15 min guide to the new gmat
TRANSCRIPT
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15 minute GMAT primerEverything you wanted to knowabout GMAT but didnt know
who to ask!
Contents
About CrackVerbal
CrackVerbal the MBA experts
Why is GMAT so important?
The GMAT test structure
The GMAT scoring &
algorithm GMAT preparation strategy
The CrackVerbal approach
#306 HOUSE OF LORDSSt. Marks Road
Bangalore 560001Email: [email protected]
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However the real reason why you need to take thetest is because:
1. B-Schools need to have an objective measure/criteria which will make it uniform across al
countries, universities and GPA systems.
2. GMAT is an important factor in the B-School rankings so for the same reason you would prefer a
school with a higher GMAT score - the schools want a higher GMAT score from you.
3. It is a nice objective number that has a tangible quality to it. It is hard for me to compare work
experience or quality of education. But a GMAT score gives a nice 3-digit number to compare 2
students.
4. Most top Management Consulting companies look at your GMAT score for short-listing. They don
divulge the details but ask you to submit the scores during the initial screen process.
Why is GMAT soimportant?
If we were to go by what the people who set theGMAT test are to say then:
The GMAT exam is a standardizedassessment, delivered in English, that helpsbusiness schools assess the qualifications ofapplicants for advanced study in business andmanagement. (from MBA.com)
Having said all thisremember this in the end:
A good GMAT score cannot guarantee you admission to atop MBA program, but a bad GMAT score can almostguarantee that you will be kept out!
Now for someone sitting half way across the world there is little to differentiate between both these candidateon their ability to handle course work. GMAT serves as the best measure Candidate A is certainly a clearfavorite.
So let us say we have 2 candidates:
Candidate A
Undergraduate: RVCE, Bangalore 69%Work experience: TCS 3.5 yearsGMAT: 750
Candidate B
Undergraduate: Ramiah, Bangalore 73%Work experience: Infosys 4 yearsGMAT: 650
CrackVerbal www.crackverbal.com
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AWA a.k.a Analytical Writing Ability
A quick piece of advice DO NOT WORRY ABOUT THIS SECTION.
You are graded on a score between 0 and 6, and this doesnt go into calculating your final 3-digitGMAT score.
Most schools dont bother about what you write so long as you are able to manage a decent
4.0 or above.
The only thing you need to practice is writing the AWA essays as fast and as painlessly as
possible. The last thing you want to do is get flustered and expend your mental energy before
the real test starts.
The New Integrated Reasoning Section
The Integrated Reasoning section of the GMAT exam will consist of 12 questions.
A single graph/data-set may have multiple questions around it. All answer options for a given question will be shown on the same screen.
As with the rest of the GMAT, even over here you cannot return to an earlier question -
you have to answer each question and move onto the next one.
The last type i.e. the multi-source reasoning will not be of more than 300 words. So
theres no need to read lengthy passages here.
The answer options themselves will be independent of each other i.e. you cannot take
information from one question onto another. You need to solve each question
independently.
The GMAT is an adaptive test (more about adaptive testing later) that consists of 3 sections:
The GMAT Test Structure
Analysis of anargument 30min
IntegratedReasoning - 30 min
AWA + IR
37 questions75 mins
Quant41 questions75 mins
Verbal
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CrackVerbalSuccess Recipe
Learn first hand form our
students about how to get intoa B-school
You will be given two 7-minute breaks on the test oneeach after the AWA and the Quant section. Remember toutilize the breaks wisely.
Use the 1st break as a bio-break. Also hydrate yourself bydrinking some water.
Use the 2nd break to eat or drink something. The usualfavorites for the break are a bar of chocolate, a bananaand/or Red Bull!
Verbal a.k.a English
The test is split into 3 areas:
Sentence Correction: A sentence, which is either partly or fully
underlined, is provided to you as the question. You will have the
select the answer choice that removes the error (if any) in the
original sentence. Critical Reasoning: An argument is given to you in the form of a
paragraph, and you would be asked to analyze/critique it. Such as
Which of the following would most weaken the argument given
above?
Reading Comprehension: A passage would be provided and about
3-4 questions will be asked based on it. This passage can be on
any topic (usually dry ones like social science) and will be
between 1 and 3 paragraphs long.
CrackVerbal www.crackverbal.com
CrackVerbalScratchpad
To help you simulateyour preparations as
close to the GMAT Test
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The GMAT Scoring Algorithm
The GMAT is scored on a scale from 200 to 800, based on only the Quant and Verbal sections. Along withthis you will also get your AWA score, which is scored out of 6.0. Since scores are distributed along a bellcurve there are very few on either end of the spectrum usual scores are in the 400-700 score range. The
global average GMAT score is 540 and a good GMAT score for top schools is considered above 700. Asmentioned earlier, you dont need to worry on the AWA score.
