2 Months & 80 Points to Go: How Do I Lift My GMAT Score? - Part 2/2
In the first part of this series, we talked about how to analyze your strengths and weaknesses and in which categories of low hanging fruit to concentrate your studies.
We left off talking about timing; let's talk about how to make better decisions as you take the test.
I keep messing up the timing on the test.
Youre not alone. Youve got two broad tasks here. You need to internalize the business mindset in order to manage your time appropriately. You also need some more specific guidelines about what to do problem-to-problem while youre taking the test.
The 1-minute mark is the key decision-making point for all quant and verbal questions. On quant and CR, the 1 minute mark is the halfway mark. By this mark, you should understand what the question is asking and, for quant, have an idea of how to solve. On CR, you need to understand the argument and have an idea of what characteristics you want the correct answer to have. If these things arent true, its time to try (if possible) to make an educated guess and / or move on.
For SC and RC, the 1-minute mark is closer to the end of the problem. At this point, you should already have started to eliminate answers. If not, its time to guess and move on.
(And, at any point on verbal, if you find yourself going back and forth repeatedly among the same answers, its time to move on.)
Dont, though, start watching the clock every minute. That will drive you crazy! Instead, check out part 4 of this series to learn how to develop your very own 1-minute time sense.
Before you take your next practice test, you also want to get better at tracking your time throughout each section of the test. If you have access to Manhattan Preps Interact lessons, I strongly recommend that you do the Timing lesson associated in the class 6 homework. If not, check out part 5 of the Time Management article linked in the previous paragraph. (But the Interact Timing lesson is better, so do that if you have access!)
Ive learned a bunch of stuff and my timing is getting better now what?
Great! Now its time to take another practice test and repeat the whole process. Ideally, youll be studying diligently 5 to 6 days a week, so after about 2 to 3 weeks*, youll be ready to take another CAT. Youll analyze your results, come up with a new list of items in Bucket 2, and repeat the whole process.
*Note: dont try to cycle through this in 1 week. You cant rush this process; your brain will just get tired and you wont learn well enough.
This general process is your process until you reach about 10 to 14 days before your test date. At that point, youre going to shift your focus to a comprehensive review.
(Note: if, 10 days before, you're still more than 50 points from your goal, then you have two choices: postpone your test or lower your goal score. Dont panic or try to cram in the last 10 days to get another 50 points. The most likely outcome is burn-out and a score drop. If your score isnt what you want it to be, you can always postpone applications for a round or a year. The world wont end!)
Whats this comprehensive review phase?
You need to solidify your strategies and also just review all of the different rules, formulas, concepts, and strategies youve been studying for months. If you dont do this, you risk losing points on the test simply because it's been a few weeks since you last reviewed something.
First, youre going to figure out your Game Plan. Your Game Plan is all about how to make the best executive decisions as you work your way through each section of the test. Follow that link to find out how to plan this.
Youre also going to conduct a general review of the major question types, content, and strategies for the GMAT.
Finally, dont forget that youre going to wind DOWN for the last two days before your test. You can do some light (and high-level) review, but dont study for more than a couple of hours each day. Cramming at this point will, once again, just burn you out. You wouldnt run a practice marathon 2 days before a real marathon, right? Dont over-study two days before your GMAT either.
All right, youve got a plan. Get going and give it your best shot! Happy studying!