DEFINE YOUR GMAT

STRATEGY
& YOUR OWN STUDY Plan

©
Scope of this Session

STRATEGY SESSION #1 STRATEGY SESSION #2

Same Study plan – Focus on STAGE

1. GMAT Scoring 2 – Refinement
2. How to define your target split
3. High level 60 day plan (2 stage 1. How to get ready for mocks
plan • What to study
4. Focus on STAGE 1 • Prior preparation for mocks
 The sequence in which to • Etc.
study 2. How to review your mocks
 How to tackle quant 3. How to create a 30 day
5. How to study refinement plan (up to 5 mocks)
 Focus on core skills 4. Key metrics that you need to
track throughout the process
• Takt Time
• Total Productive Time
• Accuracy

©
Agenda of the Session

Get Ready for Mocks Evaluate Mocks Last 30 day Plan

1. Mentally Prepared 1. Allocate time

1. Understand Str/Wk.
2. Metrics 2. Take Vacation
2. Set goals

Get you ready for the GMAT 30 days before the exam.

©
Upcoming Free Sessions in July

Session Name Date/Time

Tactical Strategies to Ace the GMAT July 7
CR1 - Prethinking for CR Assumptions July 15
SC1 - Importance of Meaning July 21
GMAT Strategy Session #1 July 28

Entry limited by the # of participants we can accommodate in our meeting room

©
High level 2 Phase Study Plan
30-50 days Or 30 days or
80 hrs. 60 hrs.
1 2
Learn Core Skills Refine & Improve

Mock 0 Session 1 Mock 1 Mock 2 ………….. Mock 5

This session

 Assumptions: 20 hrs per week; 4 weeks per month (2 days off)

 Access to OG and other relevant material

 Most non-natives require 200+ hrs of effort to achieve their

Take dream score
Away  There are people who have done this in 45 days with
diligent effort
©
This stage could have a 70 point impact on your score
STAGE 1 STAGE 2

710 +
700
GMAT Score

650
600

“My plan and the focus

550 on application made
the difference this
500

time” -Aparajita 760

500

Day 0 Day 10 Day 45 Day 75

Prep duration
©
Who are you?

1. E-GMAT Customer
2. Someone who is
evaluating e-GMAT
offerings
3. Neither

©
Part 1 – Getting Ready for Mocks

Get Ready for Mocks

MOCK

1. Mentally Prepared
2. Metrics

Don’t let this happen to you

©
What is the Purpose of Mocks

1. Your accuracy in various sections

Test of 2. Can you solve problems of different kinds
Ability “together” P
3. Your strengths and weaknesses

Timing How long do you take to solve problems? P

Endurance What impact does fatigue have on your performance? P

Strategy Your Mock Strategy T

©
E-GMAT customers – what should you have studied for mocks

Learn Core Skills

Tackle Study Study Study

Today quant SC CR RC

Based on SC study CR study RC study

Mock
Mock plan plan plan

Time 20 hrs/1 40 hrs 35 hrs 30 hrs

Spent week

Where Any good 1. E-GMAT 1. E-GMAT 1. E-GMAT

quant 2. Live Sessions 2. Live Sessions 2. Live Sessions
to 3. OG 12 3. OG 12
book 3. OG 12
study 4. Verbal Review 4. Verbal Review 4. Verbal Review

©
Your Progression of exercises (e-GMAT Customers)

Level
Application OG
Conceptual Qualifying
files Questions
exercises

1000+ 600 = 1600 Questions

Take You should have nailed both the process and timing for
Away individual sections
©
Start with 25 Question Mixed Quizzes
What is the Purpose? METRICS
1. Ensure command over Accuracy = 70% or more
process Define your Takt Time for each Section
2. Timing is nailed
3. Stamina build up
4. Curb anxiety
Help Videos

How to do this? 1. How to Access Grockit Mock CATs

1. Create a Verbal Quiz in 2. How to Use Skill Data at Grockit -
Grockit 3. How to Access your Strengths and
2. The quiz should have no Weaknesses using Grockit
less than 25 questions
3. Should include all 3
sections (SC/CR/RC)
4. The quiz should be timed

Take
Away Do At least 2 quizzes, Make sure that you are not (very) anxious
©
How to create a custom Quiz in Grockit

Click on
“Create
Game”

©
So what is Takt Time
Takt time, derived from the German Why is Takt Time important?
word Taktzeit which translates to cycle 1. Helps budget timing in mocks.
time, sets the pace for industrial 2. Proves that you cannot solve more
manufacturing lines questions in less time without impacting
=> Time required to answer a question accuracy
without compromising accuracy.
CR Accuracy Variation How can you calculate Takt Time?