You will be given separate "raw scores" for the Quant and Verbal sections. You will be given a 2-digit scoreout of 51 (though theoretically it is 60). A raw score above 50 in quant and a score above 40 in verbal isconsidered exceptional. Here is how a typical GMAT score will look like:
700 Q49 V36 AWA - 5.5. This means the person got a scaled score of 700 which consisted of a Quant scoreof 49 (out of 51) and a Verbal score of 36 (out of 51). There is also additional information that he got an AWArating of 5.5 (out of 6.0).
Here are a few of scores with their split (note: these are *actual* student scores at CrackVerbal!)
Neeraj 770 (Q50, V44)
Raviraj 750 (Q50 V42)
Rahul 740 (Q50 V40)
Neha 730 (Q49 V40)
Sanat 700 (Q49 V38)
Jyoti 710 (Q48 V40)
Shardul 710 (Q46 V42)
Prashant 700 (Q51 V34)
Ganesh 690 (Q48 V38)
Apratim 680 (Q49 V34)
Please understand that scores depend on how well you are doing *relative* to others on the test, and also thenature of the adaptive algorithm (more on that in the next page). What this means is that these scores don'tdirectly correspond to getting a certain number of questions right or wrong. So it is impossible to say howmuch to score if you get (say) 5 questions wrong, or (say) 10 questions wrong.
Let us now try to understand how the GMAT CAT (Computer Adaptive Test) works. Not so much for beatingthe system but to better appreciate how the scoring works.
Theoretically, you won't get the same set of questions as the guy sitting next to you (albeit a few overlappingquestions). After the first few questions that are selected at random, each subsequent question will be basedon how you did on the earlier questions. If you're getting more questions right, the algorithm gives you harderproblems. If you're not, the test will start throwing easier questions at you.
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(1) For given RAW scores what would be the corresponding scores?
Here is a nice little table to compute your scaled scores, given that you have Q and V raw scores:
Q+V Raw Score | Scaled Score48-50 400
49-51 420
51-53 430
52-54 440
54-56 450
55-57 460
56-58 470
59-60 480
61-62 490
62-63 500
62-63 510
62-64 520
63-64 530
65-66 540
66-67 550
67-69 560
68-71 570
69-72 580
70-72 590
71-73 600
72-75 610
Q+V Raw Score | Scaled Score73-76 620
74-77 630
75-78 640
76-79 650
78-81 660
79-81 670
81-83 680
81-83 690
82-86 700
84-86 710
85-87 720
87-90 730
89-90 740
90-91 750
92-93 760
94-96 770
96-98 780
97-100 790
100-101 800
CrackVerbal www.crackverbal.com
Frequency of the mistakes: Ifyou get questions wrong oneafter the other; you are in greaterrisk than if you distribute yourmistakes over a range. Forexample, lets say, fromquestions 21 to 30 there are 2candidates X and Y and their
frequency of mistakes is: Xmarks the wrong answers forquestions 22, 26 and 29, while Ymarks the wrong ones for23,24,25. Then Y would bepenalized heavier than X.
Failing to answer questions: Ifthere is anything more terriblethan getting a question wrong, itis leaving a questionunanswered. You can roughlytake 10 points away from yourGMAT score for each questionyou leave unanswered! You
rather mark blindly than notanswer at all.
Experimental Questions: Roughly1/3rd of all questions you will solveon the GMAT (9 in Quant and 10 inVerbal) will not go towards yourfinal GMAT score. What GMAT isdoing by asking you these questionis simply build a database foritself to ask future test takers. Now
if luck is on your side and you makemistakes *only* on theexperimental questions then youcan even expect a full scoredespite making mistakes!
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Verbal Quant
# mistakes score # mistakes score
0-1 51 0-2 51
2-4 47 3-5 50
5-7 42 6-10 49
8-13 37 11-14 48
You will have to understand that the test algorithm is trying to determine your ability level, so it is almostcertain that you'll see questions that are too hard for you. That's perfectly okay! Remember that it's possibleto get a 700 (92nd percentile score) and answer more than a quarter of the questions on the entire testwrong. Of course, this means you'll be answering difficult questions right and missing only the even moredifficult questions. It is a myth that you need to have a very high accuracy to do well on the GMAT!
Remember the following:
You cannot beat the system but knowing it better will help you optimize your approach. This isespecially true when you are taking practice tests and want to know why you got a particular score.
Remember that there are only 4 ways in which you can score well (or poorly):
Number of mistakes you made in the overall test
Number of experimental questions you got right/wrong
Position of mistakes i.e. towards the start or towards the end
Frequency of mistakes in a row
Questions left un-attempted in the end
Questions are not easy or hard by themselves but easy or hard for the test-taker at a given
level. So a 750-level test-taker will find even the most difficult question that a 450-scorer faces as
easy. Similarly the 450-scorer will find even the easiest question that a 750-scorer faces as
difficult.
