So here is part 2 of how to Conquer the GMAT. If you haven't seen the context below- scroll down to see part 1. Rather than going through the various techniques, strategies, and other information that everyone can find all over the web, The Great Weebee will simply tell you the most common errors people make on the GMAT, which is why they don't do well.
1.) Not Putting enough time into the GMAT.
Probably the #1 mistake people make, and then they wonder why they suck on the test. They are not studying hard enough on the test. While it may be easy for some, its no walk in the park either. For my owner, he tried studying off and on. He scoffed at the suggestion that he needed a library to study- figuring he could just study at home. Guess what? He bombed the GMAT. It was only when he got a full membership at the local library, lived there on and off, and spent the last week holed into the library that he got a good score. His regiment on the last week went like this:
(Take week off work)
11AM: Wake up, get coffee, pack dinner, load up on hot mugs for coffee, fill up backpack and head to favorite sandwich place. Eat lunch and head into Library:
12PM - 1PM. Find slot in library, and study, study study. Walk around and take some short breaks every hour or so, but that's about it.
6PM-6:30PM. Eat Dinner down at the dining area. Fill up mug with hot water, buy some more health drinks and get back to studying.
10PM: Take a short break, think a bit, let mind wander and then get back to studying.
2AM- 3AM. Wrap up, go home (take taxi or subway), and repeat all over.
This "balance" (well not much balance) of sleeping enough to function and spending all the other time in the library allowed him to push his score up from a 650 (roughly practice tests) to 700 (real thing) in a week.
Only through an intense focus (studying a couple of hours a day or really holed up in some place) can actually allow you to achieve a great score. Generally the consensus agreement is that you need to put in at least 100 hours. Yes 100+ hours, that is if you want to score in the 700 and have a chance at the top schools. Not 15, not a week, 100 full hours of studying. Unless of course you're the 730+ type without trying (see post below) in which case you wouldn't be reading this blog.
2. Not Studying Effectively
This is one of the hardest parts to judge. My owner spent years paying private tutors, prep services, online guides, and it still didn't matter. What mattered most was how he studied- sure you can have the best teacher in the world, but he/she isn't going to take the test for you- you need to learn the material. One of the key things is being able to find time to study, and then getting a space where you easily won't be distracted. That means going to the local library, or finding a quiet place in your house, or going to a coffee shop where you won't be distracted. Do not study in a place where you easily have access to distractions (TV, radio, internet- unless of course you're using an online GMAT training tool, etc). After all the things my owner has tried (own bedroom, kitchen counter, office on weekends, friend's place in San Francisco), the most effective place he found was a library. YES, a library. The fact that you see students also studying, minimal distractions, a quiet atmosphere really sets your mind to focus on studying. My owner found that was the most effective.
The second part is the materials you use (books, online, etc), and also whether use some sort of tutoring. It really depends on the person- some don't need tutors, while some do, and even then they don't use them effectively. Obviously the best books are the official guides from GMAT. The big book with math and verbal, and then the two other books from GMAT. Then it depends on personal preference, as they will support (but never replace) the official books. Then of course is whether to get some tutoring, either private or via a course. This could also be very useful too- especially if you are not that disciplined to study. Weebee will do a more indepth analysis of all the different type of prep programs in another post.
3.) Not pacing yourself through the exam
Everyone talks about how the first 6 questions are the most important part of the exam. The more you get right, the harder the questions you get and the higher your score. The less you get right, and then you're stuck with a very low range. While this is true, its also important to get the last 6 questions right- much less experimental questions- and they key to do that is to: NOT RUN OUT OF TIME. This has happened to my owner several times, and he wondered why. The way to avoid this is to pace yourself- if you see a question and you have no )(*#*(#&$*(^ clue, then its actually beneficial to just click D (statistically the most common) or anything and just move on. That way you spend seconds instead of 3-4 minutes trying to figure out the question and then guessing anyway. In fact- a VERY good rule (and this applies especially for perfectionists) is that if you can't solve the question in 2 minutes, you MUST skip and move on. "But Weebee!" you say, "I can solve this!!!". It doesn't matter. If you can't do it in 2 minutes you can't solve it. Rather if you had spent 10 seconds realizing you can't do it and then just skipped, you now have more than 3 minutes to solve a problem that you may be able to do. What most people realize is that you don't need to get all the questions right to get a good score. In fact, letting some go in pursuit of the other ones ensures that you can leave a bit more time for the last questions (by going faster in the middle where more are experimental) and thus score better on the GMAT. A lot of rookie test takers run out of time and then have to click C, C, C, at the end as you DON'T want time to run out and you haven't answered all the questions. That's even worse.
I'd post more, but Weebee is quite tired. Until next time when he updates the post. Feel free to ask questions, though not sure when I'll get around to them...
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