New Year’s Resolution: Get Your Score! - Part 1
Whether youve been studying for a while or are just getting started, lets use the New Year as an opportunity to establish or renew your commitment to getting your desired GMAT score.
In the first half of this two-part series, well talk about how to get startedor re-startedon your GMAT prep. In the second half, well talk about how to learn.
Wherever you are in your study, you need a plan, and the first important thing to learn is that no plan is static. No plan exists that says, Heres what youll do from Day 1 right up until Test Day. (No good plan, at least!)
Most people can start off in very similar ways, but at some point down the road, youre going to have to customize based on your own needs. Well talk more about that in the second installment of this series.
Start keeping a GMAT Journal. Get a notebook, open up a file on your computer, or start a blog (though Id recommend making it a private blog, with an audience of just you). Write something in your GMAT Journal every day.* Dont write everything, but do write:
- what you did that day*
- the two or three most important things you learned (such as how do I know when to cut myself off on a quant problem?)
- one or two things you want to review at a later date (such as review modifier rules in 2 weeks.)
* Note that, on some days, youll write Relaxed / took my Earned GMAT Break. Dont burn yourself out!
1: Set Your Goal
(note: this section is NOT just for newbieskeep reading even if youve been studying for a while or already know your goal score!)
You need to know your current score and the score level that will make you competitive at the schools to which you plan to apply. These two numbers will give you an idea of how much improvement you will need and may affect your prep plans, including the length of time you plan to spend and whether you work on your own.
If you havent already (within the past 4-ish weeks), take a practice CAT in conditions that simulate the actual exam as much as possible. Do the essay and IR sections. The mental effort it takes to do these sections can affect your performance on quant and verbal, so dont skip them because you think you dont care about the IR and essay scores. Take two 8-minute breaks, one after IR and one after the quantitative section. Dont answer the phone, dont eat or drink except during the breaks, and so onbasically make it as close to the real test as you can.
Many prep companies offer practice exams, so you have plenty of choices, but you do need to make sure that the exam does several things. First, the quant and verbal sections should be adaptive, just like the real test. Second, the test should record the time you spend on each individual questiontiming is a major factor on the GMAT. Third, it should offer score reports that give you tons of data on your strengths and weaknesses.
GMATPrep exams (from the makers of the real test) are great in general but do not give you the 2nd and 3rd items on this list, so dont use a GMATPrep CAT for this exercise. Save GMATPrep for closer to the time you plan to take the real test.
Next, go to the websites of the schools to which you want to apply (or may want to apply) and find the GMAT statistics for the most recent admitted students.
Record your practice score and the school statistics in your journal. As a general rule, your GMAT score is a plus for you if you are at or above the median for a given school, so ideally your goal score should be at or above the median for your schools.
How far are you from your goal? The further you are or the higher your goal score is, the longer you will likely need to prep for the exam. Most people prep for between 2.5 and 4 months (though obviously the length of time can vary). Its reasonable, though, to aim for a minimum of 2 months unless you dont need very much improvement at all.
2: Diagnose Your Strengths and Weaknesses?
Next, use your test results to help you figure out your strengths and weaknesses in terms of both content and timing. You can use this article to help analyze a ManhattanGMAT CAT. Take notes on paper, then summarize your analysis in your journal. (Note: analysis is not the same thing as data. The data tells you what happened. Your analysis tells you why you think it happened and what you plan to do about it in future.)
Also, figure out your optimal learning style. Think back to undergrad. Did you do best when you had a small classroom of comrades with whom you shared the adventures of learning? Or did you excel when you worked on your own, or possibly met individually with your professor or TA? At work today, does it energize you to work with a group or do you focus better via one-on-one interactions? Do you prefer to do most of your work on your own or with others?
The answers to those questions will help you determine whether to study on your own, find other students with whom to study, take an organized class, or find a private tutor. Theres no one right waytheres only the best way for you.