Questions cannot get progressively harder till you end up making a mistake. Infact GMAT will try to
put you on the 40-60 zone i.e. there is a 40% to 60% probability that you make a mistake on that
question.
It might look as if it is easier to score higher on Quant than on Verbal since typically
Indians score above 45 in Quant while they struggle to hit the 40 mark in Verbal.
However remember that the algorithm works different for these 2 sections!
For each question you get wrong on Verbal you are more severely penalized than quant.An optimistic way of looking at it is Verbal is also the area where you can improve the
most (and fastest!)
CrackVerbal www.crackverbal.com
However, it is possible for very high scores (read as very few mistakes) to show with a fair degree ofaccuracy what the association between mistakes and RAW scores. The following data are fairly representative
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GMATPreparationStrategy
Rule 1: Brute Force Approach
.k.a RS Agarwal approach
This is when students start blindlysolving questions without eitheranalyzing them properly OR takingrain check to see the difficulty levelof questions.
The particular book in question is a
classic example of this approach.you are learning a concept such
s Area of rectangle then you wille given a question Length = 5,readth = 7, Area =?. After that youill have another question Length =, Area = 12, Breadth =?. Andnother one that will ask Length =, Area = 10, Breadth =2. And son. Get the drift?
he point here is it is an absolute
aste of time to solve 10,000uestions of this sort as you end uparning NOTHING. GMAT claimednce that it spends about $2000ER QUESTION. Considering thens of questions they make that is aretty huge spend. A major areahere it goes is in the quality of theuestions getting it vetted byxpert pscyhometricians.
ur approach at CrackVerbal is
ased on solving only high qualityuestions which correctly reflect theMAT standards.
ule 2: Not taking enough testsarly on wasting GMATPrepuestions.
MAT is more a test of your mentaltamina than anything else. Dontll yourself into complacency byoking at incorrect measures. Forexample one metric that most
eople throw and one that websolutely hate is % of questionsorrect! All this means preciousttle until you are able to build yourental stamina to endure a 4-hourattle (that is the duration of thest end to end). It is like sprinting
hort distances in order to preparer a marathon it wont work!
nsure your study plan hasnough tests starting from rightOW!
e encourage students to comeour center to take simulated
sts at our lab, which is equippedith more than 30+ computer-ased tests. We even you acratchPad similar to the one youet on the real test.
ule 3: Consistency and not
ontingency relying only oneekends.
his is not a battle that can beught on 14-hour weekends and-hour weekdays. If you think youray job is just too demanding forou to focus during the week thenconsider shifting your decision toke the GMAT (and ultimatelyushing your decision to do anBA). This is a test match and not
20-20 game!
e have heard enough softwarengineers crib about how theyever get time. At the same timee have seen our own studentsho have studied diligently for 2-3onths, putting in about 2 hoursn weekdays and about 10 hoursn weekends, and who scored
ery high on the GMAT. It is all auestion of will-power.
nsure you get your customizedtudy plan from us. The planovetails with what we teach ine class so we will ensure you
tay focused on the plan till theate of your test.
ule 4: Trusting online advicend solving questions otheran the official source
has been shown that if you
tudy for more than the optima
reparation time, your scores wil
ctually start going down! This is
ecause unlike tests such as IAS
T-JEE etc this is not a test of
emory but a test of how
telligently you can apply yournowledge. The most importan
ey is to not pick the wrong books
rong questions, and still worse
e wrong advice.At CrackVerba
e understand that you are taking
e test after making some
ersonal and professiona
acrifices. We will ensure we wileep you on the straight and
arrow throughout the preparationo you arenever lost.
CrackVerbal www.crackverbal.com
Avoid the following 4 cardinal sins:
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This is the reason we dont claim to have our own questions. It is impossible for any testprep company to even come close to the GMAT standards of question making. Howeverwe do provide (and solve) almost all known official questions in our class and homework.
Which books to refer?
You have probably realized by now. Only
the official sources!
Official Guide ed. 10, 11, 12,13 (if you have
already done 1 version of the OG and are
looking at fresh meat from the other version
then read our blog here:
http://www.crackverbal.com/whats-new-
in-the-gmat-official-guide-13th-edition)
Official Guide Verbal Workbook ed.1,2
CrackVerbal Advance Document (all
GMATPrep questions which we have
created by taking the test multiple times)
Practice on forums such as pagalguy.com,beatthegmat.com, urch.com, gmatclub.com,
manhattangmat.com (please provide us
your id so we can answer your queries
there)
What are the rules to remember while you takethe mock tests?
A Total of 14 tests to be taken over 3 months.
Always take it with the AWA Section.
