How to score 700 plus in GMAT

Are you frustrated with your job??.
Has your career hit a ceiling and you foresee no major growth opportunities??.
You want to be an MBA so that you can land up with a high paying job??.
You are planning an MBA so that you can land up with a managerial job after passing out??.
You want to add extra qualification, skills or create a network??

These are a few of the reasons that come in the minds of people (including me) planning an MBA.

So a thought of doing an MBA has come to your mind because of above reasons and that's why you are planning to take GMAT test, the scores of which is accepted by many reputed B-Schools across the globe.
I am writing this post to share my GMAT experience with people who can also become my future batchmates.

What is GMAT??

The first step in the preparation obviously would be to Know about GMAT . In GMAT only one question is visible at a time and one cannot move to the next question without answering the current question on screen, also the question once answered can't be viewed again hence the response to the question can't be changed.
The difficulty level of the next question will be determined by responses to the previous questions. The more difficult number of questions you answer the higher the final score will be.

What are the areas tested on GMAT??
AWA (Analytical Writing Assessment)- 2 essays.
You will have 30mins for each essay.
Maths- 37 questions to be completed in 75mins.
English-41 questions to be completed in 75mins.
order of appearance on GMAT--- AWA -Argument, AWA-Issue, Maths, English
P.S The time left in a section will not get carried forward for next section.

What type of questions are asked??

In Mathematics section two types of questions are asked PS, DS. In English section three types of questions are asked RC,CR and SC. To know more about the types of questions and to get a first hand feel of them download the free GMATPrep software from official mba.com website and try the practice questions. Two essays in AWA section Argument, Issue.

Where do I stand right now??

Take Diagnostic Test 1 (after completing practice questions in all areas) to gauge your level and get a first hand testing experience that you would encounter on G-Day. Leave Diagnostic Test 2 for future when your preparation level is good.

Is GMATPrep a reliable indicator??

Questions in GMATPrep software are retired GMAT questions hence a good performance may not be an indicator of actual performance and a low score also should not discourage you as the test was given without any preparation.

Why shoud i use GMATPrep when it may not be a reliable indicator.??

Because it is the official GMAT software and gives you the look and feel of actual GMAT screens that you will see in on G-Day. Also you can read instructions in advance and can skip instructions and save energy on G-Day. It will also give you an idea about the difficulty level of past GMAT questions. Nobody knows the scoring algorithm of GMAT. GMATPrep being the official software hence the scoring algorithm can be fairly accurate.


Analysis of GMATPrep Diagnostic Test 1

The most important thing to do while preparing for GMAT is to do a thorough analysis of GMAT practice tests that you will take. Go through all the questions and see how many you got correct.
Go through all the questions you got correct and see how many were "GUESSES" and make a note of question numbers. Try to rework those questions and solve them to arrive at an answer with proper reasoning. If you cannot then note down the question numbers for which you can't find any explanation so that later on after doing some preparation you can come back and solve those questions again.
Repeat the above for all wrong questions as well.



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How to score 700 plus in GMAT

Material Needed
Books:
Official Guide 12th edition
Kaplan800
Manhattan SC,CR
These are the bare minimum i would say one needs.
With above purchases you will get Kaplan and Manhattan tests i.e 4+6 respectively.
GMATPrep is free. so you have 12 tests.

Other Good Books:

Kaplan GMAT Math Workbook
Kaplan GMAT Verbal Workbook
Princeton Cracking the GMAT
Princeton Verbal Workout
Princeton Math Workout

Critical Reasoning

A small paragraph describing a few facts or argument would be given followed by a question.
We are supposed to find the answer choice in accordance with the facts/argument presented without making any assumptions.

Sentence Correction

A sentence with an underlined portion or an underlined sentence would be given followed by 5 answer choices. We are supposed to find the correct answer choice. Option A is the original sentence without any change.

Reading Comprehension

In Reading Comprehension a passage will be given and one is supposed to answer 3-5 questions after reading the passage. The screen is divided by a vertical line into 2 parts, one part containing the passage the other containing the question. Hence the passage is visible while answering RC questions.Generally a question can be of following types:

Factual Question
Tone of passage
Author's Intent
Inference drawn from passage
Support/Weaken an argument in the passage
etc. etc.

Data Sufficiency

In data sufficiency you will be given some date (not necessarily) followed by a question.

Two statements (A) and (B) would be given providing further data to answer the question.

We have to determine whether we can answer the question from the data given. WE DON'T HAVE TO FIND AN ANSWER, WE JUST HAVE TO DETERMINE WHETHER WE CAN ANSWER THE QUESTION OR NOT. The question would be followed by 5 answer choices, each answer choice stating a possible combination of statements (A) and (B) needed to answer the question. We have to determine the right combination.





Steps to solve a Data Sufficiency question:

1) Use statement A and see whether the question can be answered or not.

2) Use statement B and see whether the question can be answered or not.

3) If any one of A/B is sufficient but the other is not then mark the corresponding answer choice,

if each statement A and B is sufficient then mark the corresponding answer choice.

else struck the 3 answer choices and goto step 4

4) Combine the data of statements A and B and see whether the question can be answered or not.

5) Mark the corresponding answer choice from the remaining 2 options.



P.S: The knowledge to topics mentioned in PS section is necessary to solve DS questions.

Problem Solving

In this problem solving area in Mathematics section there will be a problem statement and a question asked. We are supposed to find an answer to the question asked from the data given.

Few common mathematics topics tested on GMAT are:



Number System

Permutation and Combination

Probability and Statistics

Co-ordinate Geometry (straight lines and circles)

Ratio and Proportion

Time, Speed and Distance

Averages, Mixtures and Allegations

Simple Equations

Quadratic Equations and Progressions

Time and Work

Percentages

Profit, Loss and Discount

Inequalities