-
Target Test Prep 20% Off Flash Sale is on! Code: FLASH20
Redeem
In It to Win It
This is probably the shortest and most important article Ive written in a year. Its just a little story, but its the story of a crucial epiphany one of my students (and I) just had.
Last night, at the end of a class I was teaching, one of my students began asking questions about timing and guessing on the GMAT. Hes really struggling with the idea that he has to let some questions go and that hes going to get a decent number of questions wrong. I told him hes not alone; most students have significant difficulty accepting this idea and those who cant accept it almost never reach their goal scores.
As we discussed the boring details of how the GMAT works, he acknowledged that he knew he had to do what I said (because Im the expert :) ), but he was having a tough time because, normally, hes in it to win it.
(For those who arent familiar with that expression, it means that, if youre playing a game, youre always going for it and trying to win.)
When he said that, a light bulb went off in my head, and I then said something to him that made a light bulb go off in his head. I said:
Yes, but are you playing the right game?
You see, hes been playing the game he was taught to play in school there, getting things right is more important than the length of time spent. In school, grades are almost always based on percentage correct. The best students expect to get everything right.
But were not playing that game anymore. This is a new game with different rules. If you play by school rules, youre not going to get the best score that youre capable of getting.
My student got really excited (as did the few other students whod stuck around after class it pays to listen even if you dont have any questions yourself!). He had what we call an "Aha!" moment: he realized that this was not about making himself give up or be less competitive by accepting that he was going to give up on some questions. He realized that, instead, he needed to learn how to excel at this new game, and that all these things weve been telling him are basically the new rules of the game.
In other words, sticking to your timing, learning to make educated guesses, cutting yourself off on too-hard questions and making educated guesses instead all of these habits ARE the habits of someone who is In It To Win It! Youre not giving up when you do those things. Youre playing the game like an expert.
Ive been saying the above in various ways in many articles for a long time, but never as clearly and succinctly as this. (At least, I hope its clear. Let me know in the comments!)
Here are some additional resources to solidify this new mindset and do what you need to do to win the game.
Scoring: read the Scoring section of ManhattanGMATs free e-book The GMAT Uncovered Guide. If you have an account with us (even a free account), the Guide is already sitting in the Downloads section of your Student Center. (Note: its in the Downloads section as of the date of publication of this article; it could move over time.)
Timing: read this article on Time Management and start doing what it says.
Educated Guessing: the above article on Time Management contains links to two other articles on educated guessing (one each for quant and verbal).
Key Takeaways for Being In It to Win It:
(1) Dont play the game you were taught to play in school. The GMAT is a different game. Learn how to play it.
(2) Your goal is NOT to get all of the questions right that was the School game, not the GMAT game. You will be given questions that are too hard for you (I get them, too!). You will most likely get them wrong, of course, because they are too hard. The only choice you have is whether you take too long to get them wrong and thereby hurt yourself on other questions later in the section.
(3) You will get roughly 60% of the questions in a section right and roughly 40% wrong. (This does change at the highest and lowest scoring levels, but the vast majority of scorers will be in this 60/40 range.) You can score a 700 and still get only 60% of the questions right. Expect to get stuff wrong. Tell the computer Nice shot! and move on, mentally and literally.
Recent Articles
Archive
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009