The GMAT Preparation Guide

Of late a lot of juniors at BITS Pilani (:P) have been asking me about GMAT. So, to make things simpler for myself, I am posting everything I know about the GMAT.

About GMAT
Graduate Management Aptitude Test is conducted by the Graduate Management Admissions Council. The Test is a Computer Adaptive Test and is conducted throughout the year at designated venues. New Delhi has 2 centers and Jaipur has one.

GMAT Structure

• Analytical Writing Assessment: 60 mins
• Optional Break: 10 mins
• Quantitative Ability: 75 mins
• Optional Break: 10 mins
• Verbal Ability: 75 mins

Analytical Writing Assessment section tests writing skills and analytical thinking. You will have to write two essays: one on an analysis of an issue and one on an analysis of an argument. The section is scored out of 6 and the score is reported separately. A 6/6 is about 87 percentile and with effective use of flag words like firstly, secondly, therefore, in conclusion (a computer does the scoring and an overworked TA checks it) can help you max the section. Apparently, when you apply to MBA programs certain universities also look at the actual essays to judge your skills and not just the score.

Quantitative Ability section is a cakewalk for any BITSian. Since, the test is computer adaptive, get the first few questions right (more on this later). The two types of questions are regular problem solving questions and data sufficiency ones. I personally found data sufficiency questions to be very tough. However, with an alert mind even these questions can be tackled. I scored full on the Quantitative Section (even though it is not necessary that I got all the 37 questions right) with minimal practice. The concepts tested are usually 10th Standard level.

Verbal Ability section is the bug bear. It consists of 41 questions and has three types of questions namely

• Reading Comprehension questions are passages followed by 3-5 questions and are not very difficult. If you read the newspaper daily or are into reading books (not Sheldon and Archer), it should not be too difficult.
• Critical Reasoning questions are the simplest. The question has a statement and you have to pick an option that supports/strengthens/weakens/contradicts etc. the given statement.
• Sentence Correction questions are the toughest. However, GMAT is a very standardized test. The GMAT mostly tests you on one of the eight common errors (more on this later too)

How is GMAT scored?

This is a big mystery AFAIK. From what I know, all questions in GMAT belong to a particular score bin (not an official term, but will make it easier to understand). Now each score bin also has an associated increment/decrement.

When you start the test, GMAT assigns you a default score (say 500). All the questions you get are from the 500-score bin. Lets assume the associated increment or decrement as 50. If you get this question right, you move on to the 550-sore bin (and if you get it wrong, you move to 450-score bin).

As your score moves away from 500, the associated increment/decrement becomes smaller. Hence, the first few questions determine your default score and the later questions just fine tune your score.

It is imperative to get as many of the intial questions right as possible. It is wise to allocate more time to the first 5-7 questions in each section as once your score is pegged by these, your chances to salvage the test become minimal.

How to prepare for GMAT?

I used the following books

• GMAT Official Guide (best book to practice, its the official guide!)
• Princeton Review (good for sentence correction theory and the eight error types)
• Barrons (not so great)

I have heard Kaplan's 800 is a good book if you intend to max the test. I did not use it and hence can't comment.

For further queries, you know how to catch me :)