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This is how I scored a 730 (96th percentile) on the GMAT in 8 days: The summer before I started my senior year at Northwestern University, I finished my internship and still had a month left. My brain was getting bored, so I picked up an LSAT book and decided to take the test. After the first week, I put the book down. I really did not like that test. So then I opened up a GMAT book and took a practice test…it was much better.I went back to college, and from time to time I would pick up the GMAT book, but never actually spent much time on it. Then one day, I decided to take the GMAT. Why? First, I thought it would be a fun way to test myself. And second, it wouldn’t hurt to have the GMAT done incase I decided to apply to business school (once you have a job, it will be hard to find time to study).So I attended a Manhattan GMAT (one of the top GMAT test companies) class. The teacher handed us a syllabus and told us it would take a minimum of 3 months in total of preparation (2 months of class and 1 month of practicing on our own). I was not thrilled. I went home after the class and started reading GMAT forums. I remember reading everywhere that it took on average 100 hours to master the GMAT. I took a look at the next day that the GMAT was being offered…it was 8 days later. I signed up, went to sleep, and woke up the next morning eager to start my 100 hours.Why is this guide important? As soon as I signed up, I looked for a guide for taking the GMAT in 8 days. No guide was nearly this short. The shortest course I found was the Manhattan GMAT course during which you stay in a hotel for 2 weeks and learn the GMAT non-stop.Materials to purchase (*):Official GMAT GuideOfficial GMAT Quant GuideOfficial GMAT Verbal GuideOfficial GMAT Integrated Response CDManhattan GMATAlgebra GMAT Strategy GuideFractions, Decimals and Percentages GMAT Strategy GuideNumber Properties GMAT Strategy GuideWord Problems GMAT Strategy Guide* Purchase all of these in e-book format. On the actual test, you are going to be looking up at the computer, down at your paper, and then back up at the computer. Get in the habit of doing that by using electronic books. Additionally, time is a huge constraint; you need your books NOW. Getting them electronically is a massive advantage as you can get them in seconds. Personally, I downloaded all of mine off of Kindle. Oh and also, since it was on my Kindle, I could pull up textbooks on my phone and study while commuting on trains or busses!The test is broken down into 4 parts:1. EssayYou analyze an argument2. Integrated ResponseMix of quant and verbal3. QuantitativeData sufficiencyProblem solving4. VerbalReading comprehensionCritical reasoningSentence correctionFirst, forget the essay. At the time I took the test, most business schools had publicly stated that they didn’t care about the essay. And literally, the only prep I did for the essay was the night before I took the test. I went through about 20 essays (both in the official guide and the Manhattan GMAT guide) that had scored a perfect 6 out of 6, realized that they all had the same format, memorized the format, and reproduced that on the test the next day. Sure, I only got a 5/6 on the essay, but when you only have 8 days, every second of study time is valuable. I have typed up my essay notes below:Essay (formally referred to as the Analytical Writing Assessment):Identify/ Summarize the evidence +conclusionList the flaws (3 to 5)a) Cause and Effecti. Conclude that x causes y when y causesii. Conclude that x causes y when y causes xb) Statisticali. Sample is not representative of the entire populationii. Conclusion does not match statistics3. Analogyi. Not enough similarities to draw conclusions4. Otheri. Unsubstantiated assumptionsii. Vague words: some, many, fewiii. Ignoring supply+demand fundamentalsiv. Drawing a strong conclusion based on weak evidence5. Find 1 or 2 ways to strengthen the argument6. Choose the top 2 to 4 flaws -> write essay7. ProofreadEssay outline:Tell what you are going to saySay itTell ‘em what you told ‘emIntro:First sentence: paraphrase argument and state that it is flawed.General Format: The author concludes x based on y, however…Second sentence: In drawing this conclusion, the author not only fails to X, but also Y, furthermore, the author Z’s.2nd Paragraph (biggest flaw)State your pointElaborate and/or provide examplesExplain why this indicates a weakness3rd and 4th paragraphRepeat what you did in the second paragraphLast paragraphExplain how the argument can be strengthenedSuggest ways in which we can evaluate the conclusionState that the argument is flawedGeneral format, “As it stands, however, the argument is flawed for the reasons indicated.”GENERAL ESSAY NOTES:Keep it simple- it’s a computer program and a person grading (and they only take 2 minutes to read your essay)Time management5 to 7 on discussion points20 minutes writing3 to 5 proof readingVary length of sentencesUse transition words generouslyex: first, second, third, therefore, additionally, consequently, because, since, finally, similarly, converselyDon’t refer to yourselfIntegrated ResponseFor this section, I would only do the practice problems from the official guide. Make sure you do the ones in the book, as well as the problems that come on their CD (it comes with the book). I did both the official guide and the Manhattan GMAT guide. I simply just learned way more from the