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19 Nov 2014, 11:00
| FROM Manhattan GMAT Blog: The GMAT Review Game |
 So you’ve just taken a practice test. Chances are, you didn’t get a perfect 800. (If you did, stop studying and come work for us!). You probably didn’t even get a score that you like yet. That doesn’t mean that you’ve failed, though. In fact, you’ve barely started, because… REVIEWING IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE PROCESS!! Most people take tests, then look at the score, then click on the explanations to the ones they got wrong. Their review process takes about 15 minutes, and just involves “oh, I did that wrong. Oh, that’s the right answer.” This kind of review process teaches you next to nothing about how to do better on the next one. So here’s what you need to do. The test gave you a score from 200-800 on accuracy, but you need to give yourself your own score on your review process. Here’s how it works… For every single question – not just the ones you got wrong! – you should be going back and re-solving. Take yourself through this checklist for quant problems:  1) Did I fully understand the concept and the rules behind it? +1 Give yourself a point if you could tell that a question was asking about DIVISIBILITY, or understood the RATE x TIME = DISTANCE relationship. 2) Did I understand what the question was asking for? +1 Did you rephrase DS questions to pinpoint what they were really asking for? Did you notice that it asked for “Amy’s age in 5 years,” and wrote down A + 5 instead of just A? Did you understand what it means when they ask for “x in terms of y and z”? 3) Did you solve it correctly? up to +5 Give yourself up to 5 points if you solved correctly the first time and got the right answer. Subtract a point or two if you took longer than you should have, or made a mistake before ultimately correcting it. Only give yourself +1 for a random lucky guess and +2 for an educated guess. 4) … or if you didn’t solve correctly, did you make a good decision to skip? +2 You’re not going to be able to solve every question on the GMAT, because you’re always going to run into questions that are above your ability level – that’s how the test is designed! So you should pat yourself on the back whenever you recognize that a question is too hard to solve, and you make the decision not to attempt it. Lock in an educated guess and save that extra time for a problem that is doable for you. 5) Can I find any mistakes that I made the first time? +1 each Make sure you hold onto your scrap paper from each practice test so you can analyze where things might have gone wrong. Did you drop a negative sign? Solve for x instead of y? Mess up some computation? Instead of berating yourself for flubbing the first time, give yourself a point for being able to find those errors in your work, and think about how you could avoid them the next time! 6) Can I think of any other strategies that I could have used here instead? +2 each Ask yourself if you could have used any of these:
Now, try solving the problem again yourself if you didn’t get it the first time. If you did get it right the first time, you’re still not done! Solve it again completely using each method you identified in step 5, and give yourself +3 points for every successful outcome. Take time to think about which strategy would have worked best in this case, and what you should do on a similar problem next time. 8) Note any takeaways. +2 each Now that you’ve successfully solved the problem (maybe a few times), you’re still not done! You need to record any lessons that you want to take to the next problem. Those might be:
9) Look at the explanation. (no points) Only after you’ve graded yourself and noted any takeaways should you look at the answer explanation. See if there’s anything you missed that you could add to your takeaways list. If you see another solution path that you didn’t think of, stop reading! Go back and try the strategy yourself, then check it against the given solution. 10) Give yourself a score! Add up the point totals for each question, and give yourself a total Review Score. You could potentially get more than 20 points per question if you notice several solution paths and several takeaways. Realistically, though, you want to aim for above 10 points on each question, for a total score of over 370 for all 37 questions. Above a 400 means you’re crushing it! Why is this Review Score more important than your 200-800 score? Well, someone who got 28 questions right on quant (a very high number) but who didn’t review would only get a Review Score of 140. This person didn’t learn anything new to take to the next problem, and will probably stay stuck at the same score. Someone who only got 15 questions right, though, but who reviewed really deeply would get a much better Review Score, because that person has done the hard mental work that will yield a better CAT score the next time. The best way to improve your 200-800 score is to maximize your Review Score. So, what score would you give yourself? The post The GMAT Review Game appeared first on GMAT. |
21 Nov 2014, 16:00
| FROM Manhattan GMAT Blog: GMAT, LSAT, and GRE Instructor Auditions: Decision In A Day |
 For the first time ever, Manhattan Prep is holding a one-day audition for new GMAT, GRE, and LSAT instructors! Come join us December 14, 2014 at 9:00 AM and transform your passion for teaching into a lucrative and fulfilling part-time or full-time career. Manhattan Prep offers instructors flexible hours and great pay ($100/hour for all teaching and tutoring). In addition to teaching classes, instructors can work on other projects such as curriculum development. Our regular instructor audition process, which includes a series of phone, video, and in-person mock lessons, usually takes weeks, even months, to complete. However, we are offering a one-day event on December 14th for teachers interested in working with us. Candidates who attend will receive a decision that day. The event will take place at our company headquarters at 138 West 25th St., 7th Floor, in Manhattan, New York City at 9:00 AM EST. It is open to candidates who live in the tri-state area, who have teaching experience, and who are GMAT, LSAT, or GRE experts. The day will include several rounds of lessons, as well as other activities. Each round will be pass/ fail. The day will begin at 9 AM and may last as late as 4:30 PM for those who make it to the final round. Candidates will need to prepare lessons for some rounds; we will send a more detailed instruction packet to those who sign up for the event. To register, please email Rina at auditions@manhattanprep.com. Make sure to include in your full name, an attachment of your resume detailing your teaching experience, and an official GRE, GMAT, or LSAT score report. We look forward to meeting you on December 14th! The post GMAT, LSAT, and GRE Instructor Auditions: Decision In A Day appeared first on GMAT. |
