If you're
taking the GMAT, you might be aiming for a total score of 700 or above. A 700+
score can open doors to many top schools, distinguish you on applications to
slightly less competitive programs, and provide opportunities to earn MBA
funding from merit scholarships.
However,
according to data from GMAC, those are the makers of the GMAT, only 12% of GMAT
test takers score 700 or above.
So how can
you get that coveted 7 at the beginning of your score? In this article, we'll
go over the top 9 tips for cracking 700 on the GMAT, including general
strategies for every test taker and more specific strategies based on common
issues.
Tip number one: Be Realistic.
If you're
trying to boost your score by a hundred points the night before the test, you
probably aren't going to be successful. Good GMAT study takes time.
Similarly,
if you've done a lot of study so far and already improved your score by a
significant margin, you're going to have a harder time improving your score
even further than someone who just learned what Data Sufficiency means. Know
what’s a good score means for you and for the schools that you're interested
in.
Tip number two: Be Consistent and Intentional.
Like we
mentioned before, you can't cram for the GMAT. 10 hours of study spaced out
over 5 days is more effective than 20 hours of study in 2 days. Aim for
consistency and repetition of concepts to help your brain make the connections
it needs. Make study goals based on accomplishments, not on time-spend. For example,
rather than saying, "I'm going to study for an hour", a better goal
would be "I'm going to take and review 20 Data Interpretation practice
problems."
Tip number three: Use the Best Materials.
There are a
lot of GMAT materials out there, but not all of them are good. You want to make
sure that you're studying the right skills, the right traps, the right
difficulty, and even the right phrasing for the real GMAT test. Official GMAC material
is the best for this. We highly recommend using the free GMATprep software for
practice tests. If you need more practice, be sure to pick material that is
up-to-date and accurate to the test itself.
Tip number four: Focus on High Quality Study
Over High-Volume Study.
Taking a
practice test or drilling practice problems is a good prep, but the most
effective prep comes afterward, when you carefully review the problems you
missed, skipped, or guessed on. It really isn't useful to drill more problems
if you're just going to make the same mistakes all over again. If you make a
mistake in your study, your next goal should be to figure out:
Individual
tutoring with a GMAT expert can be incredibly helpful for doing this kind of
analysis. However, if you're self-studying, GMAT-focused forums and online
communities are a great resource for explanations of problems that you are
struggling with.
Tip number five: Practice Self-Analysis.
Pretty much
everyone has patterns. To study effectively, you need to figure out what your
patterns are. If you don't, you'll often end up focusing your time and memory
on things that aren't important for you to study and missing things that are. Test
study is not one-size-fits-all. As you study, keep track of what kinds of
questions you're missing and why you're missing them. A superficial analysis
like "Critical Reasoning is hard" really isn't going to do you a lot
of favors, but something like "I get tripped up by passages without
obvious transition words or wrong answer choices that focus on misreading of
the text", will actually get you somewhere. To do this, you need to think
like a test maker. With a lot of effort and the support of free resources, you
can often do this kind of diagnosis on yourself. But if you're still struggling
to pinpoint and improve your weaknesses, get help.
Tutoring
and some personalized programs can help you build the kind of study plan that
will work best for you and no one else.
Tip number six: Prepare for Test Day, Not Just
the Test.
A really
common thing that I hear from students is that they do well on practice tests,
but then on test day, everything goes wrong, and their score plummets.
So what
happened?
Students
often neglect to prepare for test conditions in addition to test material. It's
critical to get used to standard testing conditions. For example, in your
practice, you should time yourself, you should practice doing the whole test in
one sitting, do the test on a computer, don't use a calculator, etc. This will
make sure that nothing throws you off on tests day. This kind of study can also
help you practice managing your testing anxiety and keeping calm under test
conditions. Be sure to take steps the morning of the test (like doing a few
practice problems, eating a good breakfast, and taking a quick walk) to make
sure that you're at your best when you start.
Tip number seven: Put the Right Amount of
Emphasis on Time Management.
The key
here is "right amount". Not too much, not too little. On the test, you
don't want to spend too long on each problem, but you also shouldn't rush. You
don't want to lose track of time, but you shouldn't let the timer distract you.
I recommend calculating exactly how many minutes you get per question, per
section before the test. Then on test day, keep this in mind, and check on your
progress only every few problems. Similarly, keep the same balance in your
study. Doing entirely timed practice will hurt your learning, but you shouldn't
let it slip through the cracks.
Tip number eight: Don't Let the Adaptive
Structure of the Test Get in Your Head.
A lot of
test takers feel paralyzed by hard problems because they know they only have
one chance to get them right. They especially get worried about the first 10
questions because someone on the internet said that those are the most
important. Then if they get an "easier" question next, they get
distracted thinking about how they "must" have missed the previous
question. This kind of thinking is a really great way to waste time on the
test, and based on some serious misunderstandings about the GMAT.
First, the first
10 questions thing is a complete myth — don't buy into it, and don't let it
distract you.
Second, you
can miss a lot of questions and still get above a 700 on the GMAT. For example,
when i took the GMAT, I missed about seven questions across verbal and quant,
and I ended up with a 770.
Finally,
what you think of as an "easy" question might not actually be an
"easy" question on the test.
Turns out,
you might be a better Solid Geometry test taker than the average person who
takes the GMAT. The big takeaway here is don't try to figure out the algorithm.
It's a waste of time. Do your best on the problem you're working on and then
move on.
Tip number nine: Give Yourself a Break and
Guess.
A lot of people aiming for top GMAT scores are perfectionists, but perfectionism is the enemy of a high GMAT score. Like we discussed, you can miss quite a few questions and still end up with a high score. In fact, not finishing a section is much more detrimental to your score than missing a few questions. A couple quick tips on guessing:
And those
are our top 9 tips for cracking 700 on the GMAT! If you have any questions, on
what we talked about, please contact us and we'll be happy to respond.
Good luck!!
-Prepcenter-
