GMAT study plan - 3 phases

Duration: Your preparation can last for 5 months or 3 months or 1 month. Ideally you can be GMAT ready in 1.5 - 2 months . Lets have a chat to see if you can be ready in less time. My contact link is below

The Plan

I feel GMAT preparation can be broken into 3 phases.

• Phase 1- concepts
• Phase 2 - application
• Phase 3- mastery.

I will go into each phase after explaining the thinking behind the plan

The thinking
As a tutor, I primarily focus on efficiency.
Maximum performance in shortest possible time
I would recommend a preparation time of 1.5 - 2 months. A structured study plan, designed keeping your strengths and weakness in mind, is paramount. This study plan will make or break your preparation.

If you need help in making a study plan, feel free to contact me. You can see my bio below.

A little bit about me.
I am George, a GMAT tutor, since 2008. I coach students online as well as offline at my center in Chennai, India. You can

• Check my linkedin profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgeanand
• Join my facebook online learning community: GMAT preparation
• Visit my website to know about my classes: GMAT Prep classes Chennai
• Read my thoughts on GMAT prep via my blog: let's GMAT

Now lets focus on the plan
This plan requires
1. GMAT Study material - study books /learning videos
2. GMAT Practice tests- Progressive test series -Test difficulty level increases systematically.
3. GMAT Computer adaptive tests

Phase 1: Concepts
Learning objective: Build concepts. Don’t worry on speed. Focus on accuracy
Here are few Activities in phase 1

Visit mba.com and understand the GMAT test structure, Take the Diagnostic test. See your comfort level. If you feel you are ready to dive into preparation get into prep mode or else ... get a tutor

Use your prep material to

• Work on your math computation skills. Learn basic mathematical computation like multiplication squares/cubes/square roots. I recommend vedic math. Watch this tutorial to compute faster

• Collect all the math formula relevant to the exam
• Identify and collect all the grammar rules . This learning video can show you the first step in sentence correction preparation

• Identify the different question types in the Critical reasoning section. Make a list of them. Collect a strategy for each question type. This learning video can guide you..
• Collect idioms and study them – you need to study idioms with their usage. Watch this learning tutorial

·
Develop the skill of critical reading. GMAT reading comprehension passages tests your ability to infer information from the passage. Watch this learning tutorial


Points to note

• Practice easy to medium level questions to build confidence.
• Work on GMAT type passages always.
• Improve your basic vocabulary

Check your progress at the end of this stage

• your accuracy level should be 50% in each section
• You should have completed atleast 50 GMAT reading comprehension passages

Phase 2: Application

Learning objective:
Build speed. You need to solve a question in less than 2 minutes. Focus on speed
Here are few Activities in phase 2,

• Do section tests topic wise
• Write 10+ GMAT analytical writing essays. Get them evaluated by a subject matter expert
• Focus on higher order thinking skills in math and verbal. For example Check this tutorial on probability, permutation combination

Check your progress

• your accuracy level should be 75% in each section
• You should have completed atleast 100 GMAT reading comprehension passages

Phase 3: Mastery
Learning objective: Test yourself and track your progress.
Activities:

• Practice GMAT Official guide questions x 3 times
• Take 10+ mock computer adaptive tests
• Revise your error logs…. many times
• Complete 150 GMAT reading comprehension passage

If you reach your target score in 5 tests or more then go ahead an book your test slot.
Continue practicing till day of exam
I hope that you got the flow. Feel free to contact me if you have further doubts. Happy learning. 

10 things to keep in mind when you practice GMAT reading comprehension

1. Keep your fears away

One fear most test takers feel is ‘ what if the passages are totally unfamiliar’. This is highly unlikely if you have spent a good amount of time reading quality passages and have taken good number of comprehension tests.

2. Imagine yourself succeeding

Be optimistic about your preparation and success in the GMAT. Start your preparation early so that you do not take the test till you are ready.