Your accuracy Suffers if you have 1. Grockit quiz with SC/C/RC question
less time types.
2. From Mocks
80%

50%

1:45 Mins 1:25 Mins

©
Getting Takt Time from Grockit Analytics
3 2

©
What impact could Takt Time have
Takt time, derived from the German
word Taktzeit which translates
to cycle time, sets the pace for
industrial manufacturing lines

Your accuracy Suffers if you have Time Management can have up to

less time 10 point impact on your score
80% 38/60

50% 30/60

1:45 Mins 1:25 Mins Good Mgmt Poor Mgmt

Take
Away It also clouds your evaluation of mocks (more later)
©
How to use this Takt Time?
Attributes of Takt Time
1. It varies from person to person “Reduced SC Takt time
2. It cannot be changed 2 days before your from 1:30 to 1:10
without impacting
mock/test
accuracy” -Jai 720
3. It can be changed with persistent effort

How can you use Takt Time?

Strategize Timing in Mocks Strategize Preparation

Scenario: You have 10 minutes Make concious effort to

and 8 Questions. Your Takt improve your Takt Time by
Time in SC is 1:25, CR is 1: 45,
RC is 2:00 minutes. How will 1. Internalizing process.
you proceed further 2. Improving understanding of
concepts.
3. Improving Comprehension.

©
Factors that affect timing
CR Assumption Question

Student 1 Student 2
• Ability to read and Understand
30-45 S 30 S
comprehend the
argument
• Understanding of
the concepts
• Attack Strategy
Pre-think the 15 S 0S
(Process) answer
• Familiarity with
question types
• Agility of the mind Evaluate the 60 -
15-30 S
answer 150S
choices
60 to 90 90 to 180
©
seconds Seconds
Your Timing Strategy for Mock (Verbal Only)
Q 40

Maintain
Question Number

Maintain Your
Q 30

Maintain Percentile
Q 20

Improve.

Get to your
Q 10

Improve target Percentile

.

55 mins 35 mins 17 mins 1 mins

Time left ©
 Evaluate Mocks

PART 2
HOW TO REVIEW
YOUR MOCK TEST
1. Understand Str/Wk.
2. Set goals

©
Areas of Weakness

Incorrect responses

+2
Not sure of the Question
Weakness
answer
Goal

Took more time than

average1 to answer
(2.5 mins)

1. Note some questions and question types will take longer (example Bold Face)

These 3 categories will apply to each section

©
What to monitor in mock test
What to Monitor How to Monitor? Why is it important?
Accuracy for a particular %age of questions correct Easy win, ensures instant
question type of that question type score improvement.
Time to answer question Self explanatory Implies a weakness,
> 30 seconds more than either in strategy or
Takt Time understanding
Wrong answers – Self explanatory Careless mistakes
answered in less than
average time
Your actual time (every Check the test timing Large deviation may have
5/10 questions) Vs. a negative impact on your
Planned time accuracy
Total Productive Time Time taken to answer Need to maximize it to
questions correctly maximize score

Take
Away Have a +2/+3 improvement goal for your next mock.
©
Drill Down Example

The Same

Looks Ok

Very Close

Verbal Score = 36
©
Analysis - CR

Strategy

Comprehension

1. Improve Evaluate and Weaken accuracy

2. Revise Conclusion to improve timing ©
Analysis- RC

1. Review Reading Strategies, Make sure that you comprehend the

passage to avoid re-reading.
2. Review Inference and Detail files.
©
Analysis-SC

Major revision

©
What to do after the Analysis is complete?
List Top Three Weaknesses 1. Mitigation Plan for Top 2
2. Time required for
1. RC Detail Questions (2 Questions) mitigation (add 20% more)
2. RC Inference Questions (2 Questions) 3. Resources to be used
3. CR Weaken Questions (2 Questions) • Conceptual
• Practice

List Top Three Careless Mistakes (Reasons)

