GMAT Strategy

Hey GMATers!

TPNY/TPSF (Test Prep New York, San Francisco) is excited to return to BTG as a featured expert who can impart the most effective methods for taking high stakes tests. In our 20+ years in the business we've developed numerous ways for students to maximize their score while minimizing their stress. We hope to be a useful resource to you!

We'll be available to answer questions and provide the techniques necessary to 'fire' your inner critic, stay calm, combat a panic attack, and the bevy of other things--emotional and psychological--that may be compromising your 'game.' We'll be online throwing in some pro-tips of the trade.

Lets first take a look at the Inner Game and the Outer Game.

Any challenge we undertake occurs in two distinct arenas: the "outside" dimension-the nitty-gritty, nuts-and-bolts of the task required, and the inner dimension-the attitudes, emotions, and beliefs that powerfully shape our performance.

Broadly speaking, most of our experiences involve interplay between our inner and outer environments. We tend to think of the GMAT as occurring in the outer arena-and to some extent, it does. The 'outer game' of the GMAT experience includes commuting to the test site and experiencing the test site itself, including all the conditions of registering, getting settled, seeing your 'competition' in the other test takers, dealing with the barrage of questions, handling time constraints, and managing the use of the scratch pad and computer. It encompasses almost everything you confront of respond to until you see your 'score' on the screen and feel (we hope) elated when you leave the test center.

But before you can be ready for the outer game, you must first be ready for the inner game.

The "inner game" of the GMAT takes place within the test taker's mind. The inner game of the GMAT will be that voice in your head producing either negative emotions such as fear, self-doubt, lapses in focus, limiting concepts and assumptions, or, ideally, if you work through a few helpful techniques, the calm, excitement, focus, and belief in yourself which becomes effortless if you are in "the zone."

Inner influences that impact the Psychological State: Attitude, Perseverance, Vision, Goals, Time Management, and Spiritual Practice

Anxiety can be a huge issue during the GMAT process, but we're on BTG to help you fire your inner critics. In house, we start any prep by having the individual client lay the mental groundwork (psychological/emotional/spiritual) before diving into the academic material. Over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to recommend some general strategies, as well as explain the benefits of working on your inner game--look out for future posts where I'll delve deeper into specific behavior modification and anxiety relief techniques!

We welcome questions, comments, thoughts and even debate. Let the games begin!

Bara Sapir