Here are 5 hacks that will ensure better understanding of the Quants section:

1. Numbers are your friends.

Usually, big calculations can throw us off our game, and we end up blundering. That’s because the complex string of numbers often makes us forget that we know numbers. In order to get better at numbers, consider 20 random calculations (can be addition, subtraction, multiplication or division  – whichever you’re most uncomfortable with) and solve it within a set period of time. This will increase your focus and deal with numbers better. You’ll also start figuring out shortcuts for big calculations, and remember tables easier.

2. The formula to become the formulae wizard

Take down a list of the important formulae, and take a long, hard look at them. You don’t need to rote learn the formulae. Once you know how they were derived, or even the logic behind their output, it gets much easier to keep track of them. Every morning, before you begin your studies, take aside a couple of minutes to just look at your list of formulae. This stimulates learning by visual memory. If you’re an auditory learner, then record a tape of yourself reciting those formulae and play it whenever you wish to.

3. Analyse to Maximize

More important than any other hack is this age old tradition. The reason why mock tests exist is so that we can prepare for the real ones. But, instead of directly beginning with timing yourself, for the first couple of tests, don’t. Once, you get the idea of how long it’s taking you to figure out the question, you can work on minimizing that time. Analysis after a test will help you see which areas require work.

4. Strengthen your language

Understanding the problem question is the biggest hurdle. The longer it takes you to figure out the data, the more marks you lose. Having a strong understanding of the language that the test is in, will encourage you to focus wholly on the data provided instead of decoding. That means more time to actually work with the data, and solve more questions.

5. Keep all options open

Ah no, this doesn’t mean that all options are correct. It just means that sometimes there are more than one interpretations of a question. You need to consider the entire data given, pay attention to the footnotes or the conversion values given. These areas usually require you to be thinking laterally instead of factually. So, for the sake of the question given, you have to forget what you think is factually correct.

The most important point here is, that constant practice and being in touch with the subject will get you closer to your target score. Unless your test has negative marking, attempt everything. But, if you’re unfortunate enough to be attempting a test with negative marking, you need to learn to choose which topics you’re the strongest at, and decide which questions you will solve.

You can always connect with a Study Partner to help you stay focused and keep you motivated. You can register at www.StudyPal.co to connect with a prep buddy nearby.

GMAT TEST PATTERN –

The GMAT exam consists of mainly four sections which will test the candidate’s abilities on various parameters. These are :-

1. A 30-minute Analytical Writing Assessment ( one writing task).
2. A 30-minute Integrated Reasoning section (12 multiple-choice questions)
3. A 75-minute Quantitative section (37 multiple-choice questions)
4. A 75-minute Verbal section (41 multiple-choice questions)

For each of the four sections, a separate scaled score and percentile rank are awarded. A combined Quantitative / verbal score ( called a Total score) and corresponding percentilerank are also awarded. The GMAT is not a pass/fail test.

ELIGIBLITY CRITERIA FOR GMAT :-

1. AGE – You must be atleast 18 years old. There is no upper age limit to take the GMAT exams.

2. EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS – You must have an undergraduate degree in any discipline from a recognized board or university. There is no upper limit of educational qualification apart from graduation, if you are interested in appearing for the GMAT exam.

3. NATIONALITY – As far as your nationality is concerned, there are no restrictions and hassles. You can be from any part of the world to be able to take the test.

4. NUMBER OF ATTEMPTS – You can take the GMAT exam as many times as you want.

LATEST UPDATE :-

The Graduate Management Admission Council has shortened the GMAT exam by 30 minuites which will be effective from 16 April, 2018. The new exam will be of 3 hours and 30 minutes including test instructions and breaks.

5 TIPS TO CRUSH THE GMAT :-

1. Consistency over intensity. One can compare GMAT prep with learning to play chess. It is not only necessary to learn and know all the concepts and tricks; it is also essential to be confident and quick in using them. This means doing quick calculations in the quant section.

2. Set an exponential GMAT prep timetable. It goes with saying that you need to leave enough time and plan effectively during GMAT preparation.

3. Practice educated guessing – A good method in dealing with GMAT questions ( especially in the Verbal section) to which you are not absolutely certain of the answer is ‘éducated guessing.’ This means to quickly rank the five possible answers in order of their suitability and exclude wrong answers.