official guide questions. And unfortunately, I lost the CD with the additional practice questions :(When I took the test, most of the top business schools had publicly stated that they did not care about the IR section (Harvard Business School said that they would still consider it). This was because the IR section was brand new when I took the GMAT. Therefore, business schools didn’t have historical data to evaluate IR scores.Quantitative:2 sectionsProblem Solving: basically like normal multiple choiceData Sufficiency: you are given two statements, and you need to decide which of them are true (this type of question is unique to the GMAT)Both quantitative sections test fundamentally the same skills: your ability to do math, so I will address them both at once. Doing well on the quantitative portion comes down to how many practice problems you have done. The more problems you work through, the more likely it is that those same problems will show up on your actual test. Don’t waste your time with the lessons. Learn which problems you really don’t know by trying to do them and working through them with the answer key. To cut down on time, start at the end of the Official GMAT Quantitative guide and work backwards. Questions at the end are generally harder, so you will learn faster.I first started with the syllabus that the Manhattan GMAT instructor had given me. It had lessons and then practice questions selected from the GMAT guide and the Manhattan practice books. After the 3rd day of working through the syllabus, I knew I would not finish in time for the test, so I only worked on official GMAT math problems for the rest of the time. One of the biggest takeaways that I got from doing both the Manhattan math problems and the official GMAT math problems was that the official math questions were much more accurate and helpful in terms of what was actually on the test. On the other hand, Manhattan solutions to problems usually showed faster and simpler methods to solving similar problems.Another key strategy is to use Khan Academy. There are going to be times when you are burned out from working through problems. When this happens, open Khan Academy and navigate to the GMAT page. There I found that he had recorded himself working through every math problem in the old GMAT official guide. This is extremely useful, since you can see someone work through problems and explain step by step what they are doing and why. This was probably the best tool for quickly learning the math section that I used.Along the way, you may realize that you forgot how to long divide or multiply two numbers. You will also realize that it is easy to miscount zero’s and decimal places. You have been warned.Random notes on the Math Topics:RatiosYou will see these a ton. They are very easy to make a simple mistake on.Factors and MultiplesYou need to memorize divisibility rulesEx: A number is divisible by 9 if the sum of the digits is divisible by 9You need to memorize the square of 1 through 20RatesThese probably gave me the most difficulty. Drawing a picture of the problem helped.Systems of EquationsMost times, this means just plugging one equation into the otherOverlapping SetsQuickly draw and label a Venn diagramRight TrianglesThere will be a bunch of rules listed on these in both the Mahnattan GMAT book and the Official GMAT book. You need to memorize all of these.InequalitiesRearrange the inequalityExponentsThere will be a bunch of rules listed on these in both the Mahnattan GMAT book and the Official GMAT book. You need to memorize all of these.PercentagesIf you have trouble on these, draw a box and shade in the appropriate percentages so you can visually see the problemCoordinate GeometryDraw stuff and count spaces carefullyVerbal – use the official guideReading comprehensionFirst, skim the questions so that you know what you are looking forRead it like it is a story. Understand the general flow of the logic, and write a small note next to paragraphs so that you can quickly reference paragraphs when answering questionsCritical reasoningJust do a bunch of these. Take all the ones you got wrong, and go over them with a friend. This is important because when you initially try to solve the problem, you will create a line of logic in your head that makes sense to you. It is hard for you to change your line of logic without someone else helping you to think differentlySentence correctionBoth the Official GMAT Guide and the Manhattan GMAT Guide will have a list of common sentence corrections that you will have to look for. I have reproduced my outline of this section below:Types of Errors:Misplaced modifierMisplacedModifier is placed far away from subject, thereby not modifying itDanglingNot really clear what it is modifyingEx: I got some tips for how to protect myself from the police.SquintingModifier may modify 2 different subjectsEx: Students who miss classes frequently fail the coursePronouns do not agreeImproper comparisonWrong subject/verb agreementWrong verb tenseImproper sentence structureIncorrect idiom: You simply need to memorize these. I have listed common idioms below to kick start you…between: 2 peopleamong: 3 peoplefewer: a specific #, ex: fewer children (countable nouns)less than: a continuous quantity, ex: less devastation (quantities)farther: distancefurther: degreecontrast A withBdated atresponsibility tosame to A as to Bso A as to be Bmuch: used for an uncountable quantity, such as rainmany: used