How to Prepare for GMAT exam - Complete guide

Thinking about how to prepare for the GMAT exam? For succeeding in this prestigious test that will help you study abroad at leading management universities and colleges abroad, scores of at least 650 are vital out of 800. This is possible with proper planning and strategies. GMAC is the organizing body behind the GMAT, which is a computer adaptive test held regularly throughout the year. The exam can be taken online as well as offline. On that note, here are some useful GMAT preparation tips worth keeping in mind. 

How to Prepare for the GMAT Exam- Vital Pointers

Here are some helpful pointers that will be of immense assistance if you’re wondering how to prepare for the GMAT exam. 

• Learn carefully about the sections contained in the test and create the study blueprint likewise. It has four sections and the total duration of the exam is 3 hours and 7 minutes. 
• Start your preparation well in advance. Aspirants should have a clearly defined plan that is spread out properly. 
• Get hold of all preparation materials online for the examination along with offline study resources as well. There are countless options available in this regard. 
• Make a note of the fact that this will be a test with a limited time frame. Hence, one should seek to develop specific skills which will be useful while appearing for the same.
• Zeroing on weaknesses and working suitably on fixing them, ensuring that they do not impact overall performance in the full examination is important to do well in this exam. 
• Practicing regularly will help you achieve more perfection and once you are done with your preparation, you should check out sample test papers likewise. This will help you get a clearer picture of your preparation levels. 
• Read newspapers, magazines, novels, science journals, and other published material to engage with diverse forms of content and enhance your vocabulary.

Top 10 Study Tips to Prepare for the GMAT Exam 2024

Here are some handy study tips that will aid your GMAT exam preparation.

• Chalk out your GMAT study plan at the outset- MBA and business degree applications come with several aspects including LORs, resumes, essays, and a lot more. Make sure you chalk out your GMAT study plan early on without having to juggle the two simultaneously. 
• Understand the test sections and integrate them into your routine- One of the best practices for GMAT prep is to understand the structure of the test, the four main sections, and what they contain. You can do this by using the GMAT Official Starter Kit + Practice Exams 1 & 2 which is free. 
• Choose study materials with care- Make sure you select only the best and most effective resources for your GMAT study plan. You can use the Official materials which have the same algorithms for scoring as the real test. 
• Start working on your weaknesses- One of the key GMAT test prep components is finding out your weaknesses by using the GMAT Official Guide Series. Evaluate your results and build a targeted plan where you can work on these areas. Take the GMAT Mini Quiz and this will give you an idea of an achievable target for yourself. 
• Time management matters- You should track your time carefully while preparing for the GMAT. Pacing yourself correctly is the need of the hour. Keep working through the four timed sections to prepare better for the actual test. You can try adding the Practice Exams 3 & 4 after finishing 1 & 2 which are free exams. The former are available at a reasonable rate. 
• Never get stuck on any question- Keep in mind that there are penalties for not completing every test section. Every unanswered question means a potential reduction in your score. Don’t worry about answering each question correctly and do not spend more than 2 ½ minutes per question. 
• The elimination process matters immensely- Don’t waste time when you see questions where you are not confident about the answers. Rule out wrong answers to get nearer to the correct solution. Select the best out of the choices that remain and shift to the next question. 
• Visual literacy is essential- You can ideally prepare in a way where you master what is known as visual literacy, or your ability to quickly understand charts, symbols, and tables. Knowing how to swiftly interpret this data will be a vital skill. 
• Mental math improvements- One of the biggest time-saving hacks is to practice your mental math abilities. Try not to use the calculator each time you take a practice test and try doing it in your head instead. Over time, you will get the hang of it. 
• Advanced Questions are worth considering- You should push your preparation limits further with the GMAT Official Advanced Questions. There are almost 300 curated tough questions from earlier examinations and an online question bank for building personalized sets for practice. 

GMAT Study Material

You can consider purchasing the Official Guide 2024-25 which has various tools required by aspirants, or even the Official Practice Questions. This will contain several hundred additional questions that will help you ace your preparation strategies. 

The Official Practice Exams are full-length tests that are scored with the same algorithms and match the format of the actual examinations. This will be a great way to ensure that you are exam-ready. Some other resources include preparation books and online resources. 

GMAT Preparation Books

There are several preparation books that you can consider as well. Some of them include the following: 

• Manhattan Prep- All the GMAT Bundle, 7th Edition 
• Kaplan- GMAT Prep Plus
• GMAT Official Advanced Questions 
• Manhattan Prep- GMAT Foundations of Math, 7th Edition
• Manhattan Prep- GMAT Advanced Quant, 3rd Edition
• Kaplan- GMAT Math Workbook, 10th Edition 
• PowerScore- GMAT Critical Reasoning Bible 
• Manhattan Prep- GMAT Foundations of Verbal, 7th Edition 
• The Critical Reader- The Complete GMAT Sentence Correction Guide 
• Manhattan Prep- GMAT Integrated Reasoning & Essay, 7th Edition
• Manhattan Review- GMAT Analytical Writing Guide, 6th Edition

Free Study Material for GMAT

There are several free study materials that you can use as well. Some of them include the following: 

• Free Official Starter Kit + Practice Exams 1 & 2
• Ready4GMAT
• Manhattan Prep GMAT App
• GMAT Math Flashcards and GMAT Idiom Flashcards
• Bloomberg GMAT Tutor
• GMAT Toolkit 2 (iOS)
• Exam Proctor by TestMax
• Veritas Prep
• Magoosh
• GMAT Tutor
• MBA.com

How to prepare for GMAT exam- Subject-wise tips for aspirants 

You should adopt a more proactive approach towards successfully tackling the subjects of the GMAT examination. 

Study Tips for Quantitative Section – 

This is one section that contains 31 questions and the time limit is given for the section is 62 minutes. While you are practicing, you should cover all questions linked to solving problems and data sufficiency. You should aim for finishing the examination within 55 minutes and keep the remainder for checking unsolved questions and revising your answers. You should aim to memorize mathematical formulas used for these topics for enhancing overall speed. Make sure that you keep practicing both difficult and easy questions with a view towards covering the full syllabus for GMAT. 

Study Tips for Verbal Section – 

If you were thinking about how to prepare for the GMAT exam, know that acing the verbal section of the examination is important. 36 questions need to be completed in 65 minutes. This section will test the English language usage and skills. For the Verbal portion, enhance your skills with recommended grammar books and make sure to read editorials in newspapers. This section will have numerous topics like critical reasoning, reading passages, correcting sentences, idioms, antonyms and synonyms, and verb-subject agreement. Make sure that you are covering all these essential topics while you are preparing and get hold of various guidebooks since your analytical and reasoning skills will be tested.