4. Try to overshoot your target GMAT score – Even if you don’t necessarily need a 700+ GMAT score for your MBA application – maybe only 500 or 600 – it is still wise to overshoot during preparation in order to more or less safely reach your required score. Your preparation should target a GMAT score of atleast 50 higher than you ‘need.’

5. Join StudyPal.co to study with study partners and experts!!!

I was working in Investment Banking at the time, so needless to say I worked long hours and had to squeeze in GMAT prep at nights and occasional free weekends. Turns out chatting at the water cooler actually does help, because little did I know, a colleague in a different division was also in the same boat as I. So we decided to become study buddies and met up three times a week.

During our very first session we realized that our skills complemented each other’s. While I was strong in the Verbal Section, he was a Quant Guru who needed to improve his sentence correction and reading comprehension. Together, we tackled almost every OG question successfully. More importantly, through discussion we were able to flesh out sound reasoning that related back to the basic concepts, which we could then hone individually.

My time management improved and I became more efficient. Where I used to slip in an episode or two of 30 Rock during my numerous breaks and shamelessly still kudos myself on a hard night’s work, I could now get some much needed sleep rather than dream about Liz & Tracy. I stopped procrastinating! Once we established our study routine it was easier not to slack as we had preset breaks where we would discuss mistakes and doubts.

Most importantly, and most of you can sympathize with this, I got the motivation I needed to study. At times it really can get pretty difficult to solve those OG problems and read through the Manhattan GMAT Verbal books, there are 6 of them. But, by meeting at different locations such as coffee shops, local libraries and small eateries it became more social and just that little less painful. At least I wasn’t cooped up alone in my room late at night all the time. Funnily enough, studying with a partner also helped me study better individually as I wanted to prep better for our next session.

Studying with a partner also instilled in me that sense of accountability. I did not want to be the one who had not done the problems we assigned ourselves, and let down the team so to speak.  It would have also been a pretty unproductive session had I done that.

This experience made us both realise the importance of studying with a partner, someone who has a similar background to mine or whose work and study schedule are in sync with mine. That is thrwhy we started StudyPal.co, where you can find a StudyPal or a StudyGuru in your city studying for the same test as you.

-Akkshay Chugh
CEO, StudyPal.co

Join Us and lets change the way people study. To find a study partner near you, sign up at www.studypal.co today!

1.Assess your needs

The first essential step to creating a GMAT study plan is to figure out what you need from that GMAT study plan. For example, if you are already reaching your goal score in quant, it would be a waste of time to focus equally on quant and verbal. In order to assess your needs, you should start by taking a GMAT practice test. You can get two free from GMAC, when you download their GMAT prep software.

2.Learn the Core Strategies and Concepts

After you figure out where you weaknesses are and how far you are from your target score, then you can work to improve your weak spots by learning strategies and concepts. For some question types, like reading comprehension and reading comp, you will only need to learn strategy. For other question types, such as sentence correction and the quantitative section, you will need to learn many rules and formulas to do well. Thus, it is important to understand and memorize this important information through either a course or comprehensive strategy guide set. The best way to remember things is to take notes, so make sure that you do this.

3.Practice, Practice, Practice

You then need to practice this new found knowledge by doing lots of practice questions. I recommend that you save the official guides for this section. They are the best sources for practice questions since they have actual retired GMAT questions in them. This is also the time to work on your pacing, which means finding the right balance between speed and accuracy. The first step is improving your accuracy. There is no point to getting a good level of speed if you aren’t being accurate. So, start by doing practice questions without worrying about timing. After you have achieved your desired accuracy level, then work on improving your speed.

4.Build mental endurance

The GMAT is kind of like a mental marathon. People aren’t capable of running for four hours straight without any training. Likewise, people cannot fully concentrate for four hours straight without training. If you have already done a lot of practice questions then you have already begun building your mental endurance. The final step is to take at least five full-length practice tests. Try to simulate the test experience as much as possible. This means that you should take the IR and AWA sections and only allow yourself the allotted 8-minute breaks.

5.Give yourself a break

It is also important to give yourself breaks. If you are very tired and aren’t being productive with your studying, take a quick nap or meditate. It is also important to give yourself one day off from the GMAT per week, so that you don’t overdo it. And on the last day before your exam, you shouldn’t do any studying, to ensure that you show up refreshed and relaxed on test day.

Hari Krishnan, Managing Director, Asia-Pacific & Japan at Linkedin tells us about his global MBA experience at INSEAD and how to leverage your network.

1. You have worked in different organizations – Large companies, Fast growing Silicon Valley Companies and Start Ups. What have you learned from each?
   