3. For god’s sake do not procrastinate

The day you wake up to think, oh I have plenty of time left for prep, you are on the road to procrastination. You have semester work, events to participate in, personal issues; none of these should come in the way of your reaching your goal.

4. All strategies need not work for you

We all vary in our styles of learning. Some of us would require longer preparation time, others less. It’s more rewarding to compare our performance today with our own past performance than with that of others.

5.Do not expect overnight results

Efficient reading involves building an array of skills. It takes time. Perseverance is the key. Lot of hard work is required to excel, give up not.

6. Do research

Learn those tiny tips from friends who are preparing for verbal tests, what worked for them, what did not, they are invaluable sources of test info.

7.Meditate;

with your learning your own reflections and insights can throw up new ideas that work best for you.

8.Do not panic; 

instead make a panic plan. Put together a remedial plan with the help of a mentor- a senior or trainer; there is always a way out.

9.Invest intelligently

 in buying good reading material: books, CDs, general reading material. And invest time wisely.

10. Selfishness is a virtue

 If Ayn Rand did feel that way, so can you. Do not spare your reading time playing agony aunt/uncle for those hapless souls; nevertheless when you need reassurance ask and get!!

What are the pain points you face while preparing for GMAT

What are the pain points you face while preparing for #GMAT.

I have been tutoring students for 10 years. since 2010. I have handled many, different, cases . One thing I realized is that each of you need a customized solution.. One size doesn't fit all... Lets work on a solution which maximizes your performance in the shortest possible time... Lets chat Call or whatsapp me 9884123808... Catch me on linkedin.. https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgeanand/

GMAT math probability webinar

I would like to invite you to the GMAT master class (webinar), this weekend(Saturday (6 pm)and Sunday (6pm)).

Topic: introduction to probability.

These classes will benefit you, if you have a non-math background . If you would like to attend, Send me a message.. I will send you the zoom link.

GMAT math permutation and combination basics

I made this permutation/combination basics video sometime back. If you are starting your #GMAT preparation, this tutorial will guide and show you the right way of "thinking" which is required to understand this chapter. This chapter in math is pretty hard to understand otherwise. So revisit the concept many,many times. Feel free to ping me if you have any queries or if you need tutoring ..

To register for the next webinar, fill this form:


Join our Facebook community: click here

To speak to a math tutor, get in touch with us.
Semantics offers On-demand live GMAT classes.  Fill this google form, 
our counselor will get in touch with you.


 

GMAT study plan

If you have the following questions:

• Do i take the GMAT at home or at a test center?
• What is the best time to start and how to start prep?
• How do I make a study plan for myself?

If these question plague you.. Comment below or message me... lets have a discussion. #GMAT #MBA

GMAT sentence correction tutorial basics

GMAT sentence correction exercise

Do you want to ace the sentence correction section of the GMAT? 

Here is a good workout. Analyse the given passage. mark the following:

1. Subject and corresponding verb

2. Noun and its modifier

3. Noun and pronoun

4. Adjective and the noun its modifying

5.clauses- dependent/ relative

6. standard sentence structure

What else can you observe.

Famines that once plagued South Asia are now vanishingly rare, the population less susceptible to disease and starvation. But that progress may be reversed, experts worry, and funding for anti-poverty programmes may be cut as government struggle with stagnant growth rates or economic contractions as the world heads for recession.

  Source- The Hindu paper

4 ways to deal with anxiety while studying for GMAT

Anxiety is a problem that attacks the body but anxiety germinates in the head.

Anxiety comes from telling ourselves a bad story.

You are bad at math/english.
You can't learn so fast
You are too old...

Change the story.. change your life


4 ways to change the story

1. Think positives
marginalize the negatives.. Amplify the success stories.

2. Be unbiased
Dont jump into conclusions. Be neutral. observe your feelings and let them pass.

3. Live in the present
Dont become a fortune teller and try predicting the future.  take one step at a time.

4.Avoid being the victim
People overgenarlize where one negative event is a never-ending pattern of defeat.
This results in a distortedly darkened vision of life. Remove the blinkers and see life in totality.

