GMAT Prep Home - My GMAT Preparation

Learn about my GMAT prep strategy that got me a 780 Score
and how it can benefit YOU.

My preparation strategy

One point to remember here is that most of the questions In the Power prep Tests

(Now called GMAT prep with

the ownership passing from ETS to Pearson Vue) are

repeated In the Official guide for GMAT review 11th

edition.

So I took the tests first and went through the Official guide towards the end of my

preparation.

GMAT Sentence Correction

From the first test (what I call the diagnostic test), I had identified Sentence Correction

as one weak Area experts

recommend reading books like Wren and Martin to get your

SC up to speed. However you can afford that luxury

only if you have a couple of months

In hand.

What I did instead was identify about 20 kinds of SC problems that the GMAT presents,

and focused on these.

Most of these are around basic sentence structure, clauses (both independent and

subordinate), subjects and

tenses. The majority of the questions though are around standard rules like misplaced modifiers, parallel

structure, subject-verb agreement etc.

GMAT Quant

Even though I am an Engineer by education, I found the Quant Question, especially

towards the end, quite

baffling. They were nothing of the sort I had practiced. It is here

that I lost the 20 points for the perfect 800

score!!

I think most of the books available In the market today do not offer you enough ‘Tough’

problems In

Quant, the kind you need to score In the high nineties.

You should try the GMAT math club for really tough ‘real’ problems around math.

I am also planning to put some Math test papers on this Web site soon.

GMAT Reading Comprehension

If you find RC as your weak area, I would recommend reading ‘How to Read Faster and

Better’ by Norman Lewis.

(This is available at Amazon.com).

There are 4 RC passages In the GMAT, mostly on different topics like Science, History,

Arts, Society etc.

Depending on you background, you will find at least 1 or 2 very easy.

(e.g. In my case, with my engineering

background, they were the science passages).

It makes sense to get familiar with other topic that you do not normally come across In

your job.

The strategy I used was to read the passage quickly to get a rough idea of what the

topic was about, and then

to read bits required to answer each question again.

You are likely to find at least one question about the ‘Central Idea’ of the passage, so

the first quick read helps

here.

For the other questions, you are likely to know which bit of the passage to read again,

so this strategy usually

works quite well.

GMAT Critical Reasoning

My core strategy around this has been elimination. Of course this is only for the tough

ones that come when you

are cruising along at the 90 percentile level!!

You can find detailed strategies for each of the above sections of the GMAT in my e-

book,

What I studied for My GMAT Prep

My first step was with PowerPrep –This should really be the first step In your GMAT

preparation. This contains

the real ‘retired’ GMAT questions from past years.

In the first practice test I got a 690. Went through all the answers, right or wrong, with a

fine tooth comb to

identify which areas I needed to focus on.

If you expect a score of 700+, the questions here will seem to be easier than in the real

GMAT. The reason for

that is this software has only a limited number of ‘Tough’

questions compared to the actual GMAT.

GMAT Course / Books that I followed

The Official Guide –

If you have to read only one book for the GMAT, this is the one!!

I used this to brush up the areas that I found myself weak In from the initial Diagnostic

test.

You should thoroughly read all explanations to understand why an answer is correct

and another one wrong.

Kaplan GMAT verbal and Math Workbooks

to go over some of the basic material

that I identified I needed

brushing up.

Princeton review verbal work out

This is supposedly good for Verbal prep, but I think the Kaplan book offers better

insights.

Princeton CD

Has one of the best AWA explanations In the market. Quant is good but most of the

problems

are below the

Real GMAT level.

However, other than the full length test, there are very few problems to practice with.

Kaplan CD

Good for Quant and In general you score is likely to be less than In the real GMAT.

I got a score that varied from

680 to 730 In these tests.

Books to Avoid for your GMAT prep

Baron

– You can read the reviews on Amazon if you don’t believe me!!

Arco

– Has nothing to add on top of what you get from Kaplan/Princeton and Official

Guides.

My GMAT Exam

The D Day Experience

I did not study or take any tests on the penultimate day. Just went though some quant

formulate and SC rules

that I had jotted down.

Do not know anyone who has not felt some pangs before the actual test. Thankfully the

first section is the AWA

so that helps calms the nerves and gives some time to may be

take a rest break if you need one!!

Remember, during those tense hours, any rest break is on your own time!!! So it is

best to take it if you finish one of your sections before time.

I was confident of getting 700+ but did not exactly know how much I would get till the hit

the ‘Button’.

Most people who get In the 700+ bracket would have had to take some guesses. I did

too and was quite nervous.

In Reality when I finished the test I was wondering whether to cancel it, a question that

crosses many a mind!!

Fortunately I did not do that and was quite shocked to see a whopping score of 780!!!

GMAT Tutoring

Is it worth the money?

Introductory Courses

I am a staunch believer In Self Study. Most (though not all, especially quant!!) of the

concepts tested In GMAT

are around the High School level.

However, if you have been out of touch with basic Quant and English for sometime, it

does make sense to go In

for an introductory two day course.

I have personally taken these two day refresher courses In various parts of the world

and I think it does help In

giving perspective students a good idea of what they are In

for.

However, the important thing is to do serious preparation on your own after you have

done such a course.

Private Tutoring

This does help!!

(How can it not when I myself do it part time!!)

However, In order to get the best out of your money (you won’t get too much time with

your tutor!!), it is best to

clearly identify you weak areas and inform your tutor about

them so that he/she is sufficiently prepared.

When I do private tutoring, I normally send my student detailed background information

on the topics so that

they can get the maximum out of the session.

I think Private Tutoring should be treated more as an exception for things that you find

too difficult to understand

rather than for doing the whole course.

Based on my own GMAT experience, and the experience of scores of other GMAT

winners, whom I happened to

teach, I have written the '

', an

invaluable book for anyone aiming

to ace the GMAT.

GMATPrep Home - My GMAT Preparation

Learn about the common GMAT pitfalls and how to avoid them
How can the free content of this site benefit me?
Learn about my strategy that got me a 780 score
Read about how the Winners do it. First hand!
All GMAT formulae and Probability/Perm/Comb in one book
Why did I choose INSTEAD over Harvard and Stanford