   My aspiration has always been to be a business builder and leader. To do so, I needed to work at different companies, different industries and companies at different stages of development.At Cisco, I worked for a large company at the peak of it’s powers. To be in the Silicon Valley during the dotcom boom and bust periods was a very educational lesson which has served me well. Above all, I learned how good companies manage employees, take strategic investment decisions and build business.I worked/co-founded 2 separate startups – Travelguru and Stylkist. While one exited successfully through an acquisition, the other one grew well but eventually was sold after breaking up its core assets. I learnt how to build an industry (E-Commerce in India) and build a company from the ground up. Struggles such as figuring out how to make payroll, manage cashflow, hive off business lines etc are so much more existential in nature at that stage of a company’s existence.I also helped 3 American digital companies enter India – Yahoo, MySpace and most recently LinkedIn. I learnt the challenges of being an MNC subsidiary, setting up tax entities, and managing expectations across cultures and geos.All of this has allowed me to be better at prioritization, focus on talent and growing businesses.
   
   
2. How has your MBA from INSEAD enabled you to lead?
   
   It opened me up to cultural differences especially in the professional context. It allowed me to face up to and conquer my own biases and understand how to be successful in global settings. It also showcased the strength of a strong network and good old fashioned hard work.
   
   
3. You have studied on three continents. What would you say to students looking for a global experience?
   
   Be flexible in your approach, open-minded in your thinking and let the experiences wash over you. You will be so much better as a person and a professional once you have done this. But do not underestimate how uncomfortable the actual process of studying in another culture may feel. Its character building stuff!
   
   
4. Business today is becoming social. How would you encourage students to foster social engagement at school and at work?
   
   Professional networks are about making yourself more successful and productive, if they are done well. I would encourage three things:
   • Be authentic: be yourself, don’t pretend to be something/someone you are not.
   • Share more freely: The more you contribute, the more value you will get out of your network.
   • Quality over quantity: A network of trusted, high quality people is worth much more than just arbitrarily networking with all and sundry.
     
     
5. Any tips for our aspiring MBA’s ?
   
   Understand WHY you want an MBA. It can be a wonderful experience, but don’t expect a silver bullet. It will not make you a superhero, just a little better at things like time management, people management and perhaps fill skill gaps like finance, negotiation ability etc.
   
   
6. Can you tell us a bit about Linkedin University?
   
   LinkedIn has 238M+ members globally and this means we have a large number of career paths and we know the career outcomes for the alums for thousands of schools globally. We believe we are uniquely positioned to help university students build a path from college to their career. In the future, you could also foresee a time when highschool students apply to colleges and specific programs using the career outcome data of alums of that college/program, which they will find on LinkedIn. We are only just getting started with services for this key stakeholder group.

I am often hungrier while writing an article about food rather than while I’m cooking it. Thinking can make us pretty hungry. According to medical researchers, our brain cells need double the energy as the other cells in our body, causing our body to crave food to restore this energy during intellectual activities like test prep.

So if you are preparing for standardized tests and often get the munchies, it is merely your brain insisting on a glucose boost. Sorry to be a damper on a guilt free study binge by stating the obvious, but over-snacking and eating the wrong things during your hunger pangs will certainly be counterproductive. It can cause your brain to get too much glucose and slow down. Not so smart after all!

However, there is nothing better than a healthy snack to keep your mental juices flowing.  So why don’t we make this snack time doubly productive by eating not just healthy but brainy foods too.

There are four main nutritional components that help our brains function to their full potential and even reinforce new brain cells. Here is a list of healthy powder foods that will provide the right nourishment for those long study days.

1. Glucose (carbohydrate) – The energy giver
   
   • Banana smoothies
   • Bean and corn salads
   • Popcorn
   • Lentil soups
   • Whole grain crackers with hummus

    

2. Fatty acids (omega 3-6) – The brain lubricant
   • Smoked salmon or grilled sardine fingers snacks
   • Avocado and chia smoothie
   • Walnuts
   • Cashew nuts
   • Flax seed rich energy bars
   • Tahini (sesame paste) dip

3. Antioxidants – The restorer
   
   • All kinds of berries
   • Spinach soups
   • Steamed garlic broccoli
   • DIY Energy drink: Coconut water with chia seeds
   • A variety of teas

    

4. Amino acids (protein) – The protector
   
   • Grilled fish, meat, liver and tofu snacks
   • Egg white salads
   • Yogurt snacks with honey and flax powder

And here are two simple and quick recipes for you and your study buddy.

