All CoursesEvery year, lakhs of management aspirants appear for GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test). The GMAT score serves as a key admission criterion for pursuing MBA/PGDM and similar courses in several reputed B-schools in India and abroad. In order to secure admission into a good management institute, you must aim to achieve a GMAT score of 700 or above. For this, you need to be aware of the following things before sitting for the exam:
1. Structure of GMAT Exam
GMAT is a 3.5-hour computer-based test that evaluates the candidate’s ability in four different sections – namely, analytical writing, verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and integrated reasoning. Every section is separately timed and comprises a fixed number of questions.
2. Marking Pattern in GMAT
Though the final GMAT score ranges between 200 to 800, each section in the exam is marked on a different scale. Both the quantitative and verbal sections are allotted scores on the scale of 6-51 each, whereas the analytical and integrated sections have a score range of 0-6 and 1-8, respectively.
3. Mode and Type of the Exam
Although the complete GMAT exam is computer-based, not all the sections are computer-adaptive. Two of its sections, i.e., verbal reasoning and quantitative reasoning, are computer-adaptive in format. Also, these are the only sections that are actually taken into account for the final score.
4. Validity of GMAT Score
GMAT scores are valid for a period of five years after the exam date.
5. Official Sources for GMAT Preparation
The GMAT conducting authority, GMAC (Graduate Management Admission Council), provides free eBooks for exam preparation and practice. These resources are available on the official GMAT site (mba.com) in the form of starter kits, sample tests, and handbooks.
6. Best Books for GMAT Preparation
Apart from the official guides, it is recommended that you learn about the fundamental concepts of each section from some of the popular GMAT books compiled by the experts. This will help you immensely with your GMAT prep.
7. Free Online Resources and Discussion Forums
Nowadays, there are a number of online education portals that extend free study resources for GMAT prep. These generally include website articles, videos, mock tests, previous year question papers, etc. Likewise, there are certain discussion forums specifically made for the GMAT aspirants where you can interact and discuss exam-related doubts with your fellow competitors. However, you must check the authenticity of these websites before relying on them.
8. Well-focused Study Plan
The foremost thing to ace any exam is to follow a disciplined preparation schedule. Most of the test-takers start their preparation 2-3 months prior to the exam date. Irrespective of whether you are a working professional, completing your graduation, or taking a gap for preparation, you must maintain a proper timetable to work up each section and topic of the exam syllabus.
9. Smart Tips to GMAT Preparation
An effective way to crack any exam is to invest time and effort in smart work along with hard work. For example, while preparing various topics, you can make short notes or flashcards for difficult formulas, words, and other essential concepts. These will come in quite handy in the revision phase of your exam preparation.
10. Rules of Exam Centres
You must acquaint yourself with the rules and regulations to be followed during the exam. For instance, you are not permitted to bring your own calculator to the exam centre.
Lastly, it is incumbent to monitor your progress and gauge your strengths and weaknesses by taking GMAT to practise tests regularly.
So, there you go, folks. That was our take on the ten resources you will need to ace your GMAT tests. Hope you found this informative. You can always check out CareerLabs for some advanced GMAT prep tutorials and resources.
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