[转帖]转贴！看看人家印度人是怎样考GMAT

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GMAT Debiref - 6++ to 7++ -by thattai

February 17 2008 - General News

By: master

This is going to be a little long, so please bear with me. What appears below is what i learnt from my preparation, this might or might not work for someone else.

Background: 32 Yrs old, engineering graduate mathematically inclined and have lots of issues with focus.

First attempt: As always, i considered i could slay the beast, so took GMAT with about 2 weeks of preparation in pieces from here and there and never timed myself for much of anything. The results clearly show that it was an effort in futility.

Second attempt: 3 weeks preparation. Score top, Manhattan for SC, the 1000's, sets and question

GMAT is a test of accuracy, speed and alertness. Most importantly, it is alertness. I have a serious problem with sitting down for 4 or more hours doing anything, let alone sitting for an exam. So, if you happen to fall under the same boat as I, start preparing to make yourself sit down and have mock test and yes that includes AWA too.

Pointers on all else but preparation material:

(1) Understand the GMAT exam. Not just the concepts or question types. GMAT is built to test your alertness. Accuracy comes from how alert you are. Especially after having spent 4 hours already on the computer. Questions that you would independently crack in the middle of the night will test your basic comprehension abilities during the exam.

(2) Figure out a strategy. Every question in GMAT is built on a pattern. The test makers work consistently and diligently to prepare right and wrong choices. It is narrowing down patterns that is going to go a long way in getting a good score.

(3) Accuracy and then timing: During practice start with getting the concepts right. It is as important to know why something was right as it is to know why something was wrong. PoE is your single greatest weapon in GMAT. After a point, the PoE should be so internalized that as you read the question you begin to figure out the possible options that are going to show up. Of course this comes only from practice and come it will.

(4) Mock tests with AWA: I wish i had done this myself but i did not have the luxury of time with work and other demanding obligations. Every mock test that you take should include the AWA and spend the hour allocated to write your draft. Firstly you helps you get warmed up and most importantly, it tests your alertness at the end of verbal. This was my undoing. I could not concentrate after 3 hours regardless of how much i tried. Once you begin to analyze your scores at the end of such an ordeal it will begin to show what your weak areas are under pressure.
I scored exceedingly well in my first section all the time regardless of whether it was math or verbal but the second section suffered. GMAT always has the verbal to come after Quant. Added to that misery is 41 questions in verbal under the same time.

(5) Warming up: It takes me a little while to get warmed up. I needed a little buffer to commit my silly mistakes and to get into the zone. So if you fall prey to the same issue, do warm up questions before heading into the real exam. If this scares you, try the OG. Safe, effective and fun

Preparation material:
Bed rock of your preparation:
   (a) OG official : Getting the answer right is not the issue here. Understanding why it is right and more importantly why the other choices are wrong is crucial.
   (b) OG Verbal and Quant: Same as above.
   (c) Manhattan for SC: Spidey notes, Psahil notes. In my opinion, SC should be the most important piece of the preparation. Firstly, if you are from india and have had formal education in english, rest assured your english is reasonable. However, this is the devil in disguise. I used to study rules but still go by what sounds right. GMAT SC works on PoE. One must understand why something is wrong and not go by what sounds right. Some idioms are learnt by experience but apart from that, "what sounds best" is just a strategy for failure. SC done right could be a huge time saver. This time could be used for battling those tangent RCs that GMAT throws at you.

(d) RC: I have seem a lot of strategies for RCs, read first sentence, read the whole passge, read slow, read fast-- none of these really worked for me. The only thing that really worked for me was to understand what was being said. I always become an active audience in the passage. This makes me recognize multiple people, makes me remember contexts, organization, passage flow etc.

(e) Math: Math is a beast onto itself. I put a majority of my effort on the verbal and still scored less than quants. I did all problems in Sets, question, OGs. I did not see 1 repeat problem from question either in Verbal or in Quant. questions are extremely helpful but dont rely on the fact that something is going to show up from the pool. If it does, you are in good luck but prepare for the worst.

D-Day:
Important considerations:
(1) Prepare to get some food and store it with you. GMAT is a five hour beast and you need food to replenish your brain. So i took some coffee[a mistake], some candy bars[good idea], gatorade etc. Coffee gives you a high which is followed by a low after an hour or so. Not a good idea when you brain is at its fastest.
(2) Exercise helps immensely in releasing endorphins essential for various brain functions. Memory storage is enhanced both by adequate sleep and by exercise. So exercising and sleeping well will help you more than burning midnight oil. It helps in internalizing the concepts. So, i woke up, went for a run, had a good breakfast, relaxed a little bit, slept and went for my exam at 3:00 p.m

(3) Use both of the 10 min breaks. Just taking your eyes away from the PC helps. Walk out, grab a candy bar, think of something unrelated. Please no hang overs. Regardless of how much you think you know GMAT, thinking about the last section and how you did is NOT going to help you in the next. Every question deserves only 2 min and nothing more. So dont carry over the emotions from one question to the next or from one section to the next.

(4) Be Alert: Remember GMAT is a test for alertness. Motivate yourself. Its just a pattern recognition exam. Yes, math is a little different. But verbal is just a test for patterns. Simplify it in your head and keep good cheer.

Took the exam, could not answer 2 verbal and 2 quant. Just ran out of time. Not even random guesses. I wish i threw in some guesses atleast. But got a 700+ score, so i call it quits