What to Expect on GMAT Test Day

Most of you, after months of careful study, know what to expect on Test Day in terms of GMAT content. However, it’s also important to know what to expect when you arrive at the Pearson Center for your GMAT Test Day. Just as you have learned and practiced GMAT strategies, you should have a plan for handling your breaks and using your note board (the odd beast that stands in for scratch paper) wisely.

Test Day security

When you first arrive at the Pearson Center, you will use your ID to check in and register a digital scan of the vein patterns in your palm. Next, you will place all of you personal items in a locker. This includes IDs, watches, phones, wallets, keys, and even tissues. You will not be able to bring anything with you into the testing room, and you will not be able to access these items during breaks in the test.

When you first arrive at the Pearson Center, you will use your ID to check in and register a digital scan of the vein patterns in your palm. Next, you will place all of you personal items in a locker. This includes IDs, watches, phones, wallets, keys, and even tissues. You will not be able to bring anything with you into the testing room, and you will not be able to access these items during breaks in the test. 

Once you are ready to get started, you will again scan your palm at the door to the testing room, and you will be assigned a computer on which to take your exam. Any time you re-enter the test room you will need to provide a palm scan to prove you are still the same person.

Testing room distractions 

Once seated, you will begin the GMAT, but keep in mind that other test takers will not be starting at the exact same time as you. Some will be in the middle of their exams when you begin, and some may start after you. Furthermore, some test takers will be taking tests other than the GMAT. This means that everyone’s breaks will be at different times. While no one will talk in the testing room, be ready for people to move around while you are taking your exam. 

The proctor will offer you noise-canceling headphones when you arrive. These can help to minimize these distractions, but you may want to take one of your GMAT practice tests with headphones to get used to the sound of your breathing. It can be a bit distracting… you might sound a bit like Darth Vader. 

Taking breaks 

 

Your breaks will be either minutes long and are optional (though we do recommend that you use them for a bit of mental and physical respite). Be careful: the test will start without you if you are not back in time. Remember that you have some time-consuming security hoops to jump through to get back to the computer, so make sure you don’t take too long of a break. Also remember to locate the bathrooms before you start your exam, so that you can find them quickly once you are on your break. 

GMAT resources 

Finally, you will be given four bound, double-sided wet erase sheets and a wet erase pen (very different from the pencil or pen and paper you may have been practicing with). If you run out of room, you can request a new set of sheets. To do so you must raise your hand, and the proctor will bring a new set to you and take away your used set. 

Since this process takes time, you want to minimize how often you trade. The best move is to always trade during the breaks so that it doesn’t take up any of your test time. Additionally, you may want to switch sets once in the middle of the quantitative section. You should try not to trade out your scratch sheets during any of the other sections. 

The vast majority of your prep time should be on GMAT content, but you don’t want to run into unnecessary Test Day stress because you are not ready for all of the rules at the Pearson Center. So, make sure you know exactly what to expect on Test Day.

GMAT Preparation Course Atlanta

GMAT ^® Verbal 1

This is the first of two GMAT ^® preparation courses developed to prepare the student for success on the Verbal Section of the GMAT ^® exam. The course stresses the mastery of principles required in order to learn the skills necessary for successes, including Reading Comprehension, Analysis on an Argument Essay Writing, recognition of the proper grammatical requirements for Sentence Correction, and the basics of Integrated Reasoning.

GMAT ^® Verbal II

The second GMAT ^® Verbal course involves extensive use of and practice with the principles taught in GMAT ^® Verbal I. These include ample Writing practice under the time conditions of various parts of the writing portions of the test, applying test strategies for Reading Comprehension, and answering actual GMAT ^® Verbal type questions relating to Sentence Correction. The course will also instruct the student on the required skills needed to answer any type question on the Integrated Reasoning part of the GMAT ^® test. The student will also take several GMAT ^® Verbal practice tests for diagnosis of progress and improvement of scores on the actual test.

GMAT ^® Math I

This is the first of two GMAT ^® prep courses developed to prepare the student to be successful on the Math Section of the GMAT ^® exam. The course encompasses the principles, properties, theorems and postulates of Arithmetic, Geometry, Algebra, and Numerical Systems. The student will use this information to solve problems and become prepared to enter GMAT ^® Math II.

GMAT ^® Math II

The second GMAT ^® preparation course in the Math series includes extensive practice with the principles, properties, theorems and postulates of Arithmetic, Geometry, Algebra, and Numerical Systems learned in GMAT ^® Math I. The student will also have the opportunity to take several GMAT ^® Math practice tests for diagnosis of progress and improvement of scores on the actual test.