Work on any of the above ..one at a time
take control of your life.

GMAT sentence correction rules

Rule: Tense consistency

Illustration:

She invited me to the party and asks me to dance.

observe the word "and"

There are two segments in this sentence.

She invited me to the party and asks me to dance.

Note the tense for each segment

“She invited me to the party” is in past tense

“asks me to dance.” is in present tense

The tense has to be consistent throughout the sentence

Correct sentence:

She invited me to the party and asked me to dance.

GMAT reading comprehension? Just do it

Keep your fears away
One fear most test takers feel is ‘ what if the passages are totally unfamiliar’. This is highly unlikely if you have spent a good amount of time reading quality passages and have taken good number of comprehension tests.

Imagine yourself succeeding
Be optimistic about your preparation and success in the GRE test.  Start your preparation early so that you do not take the test till you are ready.

For god’s sake do not procrastinate
The day you wake up to think, oh I have plenty of time left for prep, you are on the road to procrastination. You have semester work, events to participate in, personal issues; none of these should come in the way of your reaching your goal.

All strategies need not work for you
We all vary in our styles of learning. Some of us would require longer preparation time, others less. It’s more rewarding to compare our performance today with our own past performance than with that of others.

Do not expect overnight results
Efficient reading involves building an array of skills. It takes time. Perseverance is the key. Lot of hard work is required to excel, give up not.

Do research, learn those tiny tips from friends who are preparing for verbal tests, what worked for them, what did not, they are invaluable sources of test info.

Meditate; with your learning your own reflections and insights can throw up new ideas that work best for you.

Do not panic; 
instead make a panic plan. Put together a remedial plan with the help of a mentor- a senior or trainer; there is always a way out.

Invest intelligently in buying good reading material: 
books, CDs, general reading material. And invest time wisely.

Selfishness is a virtue 
If Ayn Rand did feel that way, so can you. Do not spare your reading time playing agony aunt/uncle for those hapless souls; nevertheless when you need reassurance ask and get! Howzzat.

GMAT data sufficiency tips Save precious minutes…HOW?

Save precious minutes…HOW?

Don’t calculate exact answer.

Ask: “can I find the answer?” instead of “what is the value of the unknown variable?”

Data sufficiency is a test of mathematical reasoning.  It tests your ability to evaluate the adequacy of given data in answering a question in the mathematical setting. This involves verifying the sufficiency of data to solve a problem, distinguishing between relevant and irrelevant data, and establishing relationship between variables.

Here’s how the directions for data sufficiency problems appear in the exam

A given question is followed by two statements. You are required to determine whether the statements can be used to answer the question.

Mark (A) if statement I alone is sufficient but statement II alone is not sufficient to answer the question

Mark (B) if statement II alone is sufficient but statement I alone is not sufficient to answer the question

Mark (C) if both statements I and II together are sufficient to answer the question

Mark (D) if each statement alone is sufficient to answer the question

Mark (E) if statement I and II together are not sufficient to answer the question

Let’s take a problem

In the figure above, the points A,B,C,D  and E lie on the a line. A is on both circles, B is the centre of the smaller circle, C is the centre of          the larger circle, D is on the smaller circle and E is on the larger circle. What is the area of the region inside the larger circle and outside the smaller circle?
(I) AB=3 and BC=2
(2)CD=1 and DE=4

To find the area of a circle the radius of the circle is required. The area of the circle = (pi)*radius*radius.
AB = is the radius of the inner circle
AC = is the radius of the inner circle
The required area= (area of the outer circle)-(area of the inner circle)

Lets take statement (I)
AB= 3 and BC =2. The area of the outer circle can be computed as the radius of the outer circle is AC(AB+BC).The radius of the inner circle is AB. The difference in the two areas will give the numerical answer.
It is not necessary to calculate the exact numerical value. It is just enough to know that the answer can be determined with the data given. Time can be saved.
Statement(I) alone is sufficient.

