TotalGadha GMAT

Avinash

Thanks for such archival. It is encyclopedia for me. I’m looking forward for many more.

Anonymous

Hi Dagny,

The below links seem to have not been enabled.

cr-notes-by-charu (Download)
awa-essays (Download)
gmat-cliff-notes(Download)
gmat_verbal_notes_by_sumit(Download)
the-communique-quick-verbal-tips(Download)

When I click on them, it is taking me to a page with “No information found” page.

anila

hi TG,
I hav been a reg visitor of Totalgadha.com,bt i cld’nt resist myself frm appreciating the effort u put in….

Thanks a ton.
Keep up the gud wrk.
Bye.

Anurag Singhal

However i m preparing for CAT 09 from TATHAGAT only but still i follow this Bible GMAT resource site for useful info…as i too am interested to take GMAT sometime later down the line.
Thanks for such wonderful articles and resources.

raghu

H Dagny!!
You are such a sweet heart…you always know what we want..you have made life easy…i cannot simply say thanks for the efforts you have put to build this page, but cannot stop myself from acknowledging your efforts..you and dada(TG) rock!.
one request dagny when you find time kindly post a topic having an overview of what exactly is taught in finance and operations as in what would be the main subject matter and diverse branches of these specializations in which we can find a job..
and also can i know from which business school have you got your MBA and in which specialization
thanks again!
god bless you and dada!!!

Amit

Hats off to you ppl, really great effort .

Raghu

Hey,
Grt Site.
Will use it as my guide for GMAT 09 prep.
Cant ask for more..

Thnks for the help. U r just AWESOME…

Sharad

HI ma’m,

I wanted to share this with the rest of the gadhas. This is not my own material. It is a strategy that I found on the web and thought it may be usefull to anyone preparing for the dreaded GMAT. Note : There is reference to GMAT+, presume that this equates to THE OLD VERSION of PowerPrep.

————
English is not my native language, and I don’t have very good math background. But managed to get above 700 on GMAT by using following strategies.

First step: If you don’t have good math background, start with the official guide (even though it is not the best). Study closely the math review. If necessary study it several times and understand every single concept.

Second: If you have access to good basic book in statistics, read and practice several problems in concepts such as mean, mode, standard deviation, simple probability, probability with permutations and combinations. I strongly recommend Schaum’s outlines book on statistics by Murray Spiegel. This book is simply outstanding. ETS is asking more and more questions on combinations and probability.

Third: Word problems: ETS is testing 3 or 4 types of word questions. Study these in the Official guide closely. Practice algebra in any basic algebra book such as Schaum outline’s algebra book. For geometry, official guide is the best, but you have to read it closely several times and practice many questions. For ratios, percent, dismal problems, practice helps a lot. PR and Kaplan books also help on ratios, percent, etc.

Fourth: Be careful about the data-sufficiency questions. They can be tricky. With enough practice you can solve this problem.

Fifth: Like someone says one of the threads, practice! practice! Practice! If available, take 10 to 15 previous authenticate tests, practice them. In my case GMAT+ has helped me a lot. Please don’t debate with me on this. Nor I want to become yet another sales person of GMAT+ material. I have seen some dog fights on discussions about GMAT+. I only say it worked really well for me. I practiced all their latest material and analyzed each question. I try not to make same mistakes again after each test. I improved after each test. Last 5 practice tests I got above 700.

Verbal:My strategies work especially for sentence correction section: In sentence correction, there are only about 8 types of questions ETS is testing, but upto 40 variations within those 8 types. Go through all the 250 sentence correction questions in the official guide. Since in the official guide they do not publish all the patterns of questions (they publish about 1/3 of total patterns), you need to practice at least ten more actual tests from previous GMATs. PR or Kaplan does not have all the variations. You need to get previous GMAT tests, which are not published by ETS. Prepare a table that you can list your mistakes.

Break them in to: 1)almost always making mistakes. 2)sometimes. 3)few times.
Start from number one attack them. I recommend Princeton Review’s Grammar Smart, which has several idioms also. Go through this idioms list. It has also has all the important topics that ETS is testing. Minimize your errors. By doing this you can eliminate up to 95% of your mistakes. For me GMAT+ latest edition has helped me in sentence correction.

For arguments mainly concentrate on the official guide and practice more actual tests. Eliminate wrong answers first, so that you do not have to read them more than once and waste your time. Here time management is crucial. For arguments, they are testing only 5 or 6 types, which you can master easily.
Reading comprehension: Practicing actual tests and time management are the most important strategies. You do have to read closely. Just skim them and go to questions and try to locate the answers. Treat it just as an open book exam. Of course this a PR strategy also.
Someone said you do not make progress by simply analyzing your experience, but by analyzing your mistakes. This applies to GMAT also: You can make progress not simply by practice, but by analyzing your mistakes in your practice tests.

