GMAT 101.com

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Prerequisites: The motivation to learn.

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Objectives:

Forget what the Educational Testing Service (ETS) has said, your GMAT scores can be greatly increased by knowing a few simple things. This is the easy part of preparing for your GMAT CAT and should not be skipped.

All mental tests are in a sense a game. And winning in any game, is determined first by understanding the rules. This is how you win.

You need to know what the computer-adaptive structure of the test means to you, what kinds of questions will be asked and the common myths about them, and how to best manage your time while taking the test.

1. The computer-adaptive structure of the GMAT CAT

Okay, the words computer-adaptive test (CAT) sound scary, but all they mean is that your computer will ask you questions based on your answer to the previous one, lowering the total number of questions you have to answer. So the test will give you a beginning question of average difficulty. Get it right, you move on to a harder question. Get it wrong, get an easier question next. But the computer also uses an algorithm, which means you will be asked different types of questions in a different order than the clusters of questions on the written GMAT and on other tests you have taken in the past.

In this format, you cannot skip or go back to answers so each of your answers is final.

2. Types of questions

You can find question explanations and strategies in each component section on our website. We encourage our web site visitors to study each of these question types before prepping their math and verbal skills.

3. Time

In every timed test, managing the few moments you have for each problem is crucial. The only way to develop time management skills specifically for the GMAT is to practice taking the test. It will also benefit you tremendously to take it in an environment like you will take the actual test, without breaks, food, conversation or other distractions between sections. Be sure to take the mock GMATs several times.

Now, when you are actually taking the mock (or real) test make sure to spend enough time on the first seven questions. This is important because of the algorithm mentioned earlier. At the beginning of the test, the computer is initially deciding determining the appropriate range of difficulty. Then later question difficulties will only be determined inside the range, and the higher range of difficulty, the more likely you are to earn a high score on the test. So do well on the first seven questions.

Be very careful and be sure to double-check your answers to these questions. If you are not completely sure, at least use processes of elimination to make a guess with a higher likelihood of being correct.

Leave enough time to finish the test no matter what. Testers who do not finish a section of the GMAT are penalized severely. Not answering the last five questions can knock you from a 70 percentile score to a 55 percentile. So remember, that incorrect answers will hurt your score, but not as much as unanswered questions will.

A few other things to remember to save time:

1. Read each question carefully because test-designers have traps for those who don't.

2. Never guess randomly. Instead eliminate as many wrong answers as you can and then guess.

3. After practice you will be able to see patterns of wrong answers and be able to avoid them.

4. Practice the test, and work hardest on your weak areas.

5. Don't ever wait until the last minute to practice or to take the GMAT.