GMAT Strategy

Hello All,

My test is in 1 week. Do you guys have any tips on what I can do to maximize my time during this final week of prep? I am considering alternating days between practice CATs and Quant problems. Any best practices you can pass along will be great.

Love the username! I might get in trouble for this but you could also consider a nod to Death Row Records with "GMATsUpHosDown" too...

One quick note on your strategy - unless you haven't studied for very long at all, I'd argue that within that last week it's tough to "get smarter". Today, tomorrow...you can learn some new things. But the day before your test? You only risk wearing your stamina thin or wrecking your confidence by stressing about something that you're struggling with. I'd say that your emphases this week should be on:

1) Minimizing mistakes. Here you CAN really improve because you want your common mistakes to be top of mind on test day. Do take a practice test this weekend, but don't dive right into a quant set immediately after. Take time to determine which questions trapped you and WHY they did. Any silly mistakes that you tend to make or systematic mistakes (assuming something about a variable; answering the wrong question; etc.) you can probably eliminate by just noting those on your noteboard during the test and making sure you hit that "common mistakes" checklist.

2) Reminding yourself of what you do well. Think of the thought processes that lead to success for you and drill those into your mind. "On DS I need to try to determine how to get the OTHER answer"; "for Strengthen questions I need to pause to really understand the conclusion"; etc. Focus on the thought process and that will be your guide on the test.

3) Maintaining confidence. The above strategy helps because you're reminding yourself that you do do most things well. And I'd stay away from new problem sets the day or two beforehand so that you don't accidentally hit that rough patch of monster questions that makes you doubt everything you ever knew.

4) Resting up. The GMAT is an endurance test - you'll spend over 4 hours at the test center. Don't do any heavy lifting the day before. Relax your mind, get some sleep, and remind yourself that you've worked hard for this...test day is the victory lap!

This article should help: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2011/06/ ... g-mistakes

Good luck this week!

I am in a similar position: less than a week to go, and wonder how to make the most of it. I tend to agree with no new problem sets as I feel that if I hit a stumbling block I'll lose confidence and psych myself out. However, I'm worried I haven't taken "enough" practice tests and done a good enough job practicing my pacing and stamina for a full four hours. I'm planning on basically taking the day off the day before the test, but between now and then should I try to get 2, 3, 4 CATs? Also, I may be considered as one who "hasn't studied very long" probably for 6 weeks on and off, so those extra few days could help?

Hey tpecsok,

This response may be a little late since, because of the weekend, two more days have elapsed since you wrote that you had less than a week to go. But if it can still be helpful...

3 or 4 CATs in a week isn't something I'd advise to anyone even with a month or two to go until test day. The real value in a CAT is as a diagnostic tool - it's an opportunity to see what you really need to work on. You may be pretty comfortable with algebra when you're doing a set of 20 straight algebra-based problems, but when you're facing test pressure and seeing a variety of problems in a haphazard sequence you struggle to set up equations or factor exponent problems - that's something a CAT can tell you. You may struggle with Reading Comp passages when you're nearing the end of a full-length test; again, that's something a CAT can tell you.

But you improve by going back and analyzing that stuff and addressing it. It's like playing sports in high school - everyone loves scrimmaging and playing games, but if you're not doing the conditioning and the skill-based drills you're probably not improving as much as you could. There are certainly other benefits to CAT practice - a feel for the test format, a chance to build stamina, etc. - but if you're not spending time between CATs figuring out what you learned from them and working on improving that, you're not maximizing the value of your time.

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