How to improve your GMAT scores to get into better colleges; www.gmac.com

If you are working full-time and preparing for GMAT, you will need to manage your office work in a way so that it does not affect your study time. You also have to keep an eye on the free time you normally devoted to leisure activities such as TV, meeting friends, travelling etc.

So the main question remains unanswered: How do you score well in GMAT without having lots of free time dedicated to practicing concepts and theories? Here are a few tips if you will be studying for the exam entirely on your own and not taking any coaching classes.

1. Familiarize yourself with the test content – According to statistics given out by GMAC, about 30% of the test takers put in four to six weeks of preparation time, and 18% put in seven to nine weeks of preparation time. That shows that majority of test takers put in at least four weeks to prepare for the exam. It is obvious that students who put in more hours studying for the GMAT tend to do better on it.

2. Get your hands on the GMAT official guide – As a first step, buy the GMAT Official Guide (OG), to make yourself familiar with the topics and subjects you will need to study.

3. Estimate preparation time required – Try to estimate the amount of time you need to prepare each topic thoroughly. Those who are recent graduates might need less time and those who are working might need more. Estimate the number of hours you need every day.

4. Estimate practice time – GMAT is not the test you can ace by memorizing the concepts without practicing them through practice. The GMAT Official Guide, and other official guides for each sections will help you practice every day. In addition, you will need 10 hours to go through the practice tests called GMATPrep, and additional 5 hours to go through the practice questions in the software.

5. Review other prep material too – If you are also using extra reference material, then make sure that you take into account the approximate time you will need to review the material.

6. Make a study schedule – Once you know how many hours and days you need to study, map out a schedule around that. Figure out what time of the day you will be studying and keep a firm schedule around it. Block these hours and don’t allow any room for distractions. Discipline is very important characteristic required to prepare for GMAT.

7. Start with the basics first – you need to understand the basics of each topic before you get into finer details. Many people will give you the advice that you should take your GMATPrep test at the beginning to know where you stand. You should, rather, take the first GMATPrep test when you are comfortable with 80% of the topics. Not taking the practice exam too early will ensure that you don’t get discouraged early on

8. After preparation, take lots of tests – Use the GMATPrep software to retake tests and make sure you have gone through most of the questions. As you take more tests, you will become familiar with the experience and that will automatically decrease your nervousness.

9. Keep the last 2-3 days just for revision – your last phase of revision should be used to strengthen weaker areas and to practice questions related to them. You should also relook at material you are less confident about.