Announcing Two Hours Increase to Our Intensive English Program (IEP)

In an effort to enhance our Intensive English Program (IEP) by providing more time to build skills, increase knowledge, and foster communication, our Academic Affairs Office has proposed to add two hours to the current Intensive English Program schedule. This restructure will increase instruction from 18 hours to 20 hours weekly with no additional tuition cost. IEP tuition is $1,383, including books. The school, faculty and staff will continuously strive to provide not only academic excellence but also the finest counseling, services and resources with individual care.

Studying too much for the GMAT: is there such a thing?

Students often ask me whether they should be concerned about studying too much for the GMAT. The short answer is that in almost all cases, the more you study for the exam, the better your performance will be. 

Gauge your progress with practice tests

A common-sense approach is needed to know when you are ready to take the exam. The good thing is that there are tools that can you help you to assess when you are ready. The main tool you can use is practice tests.

Practice tests can give you a good guide as to your current level of preparedness for specific topics, as well as provide you with the best possible practice for the test itself. Taking one practice exam at the beginning of your studies can give you a sense of what is to come, while strategically timed practice tests later in your studies—generally starting at the halfway mark or later—will allow you to consolidate your knowledge, practice timing strategy and start getting comfortable with the exam.

As long as you are adding new tools to your metaphorical GMAT toolbox, you are undoubtedly using your time well. Over the course of your studies, you will develop a sense of whether or not you are still making progress. When you finally feel like your skills can’t progress further, test this feeling with a practice exam: if everything is in order, proceed to register for the test.

Too much study can lead to diminishing returns

In some rare cases, it is indeed possible to study too much. GMAT preparation and the GMAT itself are mentally demanding. Approximately 10-20 hours per week of studies are what our tutors advise, though on any given day, once you are feeling too tired to concentrate properly, it is time to put your study materials aside and take a rest. In the long term, between two and four months of GMAT studies (sometimes a bit less or more depending on special circumstances) ought to suffice. Much more than that—sometimes we hear of individuals drawing their preparation out for years—can negatively affect knowledge retention and motivation.

3 easy tips to help you get real with your English resolutions

Follow these simple tips to set up English resolutions that you can stick to and achieve your English goals :

1.       Set a resolution that is focused and measurable. A vague resolution such as ‘I want to improve my English’ isn’t going to help you make the most of your year. You can make it more specific by including the level you want to reach in English or a particular thing you want to be able to do in English. So, a more effective resolution would be to say ‘I want to improve my English level from beginner to intermediate level’ or ‘I want to feel comfortable conducting business meetings in English’. If your resolution is related to a level of English competency, you can measure it using a standard test such as IELTS or TOEIC. If it’s related to feeling comfortable communicating in English in a particular situation, you can measure your success by evaluating your own feelings in that situation.

2.      Make your resolution an outcome rather than a process. If your resolution is to study for 20 minutes per day but your method of studying is not effective, your English will not improve as quickly as it could. Instead, resolve to achieve a certain level of competency or to be able to communicate in a certain situation. By focusing on the outcome rather than the process and constantly reviewing how effective your study techniques are, you will use your time more efficiently and achieve more.

3.       Be sure your resolution is achievable. Achieving resolutions and goals is partly down to you but there are also a lot of external factors that affect you reaching your goals. The most common of these are money, time, access to experts, and support from family and friends. By planning well, you can take steps to limit the effect that these factors have on your resolution. One simple way to do this is to make sure your family and friends know about your resolution and support you with it. You might even find someone to study with who has the same resolution. Having a study partner is an effective way to stay accountable and make sure you reach your goals.

5 Best Practices and Tips to Improve GMAT Verbal Score

To all you students who dread verbal and want to abandon studying for GMAT because of the intimidating VERBAL section, the following 5 tips might change your perception and boost your morale:

1. RECOGNIZE THE RULES: There are only a handful of grammar rules tested in Sentence correction.The interesting thing about SENTENCE ORRECTION, possibly the nightmare for most GMAT students, is that it tests the same old rules in almost all the questions on this topic. In fact, if a student has familiarized himself with rules such as SUBJECT/VERB Agreement, MISPLACED MODIFIERS, and PARALLELISM to name a few, he can eliminate at least 2 or 3 of the options with ease, since he is bound to find errors relating to these rules. So know the rule and apply it wisely.

