GMAT 2024 Preparation Tips: How to Prepare for GMAT Exam?

Preparing for the GMAT test takes time and sincere efforts. You can prepare for the exam in six to eight months or it can be 3-4 months depending on your practice and ability. You need to give consistent efforts to get a good GMAT score. Make sure that you understand the GMAT pattern and syllabus before you purchase any study material. You must start with the GMAT official study material and then move on the other standard resources such as the Manhattan Prep guides. You must also appear for GMAT mock tests every week to gauge your progress.

Once the applicant decides to give GMAT exam, he or she should first understand the time that will be taken for GMAT preparation. The GMAT exam preparation varies with each applicant, and some applicants may need more time while the others may not. Once the applicant is completely sure of the fact that they wish to appear for GMAT, they should begin their preparation. The preparation for GMAT exam should be timely divided and applicants should identify their strategies first. 

Yes, GMAT exam preparation is quite time consuming and requires a lot of precision in terms of applicant's understanding. The sections on GMAT are four in total and each section has a certain set of question type that are targetted in a timebound manner. Applicants have to time their preapration for GMAT because there's lots to cover based on syllabus and pattern. Plus for some the Quant section may be challenging, while for others the Verbal Reasoning section may be challenging. Based on the difficulty time should be allocated for GMAT preparation for individual sections and holistically as well.

GMAT's Quant section preparation can be tricky for some applicants. The main aim is to test the applicant's analytical reasoning plus how they can analyse data and consequently draw conclusions. The strategy to target these type of questions on Quant section of GMAT shoudl ideally require applicants to time themselves, understand the strong and weak points plus work on them, most importantly practice as much as possible and finally, have your own shortcuts and tricks to solve lengthy questions. 

Candidates need an appropriate strategy to score a perfect 805 in the GMAT Exam. Before start preparing also decide what a good GMAT Score (according to you) is, and then prepare accordingly. The best way to prepare for GMAT is as follows:

• To begin with, applicants must first understand the structure of the GMAT exam.
• Understand what kind of questions are tested and then proceed with GMAT preparation.
• Take mocks to assess skills tested on GMAT exam and then ready your preparation.
• Practice more and more to get agrip on the GMAT preparation.
• Candidates can also go through previous GMAT Sample Paper which will help them in preparing for the GMAT exam.

The Verbal Reasoning section preparation on GMAT exam requires applicants to focus on their reading abilities, comprehension of the given context of questions and reason their answers based on arguments tested in this section. There are three question types targetted in this section namely - Reading Comprehension, Critical Reasoning, and Sentence Correction. In order to tackle these questions, applicants will have to focus more on their practice and regular reading habits. Discussions will also help applicants understand different perspectives and contexts. 

There are various sources available online where one can get useful study material to prepare for the GMAT test. Following are the sources where one can study and prepare for the GMAT for free:

• Official GMAC site (mba.com): Here, you can get tips to prepare for the exam and free GMAT practice tests as well
• Manhattan Prep: It offers free GMAT online prep tools that are very useful for the candidates preparing for the GMAT exam
• Veritas Prep: It offers free GMAT lessons and free tools that will come in handy while preparing for the exam

Although there are a lot of sources available online to prepare for the GMAT exam, however, candidates can access free GMAT practice tests on the GMAC site (mba.com). They need to download the GMAT prep software and create an account and get GMAT practice tests. Make sure that you solve the practice tests provided by the GMAC. These will provide you with a near real-time feel of the GMAT and will help you gauge the level of your preparation. Once you complete a GMAT mock test, it is essential for you to analyse your performance in that GMAT practice test. You need to work on your weak areas based on your mock test analyses.

To prepare for the GMAT exam, applicants can use the following study material:

• Start with the GMAT Official Guide (GMAT OG).
• You may also opt for the GMAT Official Guide Bundle. The reason for starting with the GMAT Official Guide is that you need to be aware of the previous years’ GMAT questions and the official GMAT study material. Hence, make sure that the GMAT Official Guide forms the base of your preparation.
• Also, The Princeton Review,  Manhattan Prep,  Kaplan books,  Khan Academy and Veritas also provide useful prep material.

Apart from this, you can also check out our GMAT Preparation Plan for 4 weeks.

One can take the GMAT practice test anytime, however, make sure you take the exam in the same way as you are going to take the real test. If you are going to attempt the Writing section first then do the same in the mock tests as well. Do not take extra time, and complete the test in one sitting. With every subsequent GMAT practice test and its analyses, you will come up with certain strategies (whether they are related to certain topics or sections); make sure to try those strategies in the next GMAT mock tests. Analyses of the GMAT mock tests is as important as the mock itself.

Candidates should start doing free GMAT practice tests right from the beginning of their preparation. Even if they do not score well, they must appear for full-length mocks. GMAT mock tests will help them analyse the level of their preparation and will help them develop question-solving skills. In addition, once you are finished with your complete preparation then you should do a free practice test every 3-4 days before the real test. GMAT mock tests are the most important aspect of your GMAT exam preparation. Moreover, just giving a mock test is not important; you must analyse your performance in that test to understand your weak areas.

GMAT tests different skill sets like the ability to think critically, ability to analyse data and draw conclusions using reasoning skills. So, one needs to develop these skills to get a decent score in order to get admission to their dream B-school. The best way to develop these skills and score well on the GMAT is to practice the official study material multiple times and appear for as many GMAT mocks as possible. Once you have completed the official GMAT study material, you can move over to other GMAT books such as the Manhattan prep GMAT guides.

There is a lot of GMAT study material available online which you can access and start preparing. Those who do not want to go for coaching/tutoring can study at home and can prepare for the GMAT test on their own. Make sure to prepare a sound strategy to prepare effectively. Do not leave the official GMAT study material at any cost. You must complete it at least twice. Prepare short notes as you study; these will aid in revision. Also, give practice tests once you are through with the preparation. It is always better to understand your weaknesses and work on them.

Getting a perfect GMAT score i.e. 800 is not at all easy and not many test takers achieve this feat. Out of almost 2,00,000 test-takers annually, only a handful of candidates are able to get a perfect GMAT score. With consistent efforts and perfect strategy, one can get a good score; however, getting a perfect score is quite difficult. Students need to understand that a good GMAT score does help in their application; however, it is not the only criterion of your admission application. Other documents such as a Statement of Purpose, admission essays, etc. are equally important. Hence, you must focus on these documents as well.

Candidates are not allowed to bring their calculators; however, they are provided digital calculators with basic functionality for the Integrated Reasoning section. Rather than depending on a calculator, candidates must increase their speed. The best way to do this is to visit CAT and Indian Banking exams’ websites. Students can find the best possible tricks to increase their calculation speed on these websites. Moreover, it is advised that the students memorize tables till 20, squares till 30, and cubes till 20. Your goal should be to increase your speed without compromising your accuracy.

The GMAT test might be easy for those go prefer logical problems instead of Geometry as there are more Geometry questions in the GRE. In addition, the Quantitative section is harder in the GMAT in comparison to the GRE. The verbal section in the GRE can be difficult for non-native English speakers. Candidates can go back and forth in the GRE test, whereas in GMAT one doesn't have the freedom to save and return to each section during the exam. The decision to choose a test for studying abroad depends on various factors such the course requirement, university requirements, current level of preparation, comfort level with the exam pattern, etc.