Gmat is not a Crammers Gallore

GMAT Not a crammers Gallore:

I have been seeing lots of posts on how GMAT aspirants expect to see practice questions "as it is" in GMAT. Recently a 720 scorer on Scorechase [vs057] gave a very good advice (see his GMAT Voyage and experience). He has provided pretty good advice on his GMAT experience, but to top it all was his advice about MGs and VGs: do not mug them. And I completely agree. See my post about making best use of Scorechase MGs and VGs. Here is my take and justification of THE advice.

1. GMAC has a huge pool of questions.

GMAC has a pool of questions which dates back to many years. Ofcorse not all the old questions would be present in their database, but expecting to see some practice questions in the exam is like expecting to strike a bullseye with < 1/10000 probability

2. Cramming wont help: What if there is a slight change?

For example if the question you practiced is something like:

If A+B is odd, is B even?

1) A is even

2) A/B is odd

and the question in exam is

If A+B is odd, is B even?

1) A-B is even

2) A/B is odd

Obviosuly this is a simple example, but you would be surprised to see how many of them will mark the same answer for both the questions[claiming a dejavu]. If you understand the concept [in the question it is not given that A and B are integers], you can handle any such problem in exam. So MUGGING will actually cause you many problems than it is worth

3. B-Schools want smart people

B Schools want smart and analytical people. Thats one of the reason GMAT tests Math, CR and RC. If you mug and somehow get through the exam in flying colors [very less probability] there are all the chances that you would be caught in the interview

4. GMAT asks easy concepts

GMAT questions usually revolve around very basic concepts from high school. The questions are tricky, so instead of mugging carefulness and practice is needed. There are a few tough questions, but I can assure you if you practice Scorechase MGs, VGs for a couple of months or more, you will be fine. Remember practice is more important

5. Participation pays

GMAT Forums, like scorechase provide practice questions with fancy names (Math Gems and Verbal Gems). But these questions are very helpful to practice for GMAT, ofcourse books like Kaplan and Manhattan also have excellent questions for the same. If you just read the questions and solve them yourself, or see a tutor's solution : you are MISSING A LOT. What will you be missing

- A Chance to post your solution and thus feel confident of your approach

- A chance to make a mistake and be corrected. So that you dont make a mistake in real exam

- A chance to see if some other people have posted a "Shortcut" to the question

- A chance to see what mistakes others make when solving the questions, learn from their mistakes and guide them

- A chance to see that sometimes your guidance may be wrong too

- A big chance to make friends and make a network of MBA aspirants which may help you sooner or later when you yourself apply

So my dear MBA aspirants, make yourself proud and earn your GMAT score. Dont cram anything. Practice good questions such as standard GMAT books and MGs and VGs posted on Scorechase. Stop looking for questions which u can see on GMAT. Understand the concept. Learning a concept is easy and being in touch with your fundamentals is absolute essential to become a successful MBA candidate.

All the best for your Prep.