for a countable quantity, such as peopleaid inOther tid-bits:Where you study is important: Fortunately, my girlfriend lived about a minute away from my house. When I studied, I would only take my GMAT material to her place and study at her desk. She would do work directly behind me. Therefore, anytime I felt like taking a break, there was someone behind me to call me out on checking E-mail or Facebook. This held me accountable and helped me to stay focused.Diet: While studying for the test, I was on the Ketogenic diet. I’m not sure how this affected my mental performance, but having cut out carbohydrates, I did feel like my energy was lacking at certain points in my study marathon. On the other hand, it greatly simplified my choice of food, so I put almost no mental effort into choosing my food. Maybe this helped me focus on the GMAT more? I don’t know.Signing uphere: If you are going to take the GMAT seriously, you need to sign up. If there is no deadline (test date) and you haven’t paid the $250 to take the test, it is going to be much harder to motivate yourself. Sign up here.Wrap-up:At one point, I wanted to stop because life got boring. I would literally study all day and eat really plain food (because of the Ketogenic diet). However, during the last day of studying, I felt abnormally happy. I had come to appreciate the test since I had spent so much time learning it. The strategy written above for hacking the GMAT in 8 days worked for me. I wrote this post so that I could help others hack the GMAT in 8 days, so if you think I could add value to this post in any way, please let me know and I will do my best to help.- See more at: Laksh

Hi, Ian.Thanks for your question. I love it. Essays are appreciated by only a few. It is true, essays are hard if you are not committed to writing. You know, writing is not just writing. No, not by a long shot. It needs planning, thinking, research and inter alia a knowledge about language. Writing it down is the less onerous job, really. The hard work is the planning, research and awareness of grammar.So, I understand and have empathy for those who wish to write a decent essay and do not know how to go about it.I have prepared some guidelines from my notes, which gives you some intelligence about aspects to consider in writing an essay. Here it is. Read it, do not scan it. Imagine it in practice.Guidelines for writing an essayI am going to give you some guidelines to write a decent essay. These principles are valid for an essay, no matter what the title is. You will be able to utilise these principles in more or less any writing you do. So, learn to understand these principles and how to apply them.Like any other task worth doing you have to plan it and then work according to the plan.Your first task will, therefore, be to develop your plan. Consider how much time you have to write the essay and develop a writing plan based on that. This will help you figure out how long to spend on each part of the essay writing process, and will also keep you on task.Be honest about your strengths and weaknesses when devising your plan. For example, if you are a good researcher but not great at editing, spend less time on the research section in favour of spending more time on the revising section.Once you have your plan you should consider what you want to write about.You may know the topic of the essay well, but even if you don’t, first consider the topic and different ways you could make arguments about it. Doing this preliminary brainstorming will not only direct you towards the appropriate research, but it will also help the writing process go more quickly. Accordingly, you should be sure that you understand what the essay will be about. If you don’t have an essay topic, choose a subject that interests you and considers the essay question afterwards. You are more likely to write a good essay on a topic that you’re interested in.The next step is to develop your argument. Your argument is the point you’re making in the essay through evidence and analysis. Develop your argument to help you direct your research and make the writing process go more quickly.If you don’t have much experience with your topic, it might be difficult to develop an argument. You can still consider your argument and then use your research to support or refute the claims you want to make.A good exercise to help you quickly figure out your essay question and argument is to write “I am studying (choose a topic) because I want to know (what do you want to know) in order to show (this is where your argument goes).” For example, “I am studying the medieval witch trials because I want to know how lawyers employed evidence in their cases in order to show that the trial process influenced modern medical techniques and legal practices.”Consider counter-arguments in order to strengthen your essay.Next, you must research your essay topic. You’ll need to strategically research your topic to find the evidence that will help you construct your argument and form the body of your essay. There are many different types of sources you can use for research, from online journals and newspaper archives to primary sources at the library.Since you may not have a lot of time to write, focus on one or two places where you can do research. For example, the library and the internet offer many different options for sources.Just make sure that you use reliable sources, such as peer-reviewed journals, government and