AVOCADO SMOOTHIE

Serves – 2 glasses
Prep time – 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 avocado
3 tablespoons chopped dates
5 tablespoons 0% fat greek yogurt
½ cup Soymilk
¾ cup water
2 tablespoons chia seeds

Methods:

Mix the soymilk, water and chia seeds in a glass and leave aside letting the chia seeds absorb the water and fluff up.

Put the avocado, dates and greek yogurt in a blender and blend till they form a smooth paste.

Put the avocado paste in a mixing bowl with the soymilk mix and gently combine the ingredients together with a spatula.

Chill in the refrigerator and drink the cold avocado smoothie during your study break to give your brain a jumpstart!

BEAN SALAD

Serves – 3
Prep time – 20 minutes

Ingredients:

½ cup red beans
½ cup sweet corn
½ cup chopped coriander leaves
¼ cup spring onions
¼ cup chopped walnuts

Dressing:

½ a lime, juiced
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon paprika powder
1 teaspoon honey

Method:

Mix together all the ingredients for the dressing and leave aside.
Put the remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl and toss till the produce have come together nicely.

Mix in the dressing and serve chilled.

Remember to graze through your study days, eat nutritious snacks and keep it light.

Enjoy!

When should students applying for MBA to Ivy League schools start their application process?

At ReachIvy we start working with students up to 4 years before as it takes time to build all aspects of a compelling application.   We have students starting as early as the completion of their undergraduate degree.  We coach and mentor students, understand who they really are and create achievable benchmarks for them.  Students also need time to research the universities and programs, take the necessary standardized tests (e.g. GMAT, TOEFL), gather letters of recommendations, frame essays, organize funding and much more.

How important is the GMAT score in the admissions process?

GMAT is an important aspect of the admissions process as it provides the schools with your academic potential, however it is only one piece of the puzzle. Most universities have a holistic approach and they weigh all aspects of the application, including essays, letters of recommendation, work experience and extra-curricular activities.  Thus, a high GMAT score does not guarantee admission to a top school.

What are your top 5 must do tips in the application process?

1. Start early – get a head start.  Begin your research and exploring potential options early.
2. Stay organized – Make lists and keep track of deadlines.
3. Involve your family – they are a great resource and may know you better than you think.
4. Engage in extra-curricular activities – get involved in activities at your school/college/club/community.
5. Be a leader – take initiatives in your areas of interest.

Are ECAs really all the crucial or is it more a checkbox for the application?

Extra-curricular activities are a decisive part of the application.  MBA Schools are looking for leaders and individuals who will give back to the school.  The extra-curricular activities that you undertake are a reflection of who you are and can provide invaluable insights to the admissions committee that your grades may not reflect.  Additionally, these activities outside of work and the classroom will provide you with diverse experiences to enhance your essays.

How many schools should students apply to and in which round?

We recommend applying to about 5 schools. Most Universities have 3 to 4 rounds; we advise applying to your top choices in the first and second round.  The early bird catches the worm!

Did you study with a partner or by yourself for the GMAT? If yes, why?

I studied by myself for the GMAT as none of my friends were taking it around the same time. At the time of my GMAT prep I was running my start-up Dream11.com and had long working hours, which meant studying at odd hours of the night and squeezing in time on free weekends. I was not able to find a study partner in my city who had a similar educational background and studied during my time preference. More importantly, I would have wanted someone with a similar score & college aspirations as mine but did not have a platform of finding such a study partner.

What resources did you use for the GMAT?

I primarily used Manhattan GMAT books & prep courses as well as Karan Gupta Tutorials

Did you use a college counselor? Which?

While applying to CBS I took advice from ReachIvy

Would it have helped to have a StudyPal in your city to prepare with? Would you have used StudyPal.co?

Yes, it would have helped to keep me motivated and share the load of balancing my work and test prep with another who was going through what I was. Moreover, if the study timings matched and I could find someone who was at a similar level of preparedness to me, I would definitely have used StudyPal.co

Can you provide a few lines on your experience at MBA and life in NYC

Columbia is an awesome fit because its right in the middle of NYC so I have the best of everything – Wall Street, Silicon Alley, Restaurants, Nightlife.

CBS’s strong Entrepreneurship program, focusing on hands-on learning, lends well to learning & growing of my start-up Dream11.com.