Manish Singh

GMAT has three sections viz. Analytical writing, Quantitative and Verbal sections. While there are many articles and books already written on the subject of cracking GMAT, I would keep it short and simple.

GMAT tests many of your abilities such as analytical, quantitative and verbal skills. However it also tests your time management skills. It is important to remember that you have limited time to finish each question.

If you were above average in Maths and English during your high school and +2 courses, then cracking GMAT should not be a big challenge. By cracking, I mean getting a 700+ score.

You should start by giving the Official Guide (OG) Diagnostic test. Check your percentile score and also check the areas where you are weak. It could be Geometry or Probability or even Sentence correction. In my case, I was little weak in the verbal section esp Reading comprehension and Sentence correction.

I ordered the following books to prepare for my GMAT.

1. Complete set of Manhattan GMAT Prep books (MGMT 8 books)
2. Official Guide 12th Edition (OG-12)
3. Official Verbal and Quantitative Guide 2nd Edition
4. Kaplan 800
5. Kaplan Premier

I started with reading MGMT books and practicing questions from OG-12. It took me close to 6 weeks to complete these 8 books along with OG-12. After this, I gave a few practice tests and checked my score. My accuracy was fine but I wasn’t able to finish any of the papers on time. I knew I had to work on my timing. I practiced Official Verbal and Quantitative guides for next 1 week with the aim to improve timing and score. However, what really helped me achieve good timing was the Kaplan CD that has multiple timed sectional tests. MGMT tests are also very good. They are relatively tough to crack. However, the post test analysis in MGMT online tests is excellent.

Another excellent book on GMAT is Kaplan 800. I regret picking up this book only during the last week of my preparation. Kaplan 800 has some really good problems in Quantitative and Verbal sections. However, many people advice reading this book only after you have exhausted other books. I would, however, recommend solving this book just after finishing with all Official Guides. I took me close to 8 weeks to prepare for my GMAT. I scored 700 in the test but couldn’t finish my quantitative section. Based on my experience, I can’t stress enough on the importance of practice tests. Try and give as many practice tests on a computer as possible.