Studying all the time is a stressful and tedious activity. This is especially true after your graduation. You might think that you have studied enough and that there is no need for any more education.

But when you aspire for getting into the top business schools in the hopes of landing a lucrative job, you have to put on your old student hat and hunker down. To get admission in the top 15 business schools is very difficult unless you score more than 700 points in the GMAT examination. Just ten years back, 709 was a good score. However, nowadays even a score of 720 might put you in the ‘can run too’ category like others, instead of making you the winning horse.

To get past 730, your preparation should be rigorous. This is not a scare tactic. It’s a caution against taking GMAT casually. Whether you want a top B-School or choose to get your MBA online, without enough preparation, it will feel like proposing to your beloved on the first date and getting shot down.

This makes it essential to grow your relationship with GMAT to enjoy that big job, top dollar and all luxuries associated with it. Well, you don’t need to serenade, but you get the gist.

Smart Study Vs Brute Force Attack

Sounds paradoxical when you put love into the context, doesn’t it? The fact is that there is a difference between studying and learning. Smarter studying relates to applying the knowledge instead of your by-heart and regurgitate sessions.

Some top scorers claim to have studied for 100 to 120 hours before their exam. Time spent studying matters, yes. However, it is not suitable as a valid metric. Your time spent depends on how much you learned and your capacity to grasp new concepts. Think of this as learning to become a manager first by managing your tasks in this grand campaign.

a Different Approach

This exam is set to check your ability in reasoning, decision making as well as your knowledge of mathematics and English. GMAT judges what you have studied in your school and college by testing your application skills. So, memorizing stuff is important but not an effective strategy.

The standard approach for finding the ‘secret recipe’ is redundant in case of GMAT. It’s very different than for example, solving equations. You need to find the data, segregate it and present a reason behind solving those equations. And that takes some serious verbal skills too. Train your brain for solving problems in everyday life. Stop asking ‘how,’ and start asking ‘why. ‘

Additional Tips

Your new strategy also needs extensive planning, as that is precisely what you’ll be doing once you are a ‘manager’. Here are some tips that successful managers follow:

• Time Management:

Start by making a schedule for each category. Then allocate the time on subjects in the order of difficulty. Stick to your timetable like rubber sticks to glue. Missing just one day’s worth of practice can seriously hamper your schedule.

• Set goals and targets:

Consider the athletes, who are passionate about their sport. They prepare from the age of 4 or 5to hope for a medal in Olympics. That’s their goal. What’s yours?

If having a large goal is difficult, break it down into achievable chunks and work towards them.

• Be practical:

Managers are known for their logical and practical attitude. So don’t get emotional about your study. Hating it won’t solve your problems. Accept, live and breathe your subjects instead and you won’t even have to think about it as a burden.

• Stop Multitasking

Do one thing at a time. Getting flooded with references and books is just a trailer for the incoming movie. Thinking about all issues at once will confuse you, which is not suitable for a future manager. Switch off that mobile, turn off the TV and create a distraction-free environment.

Take some breaks too and join social groups in this field, discuss your problems and help solve others’. However, make sure that your ‘breaks’ should not ‘break’ your link.

Practice makes perfect. And this is the perfect time to practice what you’ve learned.