Gmat exam success_1 potx

For better or for worse, which business school you attenddepends to some degree upon how well you do on the Graduate Management Admissions Test®GMAT®.Like the SAT®exam, ACT Assessment®,

L e a r n i n g E x p r e s s ® ’ s

SUCCESS

In Only 4 Steps!

L e a r n i n g E x p r e s s ® ’ s

EXAM SUCCESS

1 Graduate Management Admission Test—Study guides.

2 Management—Examinations, questions, etc I Schultz, Colleen

A b o u t t h e A u t h o r s

Elizabeth Chesla is the author of TOEFL Exam Success, ACT Exam Success, GED Success, Reading

Compre-hension Success, Write Better Essays, and many other writing and reading guides and test preparation books.

She lives in South Orange, New Jersey

Colleen Schultz is a math teacher from Binghamton, New York She is a contributing writer for 501 Math

Word Problems, 501 Quantitative Comparison Questions, and an item writer for several high-stakes math tests.

PART I Preparing for the GMAT 1

Preparing for the Computer-Based GMAT Exam 7

Getting Your Scores to Schools 12

GMAT Testing Center Rules and Regulations 13Registering for the GMAT Exam 16

You Are Worth It: Motivational and Relaxation Techniques that Work 34Learning Strategies and Test-Taking Techniques 37

Contents

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How to De-Stress 41

Multiple-Choice Strategies 44

Reading Comprehension Questions 64Critical Reasoning Questions 65Sentence Correction Questions 66

Distinguishing between Fact and Opinion 76Identifying Specific Facts and Details 78Essay Types and Organizational Patterns 79

24 Rules for Grammar and Style 110

Reading Comprehension Questions 138Critical Reasoning Questions 139Sentence Correction Questions 141

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Chapter 9 Verb Forms 143

How the Essays Are Scored 225

Seven Steps for Writing a Strong AWA Essay 236

Writing Correctly: The Conventions of Standard Written English 252

150 Most Commonly Misspelled Words 265

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Chapter 16 Tips and Strategies for the AWA 267

General Writing Strategies 267

Analysis of an Issue Sample Prompts 272Analysis of an Argument Sample Prompts 282Answers and Explanations 292

Problem Solving Questions 308Data Sufficiency Questions 310

About the Types of Questions 318

Multiplying and Factoring Polynomials 344Solving Quadratic Equations 344Rational Expressions and Equations: 347

Measurement and Geometry 365

– C O N T E N T S –

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P A R T

Preparing for the GMAT

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A graduate degree in business or management can transform your professional life, opening the door to motions, new opportunities, and new careers For better or for worse, which business school you attenddepends to some degree upon how well you do on the Graduate Management Admissions Test®(GMAT®).Like the SAT®exam, ACT Assessment®, and GRE®test, the GMAT exam is a standardized test designed

pro-to help schools determine how well you might succeed in their graduate program Of course, the GMAT exam

is just one of the tools schools use to assess a candidate’s knowledge and skills, and it is by no means a

defin-itive measure But it is an important test, and because your scores can determine your eligibility for certainprograms and give you an edge over other candidates, it is important that you do well on the exam

The GMAT exam is sponsored by the Graduate Management Admission Council®(GMAC®), a profit association of representatives from business schools around the world Nearly 2,000 business schoolsuse the GMAT exam, which is developed and administered by the Educational Testing Service®(ETS®), thesame organization that develops and administers a number of other standardized tests including the SAT andTOEFL®exams The majority of people taking the GMAT exam seek to enter MBA programs, but an increas-ing number of other graduate business and management programs are now offered, and many of these pro-grams also use the GMAT exam to assess the qualifications of applicants

non-C H A P T E R

About the GMAT Exam

Planning to apply to a graduate business or management degreeprogram? Then you need to find out all you can about the GMAT®

exam so you can do your best on the exam This chapter will tell youeverything you need to know to get started You will learn how thetest is structured and scored, how to register, and what proceduresand regulations to expect at the testing center