university websites, and newspapers and magazines written by professionals. Don’t use personal blogs, obviously biased sources, or sources that don’t have professional credentials.You can draw upon the information you know to speed up the research process. Simply find a (reliable!) source to support it and include it in your sources.Doing preliminary research online can point you to sources in a library such as books and journal articles. It can also point you in the direction of web sources including newspaper article archives or other research on your topic.If you're reading books, "gut" the book to get through it quickly and move on to other sources. To "gut" a book, skim the introduction and conclusion to find the main arguments, and then pick a few details from the body of the book to use as evidence.Take notes on your research sources. These will show that you’ve legitimately researched the topic while giving credit to the person who forwarded the idea. This is especially important if you plan to use direct quotes and will also help you add footnotes and bibliographic information to your essay without having to look them up in the sources.So, now I recommend that you write an outline of your essay. Construct an outline of your essay to guide you through the writing process. By structuring it in the same form as your essay and adding evidence, you will simplify and expedite the writing process. You’ll also be able to identify any areas that need better development.Structure your outline as you will your essay, with an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.The more detail you put into your outline, the easier and more quickly you can write the essay. For example, instead of just writing a basic paragraph about the body, flesh it out into bullet points or sentences that present argument and supporting evidence.Write a catchy introduction. The introduction does exactly what the word says: it explains to the reader what you’re going to say in the essay. The introduction should grab, or hook, your reader’s attention and entice them to read the rest of the essay.The most important part of your introduction is your argument. This tells the reader the point you’re trying to make in the essay.Write a “hook” that will grab the reader’s attention to start, then introduce the argument with a few relevant facts woven into the narrative. End by stating how you will demonstrate your points.An example of a hook could be, “People say Napoleon had a complex because of his size, but he was actually average height for the time in which he lived.”It's sometimes helpful to write the introduction after you have written the body so you know how to introduce the topic and your arguments best.A good rule of thumb is to not have the introduction be more than 10% of your essay. Thus, for a five-page essay, you shouldn’t write more than one paragraph.Having completed all the above tasks you should proceed to write the body of the essay. The body of your essay will contain the substantive points that support your thesis statement or argument. Analysing two to three main points will strengthen your argument and add more words to your overall total.Pick two to three main points to help make your argument. Any fewer and you won’t have enough evidence for your argument and any more may make you not explore each point thoroughly enough.Keep your evidence to support the main points concisely. Going off on explanatory tangents will cost you precious time.Support your main points with the evidence compiled during your research. Make sure to explain how the evidence supports your claims!If you haven’t reached your word limit, pick a main point and conduct more research on it to expand on your point.Write as clearly as possible. If you’re writing quickly, it will simplify the process to write easy sentences without difficult grammatical structures. This also makes it less likely that you’ll improperly use convoluted jargon.Avoid "fat" language when you write. Text that includes long prepositional phrases, passive verbs, and paragraphs that don't further your argument waste time that you could spend writing or revising your essay.Allow yourself to “free-write” to optimise your time. It’s easier to draft text and subsequently edit than it is to work with nothing. By just allowing yourself to write freely, you’re assured to have some text that you have something to shape during the revision process.Free-writing can also help you overcome writer’s block that results from not knowing how to say something. Free-writing can also help you overcome writer’s block that results from not knowing how to say something. If you’re struggling with getting the wording of an idea just right, write it as well as you can and come back to it later.Then, you will write the essay’s conclusion. Like the introduction, the conclusion does exactly what the word implies: it brings your essay to an end. It provides a summary of your basic argument and should leave the reader with a strong impression of your work.The essay conclusion should also be relatively short. Aim for the conclusion to be 5-10% of your essay’s total length.Aim to do more in your conclusion than just restate your thesis and the evidence you used. You could acknowledge the limitations of your argument, suggest a direction for future research, or expand the relevance of your topic to a wider field.Just as you drew the reader in with a good introduction, end your conclusion