Effective Test Strategy for GMAT

If you are a GMAT student or have taken the test earlier, you will quickly realize that the examination is about endurance, as much as it is about skill. The exam teaches you to be sharp, dedicated and focused. All your skills are tested during a small 3.5-hour window, and therefore, the importance of an effective test-taking strategy cannot be undermined and will affect on your GMAT exam total marks.

A key question is how to actually develop an effective test-taking strategy; here are a few pointers that might help you develop yours:

1. Know yourself:

   Every individual is different, and with this comes the multitude of test-taking strategies, but we will try and streamline this and point out a few things that everyone must be aware of. An individual must leave aside his or her arrogance and move towards a system of consistent analysis of oneself.

In order to analyze yourself, try taking a GMAT test; do not read much into the results of these tests and get arrogant or under-confident about yourself. The test is to help you understand the different subject areas that are going to be tested and your overall grasp of these areas.

2. Understanding of the different subject areas:

   Remember that during the test, there is no set order in which the questions will appear. This randomness might be onerous for a lot of test-takers. A prudent test-taker is aware of this very fact and prepares to tackle the ‘switch’. Constantly switching among sentence correction, reading comprehension and the different types of critical reasoning questions is a tough ask, but this is exactly the ability that is being tested.

3. Once you know your strengths and weaknesses, planning your exam strategy with respect to the subject area will become easier.

4. Time-based preparation:

   Once you are confident about the different subject areas, move onto time-based analysis. Time sensitivity is extremely crucial, yet is ignored by a large chunk of GMAT test-takers. Analyze the amount of time you take per question; make sure that you average the time taken for a series of sectional tests.

5. GMAT Simulated Tests:

   After you have dived deep into the GMAT, and you are confident about your timing; the next step is to start taking simulated tests. These tests are available on the official website. These tests should be used to execute your defined strategy, developed through your preparation for GMAT exam total marks. The tests will serve as a stepping stone to your score. Practice tests are absolutely essential and must not be ignored. Systematic evaluation of the tests. The time is taken to solve tests and the key weak points must be done.

6. GMAT – The Test-day:

   An important aspect of the test day is to treat it as if you are writing another simulated test, which means that your simulated testing environment is important. Take every simulated exam seriously so that you are extremely comfortable with the timings of the different sections, the breaks between the sections and the other formalities associated with the GMAT exam total marks.

That’s it from us; for a methodical approach to tackling the GMAT and other queries, do contact us and we will be more than happy to help you with the intricacies of the exam.

All the Best for your Preparation.

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