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About GMAT

Higher GMAT Scores, Higher Chance of Admission

  • GMAT is a globally standardised test to gauge the ability of applicants for management studies

  • GMAT is a test for logical thinking, no matter what type of questions, you need to think logically for the answers 

  • GMAT have four parts - Analytical Writing (AW), Integrated Reasoning (IR), Quant, and Verbal

  • But only Quant and Verbal will be counted into the total score, which is 800 max 

  • In general, your GMAT scores roughly represent your chance of getting admitted into a business school

  • Different B-schools have different average GMAT scores, which represent the difficulty levels of admission

  • Top 20 US B-schools have average scores above 700

  • Top EU B-schools have average scores around 700

  • Top APAC B-schools have average scores around 650-670

  • As such, the higher your scores, the higher your chance of getting admitted into top B-schools

  • Actually, GMAT has nothing to do with a person's IQ, but with time to practice

  • Yes, in GMAT, the traditional wisdom "Practice Makes Perfect" always works, so you have to pay efforts 

  • However, many people find GMAT very puzzling and practice time consuming, and somewhat frustrating too  

  • No worries, we have developed the QNV Model to equip you with the hard and soft skills of cracking GMAT

  • Not only will you score higher, you can also spare lots of time for preparing your application essays and other work

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GMATology

  • GMATology, a word coined by QNV, refers to QNV's methodology on GMAT prep

  • The primary framework of of GMATology can be represented by the following model

From

Hard Skills

Soft Skills

You

Practice

Mentality

QNV

Techniques

Motivation

  • To score high in GMAT, input of hard and soft skills from both You and QNV is essential

    • Hard skills are related to your hands-on know-how and know-what

    • Soft skills are related to your emotional and mental state

  • From You, you need to keep regular practice and learn from mistakes

  • From QNV, you will get cracking techniques and learn to manage your emotion

  • Most people pay less attention to the soft skills, but they are equally important with the hard skills

GMATology Explanation

The combination of hard and soft skills to get high GMAT scores

Hardware Tools

Techniques

Use "Diagnostic" Cracking

  • Identify the question type

  • Apply the GMAT rules

  • Avoid common pitfalls

  • Strategize your performance in the real test

Cheers

Motivation

Never Give Up

  • Get prepared for roller-coastering scores  for a period of time despite continuous practice

  • You are not alone during your frustration, know the failure stories of others

  • Learn in an open, interesting, and interactive environment

  • Get the sense of satisfaction from your progress

Couple Running

Practice

Practice Makes Perfect 

  • Start practice at least six months before the exam. If possible, nine months

  • Practice around 10 questions a day, better in the same question type

  • After four-month of continuous practice, you may reach a breakthrough

  • After the breakthrough, you will see you scores jump remarkably

Meditation by the sea

Mentality

Learn from Mistakes

  • Keep a systematic error log and review the log from time to time

  • Identify your weakest link and increase practice on this link

  • Don’t be discouraged by the mistakes you made, even if you made the same ones twice

  • Know your learning curve that your efforts will not be paid off in short time

Some GMAT Cracking Techniques

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Problem Solving

  • Train your calculations on pencil

  • Familiar with common formulae

  • Use substitution with numbers from the choices

  • Pick a few meaningful numbers to test the question

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Data Sufficiency

  • Use DS decision tree

  • No need to work out the numbers

  • Be careful of a pitfall in “closed-end” questions 

  • Use substitution with some “useful” numbers

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Sentence Correction

  • Look for keywords that reflect the question type

  • Compare the five choices to spot the first difference

  • Remember the Trivium Rule - Grammar, Logic, Rhetoric

  • Familiarize with GMAT’s “grammar rules” and “idiom list”

  • Don’t change the meaning of the original sentence

  • Shorter answers often win, if grammatically correct

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Critical Reasoning

  • Read the question first, identify the question type, and think of the answer type

  • “Weakening” – Look for “Counter evidence” or “Alternative explanation”

  • “Strengthening” – Look for “Support evidence” or “Supplementary evidence”

  • “Assumption” – Look for “Missing link”

  • Identify “Irrelevant information”

  • Don’t make over inference

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Reading Comprehension

  • Read the first question first

  • Skim through the passage once quickly to roughly understand what each paragraph talks about

  • Look at the question again

  • Read the relevant part in detail

  • Correct answers rarely contain absolute words such as “all”, “always”, “never”, “impossible” etc.

GMAT Cracking Examples

Problem Solving 1

Data Sufficiency 1

Problem Solving 2

Data Sufficiency 2

Sentence Correction 1

Critical Reasoning 1

Sentence Correction 2

Critical Reasoning 2

Some GMAT Prep Tactics

Before the Exam

  • Sharpen your skills in using the method of elimination

  • Try at least 10 questions of the same type everyday

  • Review your error log often, extremely important

  • For Asians with quant backgrounds, try best to score ≧50 in Quant

  • Your goal is not to score 800 but as high as possible, so practice popular question types more

During the Exam

  • Answer the first ten questions as correctly as possible 

  • Don’t leave any questions unanswered, or your score will be severely penalized

  • Always read through all five choices before confirming your answer

  • Don’t spend more than 2 min just on understanding a question

  • If you have no idea for 2 min, choose C and go next

After the Exam

  • Enjoy some drinks or snacks you love to get relaxed first

  • Think whether you need to re-take – people generally take two to three times

  • Try to remember which question type you found the most difficult

  • Write down what you think you can do better

  • Share your feeling with good friends or with us!

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