with a sentence that makes a lasting impression on your reader.Finally, you should revise and proofread your essay. No essay is good when it contains mistakes. Revising and proofreading it will ensure that the essay you composed quickly doesn’t have any glaring errors. It’s also important to revise and proofread so that you leave a good impression on your readers.Re-read the entire essay. Make sure that you are still arguing the same thing at the end of the essay that you are at the beginning. If not, go back and adjust your arguments.Make sure that your paragraphs build on one another and don’t feel haphazard. You can use transitions and strong topic sentences to help you draw connections between your paragraphs.Spelling and grammar are the easiest mistakes to revise, but they cost you a lot of reader goodwill if you don’t fix them.So? What do you think – do you still aspire to become an author?This is all just to write a decent essay! The satisfaction of having written a decent essay will be worth all this trouble and the effort that goes with it. Try it.Take care and be nice.

Hi, Erick.Thank you for your question. Okay, let us have a look at it.“What things should I consider when writing an essay?”Write essays as many as you can. Whether they are good or bad, it does not matter. Write, write and write.I am going to give you some guidelines to write a decent essay. These principles are valid for any kind of essay, no matter what the title is. You will be able to utilise these principles in more or less any writing you do. So, learn to understand these principles and how to apply them.Like any other task worth doing you have to plan it and then work according to the plan.Your first task will, therefore, be to develop your plan. Consider how much time you have to write the essay and develop a writing plan based on that. This will help you figure out how long to spend on each part of the essay writing process, and will also keep you on task.Be honest about your strengths and weaknesses when devising your plan. For example, if you are a good researcher but not great at editing, spend less time on the research section in favour of spending more time on the revising section.Once you have your plan you should consider what you want to write about.You may know the topic of the essay well, but even if you don’t, first consider the topic and different ways you could make arguments about it. Doing this preliminary brainstorming will not only direct you towards the appropriate research, but it will also help the writing process go more quickly. Accordingly, you should be sure that you understand what the essay will be about. If you don’t have an essay topic, choose a subject that interests you and considers the essay question afterwards. You are more likely to write a good essay on a topic that you’re interested in.The next step is to develop your argument. Your argument is the point you’re making in the essay through evidence and analysis. Develop your argument to help you direct your research and make the writing process go more quickly.If you don’t have much experience with your topic, it might be difficult to develop an argument. You can still consider your argument and then use your research to support or refute the claims you want to make.A good exercise to help you quickly figure out your essay question and argument is to write “I am studying (choose a topic) because I want to know (what do you want to know) in order to show (this is where your argument goes).” For example, “I am studying the medieval witch trials because I want to know how lawyers employed evidence in their cases in order to show that the trial process influenced modern medical techniques and legal practices.”Consider counter-arguments in order to strengthen your essay.Next, you must research your essay topic. You’ll need to strategically research your topic to find the evidence that will help you construct your argument and form the body of your essay. There are many different types of sources you can use for research, from online journals and newspaper archives to primary sources at the library.Since you may not have a lot of time to write, focus on one or two places where you can do research. For example, the library and the Internet offer many different options for sources.Just make sure that you use reliable sources, such as peer-reviewed journals, government and university websites, and newspapers and magazines written by professionals. Don’t use personal blogs, obviously biased sources, or sources that don’t have professional credentials.You can draw upon the information you know to speed up the research process. Simply find a (reliable!) source to support it and include it in your sources.Doing preliminary research online can point you to sources in a library such as books and journal articles. It can also point you in the direction of web sources including newspaper article archives or other research on your topic.If you're reading books, "gut" the book to get through it quickly and move on to other sources. To "gut" a book, skim the introduction and conclusion to find the main arguments, and then pick a few details from the body of the book to use as evidence.Take notes on your research sources. These will show that you've legitimately researched the topic while giving credit to the person who forwarded the idea. This is especially important if you plan to use direct quotes and will also help you add footnotes