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On the Road to a Graduate Degree

Although the MBA is still the most popular graduate business degree, a growing number of other graduate-levelbusiness and management programs are becoming available Taking the GMAT exam can help you apply forprograms that offer several different graduate degrees, including the following:

• Master of Business Administration (MBA)

• Master of Science in Management

• Master of Public Administration (MPA)

• Master of Science in Financial Engineering

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 A n O v e r v i e w o f t h e G M AT E x a m

Nearly 50 years ago, the GMAC was founded with the goal it maintains today: to develop a standardizedassessment tool for business school candidates Although the GMAT exam has evolved over the years, thethree-and-a-half-hour exam still tests candidates in three main areas, measuring analytical writing, verbal,and quantitative skills

The Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA)

The first part of the GMAT exam, the Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA), is designed to measure your ity to analyze ideas and to write clearly and effectively about those ideas You will be asked to write two sep-

abil-arate essays: one that analyzes an issue and one that analyzes an argument You will have 30 minutes for each

essay

In the Analysis of an Issue section, you will be presented with a short passage (one paragraph) about

an issue, such as whether new technologies create or destroy more jobs or whether education is the most

important key to success You will be asked to take a position on this issue and explain your position In the

Analysis of an Argument section, you will be presented with a short argument (again, just one paragraph)

and be asked to critique that argument In this essay, you should not present your own point of view but rather

assess the logic of the argument that has been presented

In both cases, the topics will be general enough for every test taker to write about Prior knowledge ofthe subject matter may be helpful, but it is not required It is more important to show your ability to take andsupport a position and your ability to analyze the effectiveness of an argument

The Quantitative Section

The Quantitative section is the second part of the test and includes 37 multiple-choice questions covering twoareas of mathematics: data sufficiency and problem solving You will have 75 minutes to answer thesequestions

The problem solving questions will constitute approximately 60% of the exam (22 questions) The lems will test your knowledge of basic math facts and skills covered in high school, including arithmetic,

prob-• Over 1,700 schools/programs use GMAT scores in the admissions process.

• The first GMAT exam was developed and administered nearly 50 years ago

• In 2002, over 150,000 people took the GMAT exam in the United States

• In 2002, over 75,000 people took the GMAT exam in locations outside the United States

• Nearly 7% more GMAT exams were given in 2002 than in 2001 in the United States

• Over 4% more GMAT exams were given elsewhere in the world in 2002 than in 2001

• Approximately 20% of people who take the GMAT exam take it more than once Most repeat testers takethe test two or three times

GMAT Exam Facts

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algebra, geometry, word problems, and interpreting charts and graphs These questions will emphasize yourunderstanding of mathematical concepts, although you will also need to know basic math procedures in order

to select the correct answer

The data sufficiency questions constitute the remaining 40% of the test and are quite different in nature.For these questions, you do not actually need to solve a problem or make a calculation Instead, you will bepresented with two items of information and a question You must determine whether the information pre-sented is sufficient to accurately answer the question or if you need more data to solve the problem Theanswer choices will ask you to identify which item of information is insufficient if more data is indeedrequired

The Verbal Section

The third and final part of the GMAT exam is the Verbal section You will have another 75 minutes to answer

41 multiple-choice questions These questions cover three areas: reading comprehension, critical reasoning,and sentence correction Approximately one-third of the questions will fall into each category

