Manan Bhavsar, who scored a fabulous 740 on the GMAT, shares his tips on the study material and preparation strategy he used to score a 740. He shares that he faced challenges in quant at the beginning but doing all the difficult questions helped him break overconfidence and learn more.
He recommends watching all the basic videos, even if the concepts are familiar, as he was able to answer two questions in his final GMAT exam because of something he learned in those videos.
For verbal, Manan discusses the importance of verifying and going back to the passage while solving GMAT reading comprehension questions. He recommends thoroughly revising these materials and focusing on idioms and preferences to perform well under time pressure in the exam.
He breaks down the different types of questions in the GMAT, including sentence correction (SC), critical reasoning (CR), and reading comprehension (RC). He explains how he tackled challenging questions in CR and RC with focus and concentration, and how sectional mocks helped him improve his time management skills.
He advises test-takers to be mentally prepared to spend a few extra seconds on each question to avoid making mistakes in the early questions. He also emphasizes using smart answers and approximation techniques to simplify questions, especially in data sufficiency and geometry, as well as simplifying questions in one's head rather than immediately writing or making a diagram.
Finally, he shares his experience with a simple "a plus b whole square" question that initially threw him off but resulted in no trap, highlighting the importance of staying calm and avoiding overthinking.
Manan Bhavsar shares his experience of taking the GMAT where the verbal section had some challenging questions that could have been experimental, but he remained unfazed by it. He had a simple time strategy for the verbal section, which proved helpful, and he found long RC passages manageable after practicing. Although there were surprising score variations among test-takers, Manan's competitive score of 740 was a result of his determination to complete his GMAT journey. Overall, he recommends staying aware of the journey and seeking guidance to plan the next steps.
Manav’s GMAT Tips - Do’s and Don’ts:
Doing difficult questions is recommended to learn more
Avoid overconfidence
Be systematic with time
Use the GMAT club to find shortcuts for challenging questions.
For verbal, create a separate section for RC passages and use the elimination technique for SC questions.
Practice LSAT passages, ace SC Concepts by referring to Sentence Correction Practice and Concepts Book
Test-takers should simplify questions using approximation techniques and avoid overthinking.
Stay aware of the GMAT journey and seek guidance for planning the next steps
Listen to his prep journey!