GMAT Test Preparation Strategies

The scores necessary to get into top schools are increasing year by year, making quality preparation an even greater necessity. Disciplined and dedicated preparation for the GMAT will allow you to get the best score possible on the exam and get into the school of your choice.

High quality preparation is essential to achieving your best score on the GMAT. High quality preparation means becoming intimately acquainted with the test structure, format, and the types of questions that are being asked. It means improving upon your weak areas through practice and repetition. It means developing your ability to answer correctly the tougher questions. It also means becoming aware of the types of answers that tend to be the correct ones.

We recommend that applicants use a combination of the GMAT Official Guides and Manhattan Review's proprietary Turbocharge Your GMAT course materials. Manhattan Review's exclusive course materials include:

GMAT Verbal and GMAT Quantitative Study Guides

GMAT Verbal and GMAT Quantitative Practice Questions

GMAT Verbal and GMAT Quantitative Detailed Solutions

GMAT Verbal and GMAT Quantitative Vocabulary Lists

Five Full-Length GMAT Computer Adaptive Tests

GMAT Test-Taking Strategy

How to Achieve a Top GMAT Score

If you aim to achieve a top GMAT score, we recommend:

Use a systematic approach to your GMAT test. Take all questions seriously and answer them. Skipping questions is not helpful on the GMAT CAT.

Make a special effort to improve your weaknesses along with strengthening your expertise during practice.

Do not take breaks during a practice test. In the actual test center, you will not be allowed coffee breaks etc. during sections.

Eliminate distractions and be conscious of time. Especially when you taking practice tests, be as aware of the clock as you will need to be on the actual exam.

Locate or set up a serious test-taking environment in your house or a public library or a park or another facility so that you can exclusively focus on taking the mock tests.

Save the free GMATPrep™ software from www.mba.com for right before the actual test and practice the tests in a mock test setting of your choice so that your memory of the actual question types and difficulty levels which have appeared in prior GMAT tests stays fresh.

Review all prior mistakes along with explanations.

Make a list of those typical errors you tend to make and consciously remind yourself of them and refrain from making the same mistakes.

Keep a light-hearted and positive attitude on the test day.

Maintain strong momentum from beginning to end as the final problems can sometimes be equally as important as the initial ones.

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I have recently attended this weekend session of the Manhattan Review's GMAT course in London. I had hoped the course would be valuable in improving my mathematical and critical reasoning skills. Instead, the course exceeded all my expectations. I mentioned my observations to a group of fellow attendees and we all agreed we had learnt more in one day from this course than in our final year of secondary education!
-Christina H. (This student took our London GMAT crash course.)


Manhattan Review test preparation courses and services help students achieve better scores with our proven methods. We offer GMAT, TOEFL, SAT, ACT, GRE, and LSAT preparation classes and tutoring. Our store sells GMAT guides, GMAT official guides, TOEFL Guides, Online practice tests, and more. We also offer MBA admissions consulting, Law school admissions consulting and graduate school admissions consulting. To help you get into Columbia, Harvard, Stanford, Yale and other top business schools, law schools and graduate schools, let our expert consultants review your essays, resume, personal statement and application.