The reading comprehension questions will be based on short passages (150 to 350 words) about ics ranging from the social sciences to the physical and biological sciences to business, the arts, and human-ities You may be asked about the main idea of the passage, the author’s support for that main idea,argumentative strategies, specific facts and details in the text, and inferences that can be drawn from the pas-sage You can expect the passages to be rather sophisticated, much like the reading material you will beexposed to in business school

top-The critical reasoning questions present you with a short reading passage (50 to 100 words) that makes

an argument about a general topic You will be asked about the structure of the argument, including itsconclusion and assumptions; about the quality of the argument, including its strengths and weaknesses; andabout plans of action based upon the argument, including what actions are appropriate and effective based

on the text Again, this is great training for the business world

The sentence correction questions present you with a sentence with part or all of the sentence lined You must choose the answer that best expresses the idea of the sentence To determine the best answer,you will need to consider the grammar and usage, diction, sentence structure, sentence logic, and tone

under-What the GMAT Exam Is and Is Not

Like all standardized tests, the GMAT exam is just one measure of your potential success in a graduate ness or management program A strong correlation can be made between high performance on the GMAT examand success in the first year of business school However, the exam is designed to measure a targeted set ofknowledge and skills, and does not take into account other factors that are essential to academic success.The GMAT exam is designed to measure the following:

busi-• your ability to take a position on an issue and support it

• your ability to critique an argument

• your ability to organize ideas and convey them clearly in writing

• your ability to express your ideas in logical, correct, and effective sentences

• your ability to conduct basic mathematical operations

• your ability to determine what data is necessary to solve problems, especially those you might encounter

in real business situations

• how well you understand what you read

• your ability to identify the logic and assumptions behind an argument

• your knowledge of techniques and strategies for effective writing

• your knowledge of the conventions of standard written English

The GMAT exam is not designed to measure the following:

• what you know about business or technology

• your job skills and experience

• your computer skills

• how well you study or manage your time

• your ability to manage others

• your interpersonal skills

• how well you learned content from your specific undergraduate or other degree areas

• other important character traits, such as your level of motivation, creativity, and self-discipline

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 C o m p u t e r- A d a p t i v e Te s t ( C AT )

Computer technology has transformed standardized tests in many ways In the past, people who took theGMAT exam would all receive the same test (or one of several versions of the same test) Now, with its newcomputer-adaptive format, the GMAT exam’s Quantitative and Verbal sections present each test taker with

a unique test designed to more accurately measure his or her ability in the subject

On the GMAT exam, your questions will be drawn from a pool of possible questions, beginning with

a question of moderate difficulty This process of dynamic question selection will continue throughout theentire test Each question will be selected based upon the level of the previous question and whether or not

The GMAC has switched the GMAT exam from a paper-based exam to a CAT for several reasons One reason

is that computer tests are cheaper to develop, administer, and score than traditional paper exams Another son is that computer-adaptive exams help maintain the confidentiality of test items and prevent cheating on theexam Because no two test takers ever have the same test, it is very difficult for individuals to assist each otherduring the exam

rea-More importantly, for business schools, the CAT (at least ostensibly) provides a more accurate measure of

a student’s verbal and quantitative ability than paper-based exams For test takers anxious to know their scores,the CAT provides an instant (but unofficial) score for the Verbal and Quantitative sections of the exam

Why a CAT?

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you answered that question correctly The test continuously adjusts to your skill level The computer-adaptivetest (CAT) is designed to adjust the level of difficulty of the questions to the performance of the test taker.This means that if you answer a question of medium difficulty correctly, the next question will probably bemore difficult However, if you answer it incorrectly, the next question will probably be easier On a CAT, youearn more credit for answering a hard question correctly than for answering an easy question correctly.However, the questions will not increase in difficulty infinitely if you continue to answer all questions cor-rectly, or at least the level will not increase at the same rate The degree of change will be significantly lowerbecause the program considers your answers to every question you have answered so far, not just the currentquestion The more questions you answer, the more knowledge about your skill level the computer has, andthe less dramatic the change in level will be as you proceed through the exam Indeed, by the fifth or sixth ques-tion, the CAT is likely to have honed in on the skill level it believes is appropriate for you Thus, an importanttest-taking strategy for the GMAT exam CAT is to answer the first five or six questions correctly Doing so willset your questions at a higher level for the exam, enabling you to earn more credit for each correct answer