2. READ FOR ANSWERS: Reading online and comprehending what you have read is another dreaded feature of the GMAT for some or maybe for most students. Reading is intimidating especially when the passages become dense and boring. But what we need to tell ourselves is that the GMAT is not testing our ability to read well but is testing our ability to answer correctly out of the 5 options given. So if we successfully eliminate 4 options we are down to the correct answer. To eliminate the four wrong options we would have to read only sections of the passage that contain the information. You do not have to be subjective or opinionated while reading. You just need to be clerical and write notes in shorthand.

3. GUESS AGGRESSIVELY: Now let us look at the scoring behavior of the GMAT. The myth that the first 10 questions matter the most is sufficiently busted by all GMAT pundits, and we all know that‘s not how the test works. On the verbal this knowledge should be reassuring. Recognize your strength areas and invest more time on getting those questions right. Assuming your logical reasoning is top notch and your grammar knowledge is abysmally low, you would benefit on guessing on a few SC questions and using the time saved to see that you get the CR and RC questions spot on! You will be amazed to see that this educated guessing has actually increased your score.

4. SELF –DISCIPLINE: Verbal section requires a keen mind. Train your mind to look out for indicator words in argument questions that indicate the premise and the conclusion correctly. Likewise train your mind/sight to look for transitional words such as however, alternatively, yet, and so on while reading passages.These words will tell you that the tone of the passage has changed direction and you are expected to read the information with a little more attention.Train yourself to keep away from distracting information that often comes up in reading passages. Keep to the main crux of the passage. Ignore the mundane details. If you need to pick an answer from these details you could always go back and read that part again.

5. PRACTICE, PRACTICE & PRACTICE: There is no short cut to success. To work at something day in and out will ensure success. The tenacious always shine; the skilled one sometimes. Take several mock tests and review the tests with your tutor or anybody who has already taken the GMAT. Practice helps in two ways. 1) You become perfect 2) your stamina levels improve tremendously and you become well equipped to handle the 4 hour long test with stoic endurance. ENDURANCE matters hugely!!

Importance of an Effective Test Strategy for GMAT

GMAT preparation is not a uni-dimensional challenge, and does not involve only studying; Rather it is a combination of skill, hard-work and effective test-taking strategies that helps optimize your test scores. Through this article, we explore some of the basic parameters of GMAT test taking strategies that you should keep in mind while preparing for the exam.

Diagnostic Tests are Vital

Before you actually begin your GMAT preparation in full flow, it is important that you give GMAT diagnostic test, preferably a full length GMAT online test. This effectively becomes your benchmark that you refer to whenever you evaluate your performance. Unless you know you initial preparation level, you will not be able to gauge how effective your current GMAT self preparation methods are.

Place sufficient focus on Area and Topic Tests

An important point you must remember is that along with a focus on full length GMAT online tests, you must also place sufficient emphasis on topic-wise and area-wise drills. These help  you in understanding your strengths and weaknesses and pin-point the areas you need to work on. Practicing topics individually will help you in improving the areas you are weak in.  Focusing on your strengths is critical to a great GMAT score as these are questions and concepts that you can nail on the day of the test. So don’t leave these topics out of your-self preparation plan –   you should give adequate time to these topics.

Ensure you give simulated online GMAT practice Tests periodically

Testing is only effective when it follows a pre-defined schedule and agenda. Haphazard or sporadic testing is of no use, and you should ensure that you follow a pre-defined structure in terms of your test taking schedule. This should have tangible goals and markers, and ensure you periodically evaluate your performance. Keep a target score in mind before you take a test and pace your self accordingly. Remember that improvement will come in steps rather than leaps.

Ensure you time yourself

Do not get trapped in the vicious temptation of solving all questions correctly without keeping an eye on the timer.  When you prepare for GMAT online, there will be occasions where you will not practice with the timer in place. Make sure this does not become a habit and you solve majority of your tests with the timer on.

Test Environment

Last but not the least, test environment is also an important factor while giving GMAT tests. Ensure you replicate the actual test environment, and  do not engage in activities that take your focus away. Take  GMAT online practice tests in simulated environment, follow all instructions, strictly adhere to time schedule, don’t extend breaks beyond allowed parameters, and don’t take any liberties that you wont get in actual GMAT.

These are some of the tips related to test-taking that you should keep in mind, and try to include these in your best GMAT self prep practices. Once you inculcate these, you will surely see a positive impact on your scores and preparation.