No mobile/No Internet while in the test-zone.
Consider taking it at the CrackVerbal center.
Take it at the same time as the actual test.
Eat and Do exactly what you would on the test
day.
CrackVerbal www.crackverbal.com
The Official Guide to GMATReview
The closest thing to the actualGMAT exam, prescribed by the
GMAC
Beyond the MBA hype
A must read bestseller forthose planning to do an
MBA/ or even thinking aboutit!
Given free to all our students.
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Phase 1: Foundation:
This is the time you need toensure you understand the
enemy well and focus on the
right approach to solving
questions. If you end up having
the wrong approach then practice
will only make things worse. You
will end up becoming better at
being bad. This means if youhave an accuracy of 40% you will
just get better at solving questions
at 40% accuracy (not 25% - not
50% - just precisely 40%!!).
Phase 2: Application:
In this phase you take thegame to the next level by trying
to focus on the higher level of
difficulty as well as the more
difficult to grasp concepts. This
is also a good time to up the
tempo in quant. You should be
able to accurately pinpoint the
areas of weakness and work onthem. For example you should
be able to say I am weak in
questions on Standard
Deviation or I am not confident
when there is a pronoun
ambiguity in SC.
Phase 3: Practice:
The Americans have a phrasefor it. They call it the home
run. This is when you make the
final lunge towards getting that
near-perfect GMAT score.
Ensure that by this time you are
working on the crossing your ts
and dotting your is! And yes
plenty of carbs before the finalrun in the form of full-length
test!
CrackVerbal www.crackverbal.com
Practice
Application
Foundation
3 Step Study Plan
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CrackVerbal 3 month study process
About CrackVerbal
CrackVerbal www.crackverbal.com
CrackVerbal was founded in
2006 and since then has catered
to hundreds of students aspiring
for an MBA from top business
schools around the world.
We are the undisputed experts in
GMAT Verbal! We will leave no
stone untouched covering all
advanced topics in GMAT Verbal
that need to be understand in
order to score high on the test.Our total classroom instruction
time *just* for Verbal is almost
double that of any other institute!
We attract exceptional GMAT
tutors (minimum eligibility 760)
including MBA graduates from
top programs such as ISB,
Oxford, and IIM-A PGPX. All
instructors undergo an intensive
audition and training program
before they actually teach in the
classroom.
Our curriculum and teaching
methodology are continuously
revised, reflecting the changing
pattern of the actual GMAT test
each year. We do so by
understanding what works best
for students who go on to score
high on the GMAT the 750+
scores, and use the same
techniques in our class. Our
strategies are personalized so
we get into the mind of the test-
taker to see not only why the
right answer is so, but also why
the wrong answer isnt. Our
powerful workshops shops can
give you a score boost of upto
50 points in a single session!
1. Attend Advancedverbal classes.
2. Attend Quantworkshops.
3. Solve from ouradvance documents.
4. Take 4 to 6 tests
1. Take a diagnostic test
2. Create personal study plan.
3. Attend Verbal workshop
4. Solve from OG
5. Start Quant basics
1. Attend online doubtsolving classes
2. Focus on work areas.
3. Take at least 1 to 2 testsper week
Foundation Application Practice
Week 1 to 4 Week 5 to 8 Week 9 to 12
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CrackVerbal StudyGuides
A collection of 5 guides forQuants and Verbal to helpyou gain that extra edge
on the GMAT!
What to expect from the class?
Delivery mechanism Teaching stuff you cannot learn from a
book.
Exceptional Faculty Quality MBAs and Professionals who teach
out of passion.
Support System that goes beyond the classroom, and keeps you
on the straight and narrow.
What we expect from you?
Taking the diagnostic test as soon as possible. This is a MUST to
start the course. If possible take it at our center.
Schedule a private counseling session so we can provide you
your personalized GMAT plan.
Solve all homework questions before coming for the next session.
Ensure you get all the material, get added to our online group,
and participate in all our online/offline sessions.
Visitwww.crackverbal.com or call us on +9008166800 or +9008177800 today and learn how toimprove your GMAT score.
CrackVerbal www.crackverbal.com
From our Founder: Arun Jagannathan
Arun has coached and mentored
over 4000 students, teaching at
major test prep companies in
India such as IMS, Career
Launcher, Kaplan, and PrincetonReview.
Arun is active on forums such as
Pagalguy.com (member since
2003, and one of the official MBA
consultants), and
Beatthegmat.com
He has also been part of the
technology sector working in
various companies such as
Wipro, Sapient, and CA. In the
last role, he headed the delivery
of the consulting division at a
CRM product-based company.
His highest score on the
GMAT is 780 (Q51, V46).
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#306 HOUSE OF LORDSSt. Marks Road
Bangalore 560001Email: [email protected]
CrackVerbal www.crackverbal.com