GMAT Exam Preparation Tips To Ace Your GMAT Exam

GMAT or Graduate Management Admission Test is one of the most recognisable admission tests accepted in the world for aspiring MBA students who want to enrol in a graduate management program. The test streamlines the requirements of the schools by providing a standard test for all applicants. It is recognised, and forms part of the criteria by some 1000+ universities and colleges in different countries.

The admission test is composed of four parts - analytical writing, quantitative, verbal and integrated reasoning and would usually last three hours. The passing average for GMAT takers is 540; however, most business schools, especially the top 5, would be more selective with the students that they accept and would generally accept those with high combined verbal and quantitative scores.

For those who are planning to attend the top business schools or want to enrol in a graduate program, here are some GMAT preparation tips that would help you be more focused and achieve a high GMAT score.

Get to Know GMAT

It is important for test takers to familiarize themselves with how GMAT works. Since GMAT is time bound, it is essential to know the structure of the whole test. The whole GMAT is made up of the following sections:

Analytical writing - 30 minutes, 1 essay (scored separately)
Integrated Reasoning - 30 minutes, 12 questions (scored separately)
Quantitative section - 1 hour and 25 minutes, 37 questions
Verbal Section - 1 hour and 25 minutes, 41 questions

Prepare for the Exam

Once you familiarise yourself with the structure of GMAT, the next best thing to do is to prepare for the exam. There are two options that test takers can take - do a self-study or enrol in a test preparation center. GMAT exam preparation handbooks are available from universities as well as bookstores, which are more affordable for those who are on a tight budget and want to do a self-study. Another option is to enrol in online testing sites, which is a new and popular way of reviewing since it is more affordable and flexible as well as ideal for those individuals who are working.

During your study or review session, it is best to learn how to take test with constant distractions around you. This would be helpful once you take the test proper as tests are not given simultaneously altogether so there are chances that those arriving for the test might distract the ones who are already taking the test proper.

Don't Waste Time

As mentioned above, GMAT is time bound so it is important that test takers should be conscious of the time they are spending in the tests. A countdown clock is available in all testing centers as personal watches or time clocks are not permitted in the testing center.

Another thing about the test is that it is computer adaptive, meaning that the scores are determined by the answers provided by the test taker. The difficulty level of each question is based on the previous question answered. Remember that difficult questions are worth more than the easy ones and as one cannot review a question or go back, it is best to give more time to the difficult ones than the easy questions.