Get serious about GMAT (Here are 6 pointers)

Get serious about GMAT (Here are 6 pointers)

1.  Avoid booking a test date and then starting  your preparation. A common practice. Let’s not underestimate the exam. There is lots to learn. In all likelihood the prep time that you earmarked would turn out to be much less than required.

2.  Before you start working out math, grammar etc, make a list of all that is totally new to you. Refer to official publication, search online or meet a good instructor to assist you in this task.

3. Do a skill check: Knowing the concept is good, but your ability to apply the concept to answer a question is a different ball game altogether. At every stage of concept, learning do multiple choice questions and check your test skills.

4. Learn from mistakes, not yours but others’. What are other test aspirants saying? You can’t take everything to be true. But a good  observation can help you avoid the common blunders.

5. Ensure that you master every single rule, concept and logic. You are not taking a semester exam to choose ’important’ chapters.

6.Your practice test scores should be real, not inflated. You ought to consistently score at levels that match your target score, say, in  5 full exams, including essay and IR)

Happy prep

For more articles visit www.semanticslearning.com

GMAT sentence correction tips

GMAT sentence correction tip

check each sentence for semantics( meaning conveyed) and syntax( the grammatical structure and conformity).
syntax is altered to convey the meaning aptly, not the other way around.

in addition to these two, terseness is important- being economical with words
caution: if being terse, ie reducing words, lead to ambiguity, length is welcome.
here are two eg.

eg. 1.
ambiguous: Piaget noted that in children a repertoire of skills is acquired during preschool period and need further
strengthening through organized learning experienced at school.

what needs strengthening is ambiguous, so we need to repeat some words

Piaget noted that in children a repertoire of skills is acquired during preschool period and these skills need further
strengthening through organized learning experienced at school.


eg 2- a wordy sentence
The houses were mostly well built in construction, but the interior furnishing within the house left much
to be desired.
economical
the houses were mostly well- built, but the interiors left much to be desired.

GMAT prep notes for sentence correction

the more the merrier

1. Relative clauses: clauses beginning with who, whose, whom, that, which, whosoever, whomever, whichever, nevertheless – check their use in the question.
Antecedents (the nouns substituted by the pronouns) which, who, he, they, it etc should be clearly matched with their pronouns.
Scientists have observed large quantities of fossil fuel in the Cauvery basin, which are consistent with the growth of mining activities in the area. (which is ambiguously placed)
Scientists have observed large quantities of fossil fuel in the Cauvery basin, an observation consistent with the growth of mining activities in the area.

Wordy: Everybody likes apple pie, which for years has been a favorite American dessert.

Concise: Everybody likes apple pie, for years a favorite American dessert.
In most instances, a relative pronoun is unwanted.

Verb Tense
Incorrect: In the last ten years, dropout rate among minority primary school students fell drastically, while the number of minority students more than doubled.
Correct: In the last ten years, dropout rate among minority primary school students has fallen drastically, while the number of minority students has more than doubled.

Logical Equivalents
1. The study noted that, up to the present, interferon has been more impressive in preventing viral infections as to treat it.
2. The study noted that, up to the present, interferon has been more impressive in preventing viral infections than in treating them.


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GMAT preparation: blueprint and study chapters

Here is a complete list of chapters relevant to GMAT
First phase: Reading comprehension
Extensive reading of various topical articles-
Science, economics, literary reviews, philosophy, and topics of contemporary debate.( double the reading of topics that you have not been in the habit of reading)
Second phase
How to actively read texts for tone and bias
How to read quickly and efficiently
How to analyze organization and structure
How to draw inferences from a reading text
The major question types and how to approach them
Practice with all types of passages and questions
Analyse extensively – questions, solutions, wrong answers, right answers.
critical reasoning
Phase 1
Lessons in formal logic, types of arguments, components of arguments, weak and strong arguments, inductive and deductive arguments, types of logic, common fallacies in argument, criteria of strong arguments
Phase 2
How to analyze arguments
How to spot weaknesses in arguments
15 Critical Reasoning question types and transferable strategies
Practice with quality questions.
Sentence correction
Phase 1
Parts of speech, grammar rules, diction, common idioms, grammar drills
Common errors in writing – agreement between parts of sentence.
Effective expressions: avoiding redundancy, wordy structures, awkwardness, ambiguity, unnecessary separation of elements, inappropriate diction, inconsistency
Phase 2
Typical sentence correction questions
How to identify trick sentence correction questions
Observe how options are constructed
Elimination method
Practicing with a wide variety of sentence correction questions
Problem solving
Phase 1
review of fundamentals of math
In arithmetic - Percentage, Interest, discount, Progressions, Uniform motion, Ratio and proportion, Grouping and counting, Data Interpretation, symbols, Progressions,
In algebra - study quadratic equations, linear/ bi-linear equations, trigonometry.
In Geometry - lines, quadrilateral, circles, polygons, trapezium and mensuration.
Phase 2
Learn how to interpret data graphs, pie charts, bar graphs and caselets and how to apply statistics concepts such as mode, mean, standard deviation and median.
Solve word problems, data sufficiency problems and reasoning in a quantitative setting. Work with a wide variety of problems –concept application, formula based, puzzles.
Analyse extensively
Work with higher order problems –caselets, data analysis, develop creative problem solving strategies- hypothesizing and verifying, working backward using option indicators, devising spot strategies
Build speed, work with timed tests

Essays:
brain storm and write at least 10 issue and 10 argument sample practice essays on original topics.
Brainstorm on a lot of topics from the real topics.
Have your essay evaluated by tutors or qualified friends

Mock exams and remedial work
5- 10 mock exams – do all sections at one sitting( you have to build stamina for a nearly 4 hr exam, no kid’s play) adjust time management . revise chapters, work on weak areas
Recommended concept resource: e-books www. semanticslearning.com
Recommended test practice: official guide
Recommended mock exams: powerprep test
With all these mastered, you will know exactly what to expect in the test.

Open your skills. Succeed.





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