Let’s take statement (II)
CD+DE=CE=CA which is the diameter of the bigger circle.
The diameter of the smaller circle is CA+CD. The radius of the smaller circle is half the diameter. Hence the radius and the diameter of the inner circle can be computed.  As the radii of the bigger and inner circle are computed, the required area can be determined.

Statement (II) alone is sufficient.

Hence answer is D.

Questions such as “what is the value of ...?” , “determine the value of ...?“ can be attacked in this manner.

GMAT data sufficiency tip - substitute numbers wisely…HOW?

Data sufficiency is a test of mathematical reasoning.  It tests your ability to evaluate the adequacy of given data in answering a question in the mathematical setting. This involves verifying the sufficiency of data to solve a problem, distinguishing between relevant and irrelevant data, and establishing relationship between variables.

Here’s how the directions for data sufficiency problems appear in the exam

A given question is followed by two statements. You are required to determine whether the statements can be used to answer the question.

Mark (A) if statement I alone is sufficient but statement II alone is not sufficient to answer the question

Mark (B) if statement II alone is sufficient but statement I alone is not sufficient to answer the question

Mark (C) if both statements I and II together are sufficient to answer the question

Mark (D) if each statement alone is sufficient to answer the question

Mark (E) if statement I and II together are not sufficient to answer the question

Let us understand one approach to solve DS questions with lots of variables

That is substituting numbers

Here’s  a DS question

Is zp negative?

(1)pz4

(2)p+z4=14

In sums involving inequalities, substitute numbers for variables wisely. When you see the variables (i.e. a,b,c...)  you would substitute numbers. For those of you who are out of touch in math, would substitute natural numbers (1,2,3,4...).

You should realize that a number could be positive, negative, zero,  a fraction,  square root, pi or some other decimal.   The possibilities are many.

So before arriving at a conclusion check whether the inequality satisfies all the different types of number. At times the question will introduce conditions and this will limit the types of numbers which have to be substituted.

Lets take statement 1

(1)pz4

z=1 hence z4=1(positive) z=-1 hence z4=1(positive)

z=0.1 hence z4=0.0001(positive) z=-0.1 hence z4=0.0001(positive)

z cannot be 0 as the product pz4 has to be less than 0

z4 is always positive, but z can be positive or negative but not 0.

As the product pz4 has to be less than 0, p has to be a negative number.

Now lets analyze the product zp

z =positive p=negative zp =negative

z =negative p=negative zp =positive

Statement (1) is insufficient to answer the question as the answer is inconsistent.

(2)p+z4=14

Statement can be analyzed by framing a table.

Choose numbers such that p+z4=14

p=13 z=1 z4=1 product of zp = positive

p=13 z=-1 z4=1 product of zp = positive

p=14 z=0 z4=0 product of zp = 0 neither positive or negative

Statement (2) is insufficient to answer the question as the answer is inconsistent.

On combining both the statements

Lets frame a table

Choose numbers which satisfy p+z4=14

p=-2 z=-2 z4=16 product of zp = negative

p=-2 z=-2 z4=16 product of zp = positive

Statements (1) and (2) together are insufficient to answer the question as inconsistent values can be derived. Answer E

Questions based on number properties appear on the GMAT. If you are weak on number sense, you may hastily arrive at a conclusion without checking all possibilities. Be smart at picking numbers.

GMAT data sufficiency strategy - assume,check and adjust

Stumped with data sufficiency...

Data sufficiency is a test of mathematical reasoning.  It tests your ability to evaluate the adequacy of given data in answering a question in the mathematical setting. This involves verifying the sufficiency of data to solve a problem, distinguishing between relevant and irrelevant data, and establishing relationship between variables.

