In case you are planning to join a good business school or your further studies, then you must think of giving the GMAT. Most of the business schools have made GMAT a necessary part of the admission process and scoring well in the test will increase your chances of getting in. But it can get a bit confusing when you think of starting the preparation. You will be thinking where to start, when to start, how to effectively prepare for it. The demands of the preparation for GMAT can be pretty overwhelming. But if you get the right kind of guide and you know how to begin, then you will be destined for success.
When
The first thing that you need to know is how much time you will need to prepare the whole syllabus of GMAT. To have the best preparation you should start studying at least 5 months before the test if not more. As the syllabus is huge you need to start early on to have a proper understanding of it and you also have ample time to practice the test. You can take GMAT live prep online. Practice tests are going to help you a lot as GMAT is a very time restrictive test. Most people who have a good grasp of the while syllabus are not able to perform well because they don’t have good time management skills. You can start a bit slow and then in the last 3 months you need to really pick up the pace. You need to put in 10 hours of study time in per week.
After figuring out when to start you need to prepare a good study plan and implement it so that you have the best kind of preparation possible.
Steps for preparation
- Your first step is going to be learning the format of the test. With your early prep time you need to get as familiar with the format of the test as possible. This seems quite simple, but you need to ensure that there won’t be any surprises on the test day. Being nicely acquainted with the format will also reduce your stress on the main day when you give the exam. Familiarise yourself with all the different sections of the test and the type of questions that come in each section. You also need to be aware of what exactly the questions are asking from you.
- Next you need to analyse all your strengths and weaknesses. They will be apparent to you when you take your first practice test. In GMAT live classes you will be told that you need to work harder on your weaknesses but also regularly brush up on your strengths too so that they remain your strong suit.
- After figuring out all the weaknesses you have you need to decide which fundamental skill of yours you need to improve. The GMAT has a few different sections that include different types of questions and you need to know how to answer them in the most efficient manner.