Most of the individuals who prepare for the GMAT are working professionals. They are faced with a lot of hurdles like – work-life balance, hectic schedules, career growth, peer pressure to name a few. When they are already hard-pressed for the time they tend to mismanage the little time available for the GMAT preparation. This results in them being unable to attain a good GMAT score of 700 and above to be able to gain admissions into the top B-schools in the world.

  • Not forming a study plan to prepare for the GMAT

This is one of the first steps which any individual preparing for the exam must ensure to complete. The GMAT exam is a highly competitive one and it requires hours of dedicated study and effort. It evaluates a candidate’s competencies in four main sections : 

  • Analytical writing
  • Verbal Reasoning
  • Quantitative Reasoning
  • Integrated Reasoning

You must chart out a detailed study plan which includes all the topics and the syllabus of the above-mentioned sections. This also assists you so that you don’t miss out on any important topics while studying. Additionally, you can attempt mock exams which will give you an understanding of your strengths and weaknesses. You can alter your study plan accordingly.

  • Irregular Study hours

As already mentioned above, most working professionals have a huge constraint with time. This leads to them either studying for short periods of time or skipping study hours altogether. Both will hamper your preparation efforts for the GMAT exam in a significant manner. To be able to score above 650 you will have to commit yourself to 2-3 hours of study on a daily basis instead of studying only on the weekends. Postponing your study hours will not assist you in any way and will result in derailing off your study plan. Make sure you stick to your timetable in a disciplined manner to be able to reach your target GMAT score.

  • Setting an unrealistic goal and exhausting yourself

While it is crucial to have a good study plan in place it is also necessary to set realistic goals and be able to achieve them. You must not have targets that are unreasonable and become harsh on yourself in turn. These are negative traits that will not help you in the process to achieve your target GMAT scores. Always allow time to replenish yourself so that you can study with a fresh mind and learn the concepts in a quicker manner.

  • Being unaware of your weaknesses

Since the GMAT is a skill-based exam as mentioned earlier, it is essential that you are aware of your weaknesses just like your strengths. You should ensure that you work hard to improve on the subjects you are weak in so that you don’t face any issues while attempting the GMAT exam. Attempt mock exams on a regular basis and also proceed to solve sample question papers from time to time. These will help you to understand the structure of the GMAT exam, time management strategies, and also the pattern of the difficulty level of the questions.

  • Using inappropriate study material or too many study materials

There is an abundance of resources available online and this means you are spoilt for choice when selecting the materials to study for the GMAT. However, not all of them are of good calibre and you will have to be cautious before you proceed to choose them. We would recommend that you use study materials from GMAC, the official creators of the GMAT exam. The Official Guides for the Verbal and Quantitative section will have practice questions that have previously been asked on the GMAT along with the solutions for the same. Along with official guides, you must also invest time in obtaining study materials that explain concepts in a clear manner.

You must be aware that preparing for the GMAT is not an easy task especially if you are a working professional. We hope this article will guide you towards avoiding these simple errors so that you are able to achieve your target score on the GMAT exam.

Good luck!

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