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Effective GMAT strategies

Attempt practice tests

If you are enrolled at a coaching center, they should be able to arrange some practice tests. A lot of net-based practice materials are also available. Practice tests will give you a feel of the actual test. You will also be able to identify your strengths and weaknesses.

Familiarize yourself with the instructions and directions

Instructions and directions are given at the beginning of each section. If you are already familiar with them you will be able to save a lot of time.

Try and answer the first ten questions correctly

GMAT is a computer adaptive test which means that the computer picks up questions based on your performance. The first question will be of moderate difficulty. If you answer it correctly, you will be given a more difficult question next. But if you fail to answer the first question correctly, the next questions will be of less difficulty. The questions of higher difficulty level earn more points. So you should try to get as many difficult questions as possible. This will be possible only if you answer the first few questions correctly.

Don’t leave any section unfinished

Unfinished sections attract a higher penalty than wrong answers. So if you don’t have enough time to answer all the questions in a section, take a random guess and try to finish the section first. And then move to the next section.

Use the scratch paper for your rough work

Use the scratch paper to write down points while reading the comprehension passages or preparing the essay. You can also work out the problems in the quantitative section on this paper. But try and confine your rough work to the minimum, otherwise you will waste a lot of time.

Compare and decide

In the verbal section, you may not be able to find that perfect answer for most questions. So compare the given options, and choose the one that is most likely the answer. Often you will be able to zero in on two choices and discard the ones that are distinctly different from them.