9 Tips to Make Your GMAT Preparation More Effective?

Making a successful GMAT preparation plan is very important after you have decided to take the GMAT Exam. There are some common problems like time management, starting preparation late, not following the defined schedule that most of the students face. Here are some preparation tips on how you should go with the Preparation process.

The examinees must think about it way before time and chalk down the right time to start preparing for the GMAT exam. Losing motivation during the course of preparation is natural in such cases just because one has not set aside ample time for daily preparations. finding adequate time for GMAT is difficult but necessary.

GMAT is a higher order thinking exam, avoid making such mistakes put shorter time into effort but keep it intense by not getting carried away by excuses and social engagements.  Most of the students would require about 10 weeks time to be prepared for the exam. So, let us have a look at some best practices to make the GMAT exam more effective. 

Sadly, there are no shortcuts for high GMAT scores. The only way to improve is to study effectively and smartly. None for your specific error patterns and weak areas. Dedicate time to identify and work on this.

Related Topics: GMAT Exam Updated Syllabus

How much time is required to prepare?

It is advisable that you take at least 51 hours to study before you appear for exam. More test-takers who have studied for more than 50 hours tend to score better. This would mean that if you want to improve your score, you need more time to spend on GMAT. According to a research, if you intend to get better at least 150 points then you must spend at least 150 hours for preparation. 

This is going to be hard and time-consuming but only a very few students improve to this extent. A tutor may be able to help you with the plan and process saving you a lot of study time. Depending upon your own capabilities, and personal circumstances you may assign less or more of your time. Whatever time you decide to put, it is equally important to focus on the quality of time spent.  Ineffective and inefficient hours cannot improve your scores.

GMAT Preparation: What makes it harder?

If you have already spent a lot of time studying for GMAT and made all the necessary upgrading, it may be harder to improve more. So carry on with practicing more in finding the errors you’re making and correcting them. But if you have not devoted much time, find out ways to a smart preparation plan.

GMAT Preparation – 9 Ace Tips You Need to Keep in Mind

1. Set a Target

   Set a target and create a study plan to fit your personal needs. Switch on to a diagnostic practice GMAT test to understand where you stand and how much to improve. Post that invests some time looking at the MBA programs list of class profile that is published by institutes each year. The list will have GMAT scores and GPA criteria for next years’s students. Whatever is the highest average GMAT score from your targeted list of business schools, set your own target at a 30 point higher score. This helps you make your mind up for the next step.

2. Stick to a Routine:

   Normally, the students get easily distracted from the routine and make mistakes moving away from the set plan. Focus on the weak points that you noticed while you took the diagnostic test. Chalk out a detailed plan and target to be achieved in each week.  Having a carefully planned plan will allow you to measure your steps forward.

3. Use GMAT Preparation Resources

   The preparation material is very important for an effective GMAT score. These materials have practice questions. These are sample test papers that will give you the content, difficulty levels, and format of the GMAT exam. You may be able to design the right approach to attempt the exam with the help of these papers. Use computerized adaptive format. The most popular test papers will be those written by the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC). These will be quite near the real GMAT.  This will give you a fair idea about the format of exam.  Understand the various sections, timings, and types of questions to be able to effectively score well.

4. Practice Your Pacing

   Time is an important factor in the GMAT. Not being able to complete one section in time will get you to rush through the next sections leading to unnecessary mistakes. If you feel that the time is short to complete the test, work on pacing drills. Normally a sentence correction takes around a minute to finish so set your timing goals accordingly.

5. Review Math Concepts:

   Brush up with concepts of trigonometry, algebra, statistics, probability, and geometry etc to do well. Make sure that your concepts are thoroughly covered so that even the complicated questions can be correctly answered. Track down on the concepts that may need more of your attention for improving the scores.

6. Work Towards Completing Calculations In Mind:

   Practice calculating in your head and develop this skill because you do not have access to calculators during the test. Another tip is to try rounding and substituting calculation by using easier digits. You can strengthen this competence by trying to do all the daily life calculations within your head.

7. Learn Grammar:

   Your grammar is checked with sentence correction questions in GMAT verbal section. Learn the grammar rules thoroughly. There are some commonly made errors and GMAT tests you in different ways for correction in such sentences.  With each test that you take you will notice the error types and you will be more familiar with the tricks used in questions.

8. Read Comprehensions

   The GMAT Test contains short and long passages related to subjects, social sciences, the humanities, law etc. Practice towards an efficient reading skill to improve in verbal section. Regularly read materials from The Atlantic, Nature, and The New York Times to summarize them revising the key points. Set the time limit to read the comprehension passages given in tests.

9. Practice Outlining:

   On the analytical writing assessment (AWA) section, make an outline and plan your way of presentation. This will help you write an organized and interconnected essay. Secondly, there will be lesser chances at the end of those 30 minutes time that you will forget to put across your ideas and lay down all the points that you had in mind.

Also Read: GMAT Exam Eligibility Criteria

GMAT Preparation: Techniques to Develop Deep Focus

For a better focus one needs to train your brain. In order to plan your GMAT study you need deep focus and zero down distractions. Focus is the key to success for preparation of GMAT tests. Even the brightest students tend to move out of track and face problems like lack of concentration during preparation days.

To boost your concentration apply a few strategies to your to-do list.

1. Studying with distractions reduces performance, so do not switch between tasks while studying. Stop thinking about unfinished tasks during your preparation time to perform well. Make schedule for study, make efforts to identify environment for deep study. Consider that time as an important meeting schedule and commit to that time without distractions.


2.  Learn to resist boredom so that you do not have to consistently struggle to stay focused. Resist yourself from picking up your smart phone and stick to what you are doing. This will improve your concentration span.


3. Try to be actively present by giving attention to what you are doing. If your mind diverts, then bring back the attention to the task in hand. This of course is challenging but it will build the habit for longer concentration spans. GMAT preparation requires a genuine hard work; consequently when you get engaged in deep studies, you tend to get tired fast. Yet one feels accomplished after each study session when you are able to meet the goal of the day. Engage in deep study and efficiently prepare for the exam.  It actually takes time and effort to inculcate the practices, but having achieved it successfully, you will see the results arriving quickly.


4. Since the long hours of preparation gets you depleted easily, self care is an important engagement that you must consider and proactively make time for yourself. Over stressing leads to overall negative attitudes, therefore whatever is your target GMAT score, assign time for doing things that you enjoy doing. Put down everything during this time and recharge yourself.

Finally, do not kick off your GMAT prep, start today and improve your score.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Topics:

• CAT vs MAT
• CAT Exam Previous year Papers
• Group Discussion Topics with Answers