3: Plan Your Schedule
Now that you know your strengths and weaknesses, you can use that info to help determine a rough timeframe. The ideal is to work without an external deadline (e.g., a school application deadline). You set a general timeframe/deadline for yourself and get started, but youre able to take more time if needed, since you dont absolutely have to take the test by a certain date.
If you are working against a deadline, though, then you have to plan more carefully. Be aware that you may also have to decide, at some point, to lower your goal score in order to take the test by a certain date.
Most people initially underestimate the amount of time theyll need to study. Plus, were talking about a time period of 2 months or longer; its very unlikely that you can pick an exact date (or even an exact week) so far ahead of time. If you have the luxury of time, set yourself a general timeframe, but start to think about specific test dates only when your practice CAT scores start to get into the range you want.
Heres how to set your overall timeframe.
1. Primary Study Period.
Youll set a rough amount of time that you're likely going to need for primary studying (that is, the time you take to master the material, not including a comprehensive final review). Be aware that this rough timeframe is likely to change as you see how fast you make progress.
For most people, primary study will take 8 to 16 weeks, though it may be a bit shorter if youve taken the test before and youre not aiming for a significant (> 50 points) improvement. If, on the other hand, youre starting from scratch and you want an extra-high improvement (>150 points), or you have a crazy schedule and cant study very much/often, you may need more than 16 weeks. Also, if you take a class, your primary study will be at least the length of the class plus some additional time.
2. Review Period.
You will also need to set aside time for review after you finish your primary study and before you take the test. Most people spend 2 to 6 weeks on a comprehensive review after they finish their primary study. If youre going to do this in 2 weeks, youll need to be able to spend at minimum 10 hours per week. Pick a rough target based on what you know of your schedule for now but, again, be aware that this could change in future.
You also need to factor in two other things that will affect your study timeframe:
3. Buffer.
You may not get the test score that you wantoccasionally, people even get sick right in the testing room. Its smart to leave time to take the test a second time, if necessary. You are only allowed to take the GMAT once in a 31-day period (and 5 times a year), so plan this buffer time into your prep schedule.
You may also want to include a couple of extra weeks of study time as an additional buffer, just in case. Work gets busy, people get sick, we procrastinate things happen.
4. Hard Deadlines.
You will, of course, have to meet the application deadlines of your selected schools. If you can plan ahead, it's preferable to get the test out of the way well before you have to start filling out the applications themselves. (Keep in mind that your GMAT score is valid for 5 years, so you can get started very early!)
4: Gather Your Resources
There are tons of resources available to help you get ready for the GMAT. If you take a course or work with some structured program, the materials should already be determined for you. Otherwise, youll have to figure out what works best for you.
In general, there are three major categories of necessary resources:
1. Test content and methodology.
These materials will teach you the what and the how: whats on the test and how to take the test. These materials will come from a test prep company (this is what test prep companies do!). You may decide to choose different materials from different companies, but I do recommend sticking with sets of materials whenever possible. For example, if youre going to use the algebra study materials from one company, its best to use that companys quant materials in general. Likewise on verbal.
2. Practice questions.
As youre studying the material tested on the exam and how to handle the different types of GMAT questions, youll also need to test yourself on GMAT-format problems. The best practice questions are the officially released past test questions from GMAC (the makers of the GMAT). The latest three books are The Official Guide 13th Edition, the Verbal Review 2nd Edition and the Quantitative Review 2nd Edition. The most recent online release is GMAT Prep 2.0 (including 2 free practice tests and some additional paid resources) and theres also GMAT Focus (for quant only).
3. Practice tests.
Youll want a mix of practice tests: GMATPrep (from the real makers of the test) and some tests from a test prep company. The GMATPrep test is the closest to the real thing, but doesnt offer explanations or analysis of your results. A test prep companys CAT will give you explanations and analysis.
Whats next? Join us next time to learn how to learn!