1. Mitigation Plan for Top 2
2. Mental notes
1. Reason 1
3. Practice To ensure success
2. Reason 2
3. Reason 3

Other Metrics
1. Takt Time for each section
2. Total Productive Time for the test
Take
Away Have a +2/+3 question goal for your next mock.
©
Total Productive Time – New Term
Total Productive Time => The amount of time spent on answering questions
correctly in a mock test.
Use Case: Applicant 1 with Mock score 35

Right Wrong
# of questions 23 18
Time spent 41:20 33:40
Avg. Time/question 1:47 1:52

• Clearly, this applicant tried to answer all questions correctly and did
not try to improve his total productive time
• As you will see in the spreadsheet; he was 8 minutes behind by the
time he reached question #22
• He had a 21 percentile drop from 98 (#21) to 77 (#41)

©
A few tips ….

1. Its better to skip 1 question every now and then if you

are falling behind.
2. Try to adhere to these timing strategies while appearing
for mock.
3. Maximize your total productive time to maximize your
mock score.
4. Use your knowledge of relative section accuracies/Takt
Time while skipping a question.

©
CREATING YOUR LAST
30 DAYS PLAN

©
Use Case: Quant Whiz, who has recently scored 630 on the GMATPrep

Total Math Math Verbl Overall CR-

score score V score correct correct Score SC - Corr Corr RC - Corr
RC 7/13 CR
630 47 30 30 23 50 67 53
8/12 SC 8/16

Tackle Tackle Tackle Tackle

Today quant SC RC CR

Q49/50 Q49/50 Q49/50 Q50/51

V 29-31 V 32-34 V 33-35 V 35-37
Goals SC = 70% RC = 70% CR= 75%+
SC = 70%+ RC =70%+
SC =70%+

Mock
Test

Time to 4 days/10 8 days/30 8 days/30 5 days/15

MOck hrs hrs hrs hrs
©
You define how much time you need.

Build Muscle

Lose Weight
©
◄ September ~ October 2011 ~ November ►
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1
(630, Q47, V30)
(RC 7/13, CR 8/12, SC 8/16)

Define your Q
Weakness

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Prepare for next

Work on your Q Revise mock,
Work on your Q Work on your Q mock. Revise all
Weakness - notice the area Tackle SC
Weakness - Weakness - previous mocks
revise theory for improvement
and all sections
Mock test
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Prepare for next Prepare for next
mock. Revise all mock. Revise all
Tackle SC SC SC SC SC
previous mocks previous mocks
and all sections and all sections
16 17 18 19 20 21 22

RC (holiday) RC RC RC RC

Mock test Break

23 24 25 26 27 28 29
Prepare for next Prepare for next
mock. Revise all mock. Revise all
CR CR CR CR
previous mocks previous mocks
and all sections Mock test and all sections
30 31 Notes:

Mock test ©
Best Practices

1. Accuracy first, timing next.

2. If you accuracy is less than 65% in any section, then
work on fundamentals (e-GMAT course can help you
there)
3. Have a 2/3 Question goal for improvement for each
mock.
4. Make sure that you tackle your weakest areas
5. Knowing your Takt Time can help you make judicious
decisions in the mock.
6. Aim to improve your Total Productive Time with every
mock.

©
People have benefitted tremendously in last 30 days

https://e-gmat.com/blogs/?category_name=success

©
Questions

©
 Verbal Live Prep
World’s First and Only Course to offer
Verbal Score Improvement Guarantee

©
4th July and Founder’s B’day Special

Verbal Live Prep Only $329 $299

©
E-GMAT provides higher score improvement than
MGMAT does

87 Point
Improvement 77 Point
(Verbal Only) Improvement
(Both Quant
and Verbal )

Based on GMATClub Reviews

©
More non-natives succeed using e-GMAT

E-GMAT 44

MGMAT 14

VERITAS 8

GMATPILL 7

MAGOOSH 6

# of reviews by Non-Natives
Based on GMATClub Reviews
©
Verbal Live Prep Offers More of everything

At lower price…….

©
What is included in Verbal Live Prep?

e-GMAT SC e-GMAT CR e-GMAT RC

36+ hours of On Demand World Class

Live Sessions Sessions Support

5 Practice CATs GMAT Strategy 4000 Questions

Session

©
Tactical Strategies for your Mocks

MOCK

Don’t let this happen to you