Learn about my GMAT prep strategy that got me a 780
Score and how it can benefit YOU.
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, Ways of the GMAT Winners
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 'Ways of the GMAT Winners', an
invaluable book for anyone aiming to ace the GMAT.
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, Ways of the GMAT Winners
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 'Ways of the GMAT Winners', an
invaluable book for anyone aiming to ace the GMAT.
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