Know the fundamentals To do well on the GMAT quant, you can’t guess your way through, relying on techniques such as process of elimination or approximation. At a certain point you have to know the properties of a right triangle or the difference between dependent and independent events in probability. Of course the range of [...]
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“Understanding” the GMAT: Practice vs. Exam Performance
Those of us in test prep have become used to hearing folks tell us: I thought I understood such-and-such a topic, but then I did so poorly on it on the test (whether a practice test or the real GMAT). Of course, there’s a difference between a more academic understanding of a topic and the [...]
GMAT Study Approaches: Systematic vs. Random
Consider these two extreme approaches to studying for the GMAT: 1) Focus on one topic/concept. Practice that same kind of problem exhaustively until you master it. Then move on to the next topic/concept. Repeat. 2) Practice a wide mix of problems every time you sit down to practice. If those were the only two possibilities, [...]
GMAT Reading: The New York Times
Listen up – prepping for the GMAT doesn’t totally have to suck. You don’t need to memorize hundreds of grammatical rules only to remember a tenth of them when you are struggling through a 60-word Sentence Correction on the Spanish Inquisition. Prepping for the GMAT means taking that part of the brain I call your [...]
Pacing and Timing Strategies for the GMAT
The Question of Pacing Suppose you have some block of time (one month, three months, etc.) to study& prepare for the GMAT. Of course, there’s lots of hard content to learn. The question arises between these two contrasting approaches: 1) APPROACH #1: Learn everything thing thoroughly, practicing without time constraints until you are comfortable, and [...]
6 Month GMAT Study Schedule
OK, you are starting more or less from scratch, and you want to prepare for the GMAT in six months. You need a strategic plan to organize yourself. Here it is. Resources to have: 1) the GMAC Official Guide to the GMAT (OG). All page numbers here are from the 12th edition. (Don’t write in [...]
3 Month GMAT Study Schedule for Advanced Students
OK, you are starting more or less from scratch, and you want to prepare for the GMAT in three months. You need a strategic plan to organize yourself. I designed four different versions of the Three Month Plan, and I need you to start with a little self-diagnosis. Which sounds most like you? Version A [...]
3 Month GMAT Study Schedule (Verbal Focused)
OK, you are starting more or less from scratch, and you want to prepare for the GMAT in three months. You need a strategic plan to organize yourself. I designed four different versions of the Three Month Plan, and I need you to start with a little self-diagnosis. Which sounds most like you? Version A [...]
3 Month GMAT Study Schedule (Math Focused)
OK, you are starting more or less from scratch, and you want to prepare for the GMAT in three months. You need a strategic plan to organize yourself. I designed four different versions of the Three Month Plan, and I need you to start with a little self-diagnosis. Which sounds most like you? Version A [...]
Is the Official GMAC Guide Enough?
A question posed by some folks preparing for the GMAT is: is it enough just to study GMAC’s Official Guide, or should I use other materials? Here’s what I would say to that. If you are the type of student who regularly scores well the above the 95th percentile on standardized tests, and if the [...]