and bibliographic information to your essay without having to look them up in the sources.So, now I recommend that you write an outline of your essay. Construct an outline of your essay to guide you through the writing process. By structuring it in the same form as your essay and adding evidence, you will simplify and expedite the writing process. You’ll also be able to identify any areas that need better development.Structure your outline as you will your essay, with an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.The more detail you put into your outline, the easier and more quickly you can write the essay. For example, instead of just writing a basic paragraph about the body, flesh it out into bullet points or sentences that present the argument and supporting evidence.Write a catchy introduction. The introduction does exactly what the word says: it explains to the reader what you’re going to say in the essay. The introduction should grab, or hook, your reader’s attention and entice them to read the rest of the essay.The most important part of your introduction is your argument. This tells the reader the point you’re trying to make in the essay.Write a “hook” that will grab the reader’s attention to start, then introduce the argument with a few relevant facts woven into the narrative. End by stating how you will demonstrate your points.An example of a hook could be, “People say Napoleon had a complex because of his size, but he was actually average height for the time in which he lived.”It's sometimes helpful to write the introduction after you have written the body so you know how to introduce the topic and your arguments best.A good rule of thumb is to not have the introduction be more than 10% of your essay. Thus, for a five-page essay, you shouldn't write more than one paragraph.Having completed all the above tasks you should proceed to write the body of the essay. The body of your essay will contain the substantive points that support your thesis statement or argument. Analysing two to three main points will strengthen your argument and add more words to your overall total.Pick two to three main points to help make your argument. Any fewer and you won’t have enough evidence for your argument and any more may make you not explore each point thoroughly enough.Keep your evidence to support the main points concisely. Going off on explanatory tangents will cost you precious time.Support your main points with the evidence compiled during your research. Make sure to explain how the evidence supports your claims!If you haven’t reached your word limit, pick a main point and conduct more research on it to expand on your point.Write as clearly as possible. If you’re writing quickly, it will simplify the process to write easy sentences without difficult grammatical structures. This also makes it less likely that you’ll improperly use convoluted jargon.Avoid "fat" language when you write. Text that includes long prepositional phrases, passive verbs, and paragraphs that don't further your argument waste time that you could spend writing or revising your essay.Allow yourself to “free-write” to optimise your time. It’s easier to draft text and subsequently edit than it is to work with nothing. By just allowing yourself to write freely, you’re assured to have some text that you have something to shape during the revision process.Free-writing can also help you overcome writer’s block that results from not knowing how to say something. Free-writing can also help you overcome writer’s block that results from not knowing how to say something. If you’re struggling with getting the wording of an idea just right, write it as well as you can and come back to it later.Then, you will write the essay’s conclusion. Like the introduction, the conclusion does exactly what the word implies: it brings your essay to an end. It provides a summary of your basic argument and should leave the reader with a strong impression of your work.The essay conclusion should also be relatively short. Aim for the conclusion to be 5-10% of your essay’s total length.Aim to do more in your conclusion than just restate your thesis and the evidence you used. You could acknowledge the limitations of your argument, suggest a direction for future research, or expand the relevance of your topic to a wider field.Just as you drew the reader in with a good introduction, end your conclusion with a sentence that makes a lasting impression on your reader.Finally, you should revise and proofread your essay. No essay is good when it contains mistakes. Revising and proofreading it will ensure that the essay you composed quickly doesn't have any glaring errors. It’s also important to revise and proofread so that you leave a good impression on your readers.Re-read the entire essay. Make sure that you are still arguing the same thing at the end of the essay that you are at the beginning. If not, go back and adjust your arguments.Make sure that your paragraphs build on one another and don’t feel haphazard. You can use transitions and strong topic sentences to help you draw connections between your paragraphs.Spelling and grammar are the easiest mistakes to revise, but they cost you a lot of reader goodwill if you don’t fix them.This is all just to write a decent essay! The satisfaction of having written a decent essay will be worth all this trouble and the effort that goes with it. Try it.Good luck. Take care and be nice.Kind regards,Bye.