In the Quantitative and Verbal sections, you must answer each question in the order in which it is sented Unlike a paper-based exam, the computer-based exam does not allow you to skip questions and comeback to them later; you must answer as you go You also cannot change your answer to a previous question

pre-or see the questions that follow

Because the test is timed, you must be sure not to spend too much time on any one question On a CATsuch as the GMAT exam, your best bet is to take an educated guess at questions you cannot answer If youcan eliminate one or two choices, you dramatically increase your chances of answering correctly and can thenmove on to the next question This is important because, as you will see in the scoring section, the number

of questions you answer is a key factor in your score

 Preparing for the Computer-Based GMAT Exam

Taking a computer-based test is a very different experience from taking a traditional paper-based exam.Although the Verbal and Quantitative sections require very little computer skill, you will need some basiccomputer experience More important, you need at least minimal word-processing skills to complete your

Practice Your Computer Skills

On the GMAT computer-based test, you will need to know the following:

• how to use a mouse

• how to enter an answer

• how to move to the next question

• how to use a word processor (for typing your AWA essays)

• how to use the HELP function

The GMAC offers a free tutorial to help you become comfortable with the computer skills you will need for theGMAT exam You can download this software from the GMAT website at www.mba.com/mba/TaketheGMAT/ToolsToHelpYouPrepare/GMATPrepProducts/GMATTutorialsSoftware.htm

NOTE: The tutorial is not compatible with Macintosh®computers

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AWA essays You are already under enough pressure to try to write two essays in an hour If you are not fortable typing, and if you do not know basic word-processing functions such as how to delete or move text,you may have a difficult time writing a successful essay

com-If you are not experienced with computers, then part of your GMAT exam preparation time mustinclude learning computer skills Here are some specific tips to help you improve your computer skills to reachpeak performance on the GMAT exam:

■ Practice using a mouse Get comfortable with the movement of the arrow and clicking around on thecomputer screen

■ Learn how to move up and down a page Practice using the scroll bar and the arrow keys

■ Get a typing tutorial You can learn proper hand and finger positions that will help you type faster Onewebsite that offers help is www.typing-tutorial.com

■ Learn to highlight, delete, and copy and paste text within a document Get comfortable with the space, delete, and arrow keys so you can move around quickly within a document Practice typing andchanging text so that you can be sure not to delete text that you want to keep

back-■ Practice typing your essay on the computer Use the sample topics listed in Part III and on the GMATwebsite at www.mba.com/mba/TaketheGMAT/Tools/AWATopics2001.htm Set a timer so you get used

to the 30-minute time limit

The GMAC offers its own GMAT computer tutorials to help you develop the computer skills you needfor the exam You can download these tutorials at www.mba.com/mba/TaketheGMAT/ToolsToHelpYouPre-pare/GMATPrepProducts/GMATTutorialsSoftware.htm

 How the GMAT Exam Is Scored

Your GMAT score report will actually include four scores: a Verbal section score, a Quantitative section score,

a Total score, and an AWA score Your report will show these scores for the three most recent exams withinthe last five years It will also include information you provided to the GMAC, including your gender, date

of birth, Social Security number, undergraduate institution, major, date of graduation, and intended area ofgraduate study

Verbal and Quantitative Scores

Your Verbal and Quantitative section scores will range between 0 to 60 This number will be computed based

on a formula that considers the number of correct answers, the number of incorrect answers, the number ofquestions answered, and the level of difficulty of the questions answered

Because the questions on the Quantitative and Verbal sections are weighted, answering a difficult

ques-tion correctly will count more than answering an easy quesques-tion correctly That is why it is so important, as

we noted earlier, to answer the first few questions correctly to help set a higher level of difficulty for your exam

In the Quantitative and Verbal sections, your score is determined by:

■ how many questions you answer

■ how many of those questions you answer correctly

■ the level of difficulty of each question you answer correctly

Total Score

The Total score is a combination of your Verbal and Quantitative scores scaled to a range between 200 to 800.According to the GMAC, two-thirds of GMAT Total scores are between 400 to 600

On Your Score Report

Your official GMAT score report will include four scores: