I really wanted to break all the barriers and at least try to score a 800. It backfired. The reason why it backfired was because when you try to score a 800 you want to do every question right. There is a good chance that that wont happen and you would get stuck in a couple of questions. When it happens you lose the hope, you start thinking that you have already lost the battle where in reality you might be hovering around 750 mark! So don't try that. Try to solve every question but when you are not able to take an educated guess and move on.

6) Focus on your weakness but don't ignore your strengths. - I made this mistake. I worked 90% of my time on verbal and not much on QA. I did get a 50 in QA but if I would have given some extra time I think I would have got a 51 and might got a 760 overall. At least work on some key things. For example if your QA is strong there would be some areas like probability statistics etc you might be weak in. Work on them and improve in those areas as well.

7) Have some breaks in between - I mean chill out. Don't let GMAT get to your nerves. My GMAT was one 16th July. The previous weekend I had one of the best weekends with friends. It helped in releasing the tension a lot which ultimately helped me score well :)

I might add some more when I remember some more :)