Here’s how the directions for data sufficiency problems appear in the exam

A given question is followed by two statements. You are required to determine whether the statements can be used to answer the question.

Mark (A) if statement I alone is sufficient but statement II alone is not sufficient to answer the question

Mark (B) if statement II alone is sufficient but statement I alone is not sufficient to answer the question

Mark (C) if both statements I and II together are sufficient to answer the question

Mark (D) if each statement alone is sufficient to answer the question

Mark (E) if statement I and II together are not sufficient to answer the question

Let us understand one approach to solve DS questions with lots of variables

Let’s take a question

Is the product abcd = 1?        

Statement 1: ab/cd=1

Statement 2: a,b,c,d are integers

Strategy:

Take a statement. Substitute different sets of numbers and check for consistency. If the results are inconsistent, when different sets of number are substituted, the given statement is insufficient. 

Lets solve this question with this approach

Is the product abcd = 1?        

Statement 1: ab/cd=1

Statement 2: a,b,c,d are integers

Consider statement 1

Substitute numbers which satisfy statement 1

a=2,b=3,c=6 and d=1 satisfy statement 1. But is the product abcd= 1. The answer is “no”

Plug in a different set of numbers to check consistency

a=4,b=3,c=6 and d=2 satisfy statement 1. Is the product abcd= 1. The answer is “no”

But

a=2,b=1/2,c=3 and d=1/3 satisfy statement 1. Is the product abcd= 1. The answer is “Yes”.

As the result is inconsistent, sometimes the answer is “yes” other times it is “no”. The given statement is insufficient.

Similarly analyse statement 2

Plug in numbers which satisfy statement2

a=2,b=3,c=6 and d=1 satisfy statement 1. But is the product abcd= 1. The answer is “no”

a=1,b=1,c=1 and d=1 satisfy statement 1. But is the product abcd= 1. The answer is “yes”

Thus statement 2 is insufficient, since, for certain numbers “yes” is arrived and for others “no” is arrived

Even when both statements are combined, for certain numbers “The product abcd is equal to 1” is arrived and for others “The product abcd is not equal to 1” is arrived

It is necessary to arrive at consistent result before marking an answer.

The answer is E.

Try another question with the same approach

Is (a/b)>(c/d)?

1.a>c

2.b>d

Answer is E.

Understanding GMAT data sufficiency question

The next set of blogs will be focusing on Data sufficiency(DS). Many students feel that they make more errors in DS than problem solving. Let us understand this question type in depth.

Sample question:

What is the value of a?

(1)      3a + 2b = 15

(2)      b = (-3/2) (a – 5)

The Directions:

Each data sufficiency problem consists of a question and two statements, labeled (1) and (2), that give data. You have to decide whether the data given in the statements are sufficient for answering the question.

Use the data given in the questions plus your knowledge of mathematics and everyday fact, you must indicate whether the data given in the statements are sufficient for answering the questions and then indicate one of the following answer choices:

(A) Statement (i) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (2) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked;

(B) Statement (2) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (1) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked;

 (C) BOTH statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question asked, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient;

(D) EACH statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question asked;

(E) Statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient to answer the question asked, and additional data are needed.

NOTE: In data sufficiency problems that ask for the value of a quantity, the data given in the statements are sufficient only when it is possible to determine exactly one numerical value for the quantity.

Numbers: All numbers used are real numbers.

Figures: A figure accompanying a data sufficiency problem will conform to the information given in the question but will not necessarily conform to the additional information given in statements (1) and (2).

Lines shown as straight can be assumed to be straight and lines that appear jagged can also be assumed to be straight. You may assume that the positions of points, angles, regions, and so forth exist in the order shown and that angle measures are greater than zero degrees. All figures lie in a plane unless otherwise indicated.

These questions require knowledge of the following topics: • Arithmetic • Elementary algebra • Commonly known concepts of geometry

DS problem – Approach flow chart

Next post: Strategies to tackle data sufficiency questions