How to beat GMAT

Sentence correction: At the beginning, if necessary, buy a book on grammar (PR’s grammar smart is very good). Go through all the 250 questions several questions. This alone is not enough: remember that ETS does not publish its complete pattern of questions purposefully. Get atleast ten previous ETS tests, which are not published by the official guides before. You just practice and analyse not only wrong answers, but also right answers.

Reading comprehension: If you read very slowly, get a book on speed reading or reading comprehension such as PR’s speed reading book (I don’t remember the exact title. it is available at big book stores). This helped me a quite a bit. Or also you can get some software. Remember, ETS only asks very specific type of topics. If you practice enough you can capture all the types. With enough practice you can significantly improve your right answers. It is like a open book exam, for which you need some practice. At the initial stage give yourself more time than usually you get it in the actual test. With practice, slowly you improve the skills. After that practice under testing conditions.

Arguments: Again, ETS is testing very specific set of questions. You have to master these types with enough practice. Prepare a table and put them in the table type of question you get. Once you see the question, you should immediately able to recognize what ETS is trying to test. Once you reach this point, it is very easy for you to attack these questions. Again, practice is the key. More advanced strategy: practice LSAT analytical ability questions, which are more difficult than that of GMAT. once you get used to the LAST questions, GMAT questions will be a cake walk for you. I tried this also.

Finally, practice - analyse - improve. This should be your slogan.

Preparing Tables
For example, prepare a table with different types of sentence correction questions - Subject verb agreement, Idioms, etc. Whenever you see a question, mark your table at the corresponding type of question. For the subject verb agreement question type, there are about 3 to 4 variations, which ETS always tests. Same thing is true for other types. If you practice about 12 to 15 exams, you will capture all the variations for each type of question. Then study the concepts in those questions in which you are relatively week. By doing this procedure, you can definitely minimise your mistakes. I bet you can beat the ETS and ETS can’t go around it. With reasonable math and english skills, you can get above 700 as I did.
One advice for internatinal applicants. For international students, essays in GMAT are an important component in the test. If you have time, to through all of them and write two or three points for each so that you don’t need to wasted time in thinking about the appropriate ansewer. It is little time consuming, but it is worth trying.

Sandeep

Dagny U R JUST AMAZING…………this is literally an encyclopedia……..u deserve an award…in the near future when i ll get an admission to my dream schools i will personally come n meet u …with atleast a beautiful gift…

Amit

Hi mam,
You are the best .Keep up the good work.

Bhavesh

Hi Mam

Gud Work!!! Just wanted to clarify a doubt, I am done with the B.Tech(IT) course from a very reputed institute in 2008. As of now, working in Oracle India Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore since last 9 months, I plan to now prepare for GMAT (ONLY top 15 institutes preferred otherwise I am fine with CAT), just wanted to know whether my plan is feasible itself or not, as it generally requires 3-4 years of work-ex for admission in top b-schools. Also, as of now, I don’t have any extra-ordinary points in my profile which can make it outstanding in terms of extra curricular activities, etc. Please suggest if my understanding is correct and the way out.

Thanks

mbabound

Hey Dagny,

That’s a really nice compilation of links & resources for GMAT prep. Thanks a lot for putting in this effort..!

vasundhara

Hi Dagny,

My hat is off to you!! Awesome work. I am planning to appear for GMAT in a month’s time and its actually a bliss to come across a sit like this. I just shifted from Delhi some months back and with no professional guidance here, it’s amazing to seek help from Total gadha!. Thank a ton and loads of good wishes to you and TG!! Keep up the good work.

Harsha

Dagny ,

please add aldailyDOTcom to the list of online reading…. it helps a lot

Vivek

Dagny,
I really appreciate your efforts. This is a great site to keep yourself up to date and well on track with your GMAT callendar.

The sweetest thing about both of you is that you reply to all the posts that are sent. Kudos to the two of you for this.

Cheers!

Harsha

Dagny,

Thanks for adding aldaily to the list of online reading resources.

want you to add slateDOTcom as well.

Harsha

Harsha

Thanks!

Harmanpreet

Hi Dagny

Just a quick question. I was searching and was not able to find any doc which would suggest of how to prepare GMAT along With CAT.
I agree the patterns are different for both . But one cant deny the fact that if person prepare for GMAT Verbal, and CAT Quant it will become easy for him/her to crack exams of both format. Letme know your views, suggestion and informative links for me.
Well I am software engineerw ith 3 years of exp and currenlt I am on the path of preparing for both at the same time. Would really appreciate to know from you if sailing on both ships at same tie is dangerous for me?

Thanks and keep up the great work

pinky

hi dangy,
i have a concern and would like to address:i hold 3 years
+ experience and now moved to one step ahead and working as deputy manager.Sinse my responsibilities are more in office worried if i would get time to prepare.As for now i am planning to sit for exams on Jan end 2010 for gmat.so kindly suggest me.

pinky