21 Nov 2014, 17:00
| FROM Manhattan GMAT Blog: News from the GMAT Summit Fall 2014 |
 Last week, I attended the annual GMAT Summit, held by the fine folks at GMAC (who own / make the GMAT), and I have some interesting tidbits to share with you. It really is a myth You know what I’m going to say already, don’t you? The first 7 (or 10, or 5) questions are not worth more than the questions later in the exam. I’ve written about this topic before but I’m going to mention it once again because of something that happened at the conference. Fanmin Guo, Ph. D., Vice President of Psychometric Research at GMAC, was answering questions after a presentation on the test algorithm. A couple of people were peppering him with questions about this myth and apparently just didn’t seem to believe that it could possibly be true that the early questions aren’t worth more. One of the questioners also made a pretty significant faulty assumption in his arguments—and now I’m worried that an article is going to pop up trying to revive this debate. I don’t want any of my students led astray on this topic. First, to understand why the early questions actually aren’t worth any more than the later ones, see the article I linked a couple of paragraphs back. Second: here was the faulty assumption that I heard: “You said that the earlier questions aren’t worth any more than the later ones. So you’re telling us that students should spend the same amount of time on every question.” Dr. Guo was saying the first part: that the location of a question on the test doesn’t impact its weighting in the overall score. He and the other GMAC folks weren’t saying anything, though, about how you should take the test. In fact, it would be silly to spend exactly the same amount of time on every question. Some questions are harder than others. In addition, you have various strengths and weaknesses in terms of both accuracy and speed. There are, in fact, very good reasons not to spend the same amount of time on each question. All Dr. Guo was saying was that the location of the problem in the section is not one of those reasons. So, if you read something that says that you should spend more time on the earlier questions, roll your eyes and click away. Alternatively, if you read something that concludes that you should spend the same amount of time on every question, drop that source as well. Take a look at the data in my other article to see that GMAC actually does know what it’s doing and the GMAT is not just a test of how you perform on the first 7 or 10 questions. GMATPrep offers more data GMAC has been building more score reporting functionality into GMATPrep to give us a better idea of how we do when we take the official practice CATs. In fact, this capability has already launched! I need to go download the newest version of GMATPrep to see exactly what’s offered (and I’ll report back to you once I’ve done so), but they’ve started to offer data for sub-categories such as question type and content area. They are also beta-testing a new score report for the official test; I’m very excited about this. This score report would offer various data points about your real test performance, beyond the basic scores. In other words, you could find out more detailed information about your strengths and weaknesses on the real test—very useful if you need to take it again! They haven’t yet finalized exactly what data they’ll give, but they’re planning to release this early next year sometime, I believe. (They’re also planning to charge $25 for the service. In written feedback, I recommended that they avoid any fee, as the only people who will be taking advantage of the service are those who don’t like their score…so they’re about to have to spend another $250 to take the test again. But I’m assuming that decision probably isn’t going to change.) IR continues to gain traction While most schools still are not using IR during this year’s admissions season, some schools are using it and we expect that number to continue to increase. Eileen Talento-Miller, Ph.D., Senior Psychometrician at GMAC, presented the most recent validity studies for IR. Validity studies measure whether the test is telling us valuable information about the test-taker. The IR section has been out long enough now that Dr. Talento-Miller was able to run a study of IR scores against business school grades to see whether there were any correlations. Turns out, IR is doing a good job of predicting grades in business school. The IR section is adding to the overall validity of the full GMAT scores—that is, the new section is helping business schools to better predict who is likely to do well in business school. GMAC also gets requests from some employers who want to know candidates’ GMAT scores, and some companies are expressing interest in the IR score as well. Comparisons within cohorts Dr. Talento-Miller also ran various group comparisons to see when the various test scores (quant, verbal, IR) were especially useful in helping to predict graduate school grades. For students with STEM (science, tech, engineering, and math) undergrad degrees, the verbal section score was the most important predictor of b-school grades. This isn’t surprising; these folks are already strong in quant, so the real differentiator for them is the verbal score. By contrast, for those who studied humanities or social sciences in undergrad, all three sections of the test in conjunction were important. For students in the US or Canada, the quant section is showing up as the most useful indicator of b-school performance. For those coming from Asia and the Pacific, the verbal and IR scores are almost tied as the best predictors, while the quant score doesn’t predict much of anything. For those coming from Europe and Latin America, the three sections are roughly equally indicative of b-school performance. This data may lead you to speculate that business schools may start to compare applicants within “cohorts,” by undergraduate degree, geography, or other factors. In fact, they already have. In September, GMAC released a tool to business schools that allows the schools to sort and compare applicants by certain factors. (Note: the WSJ article takes a bit of a different slant, but I read the news of this tool release in a whole new way once I heard Dr. Talento-Miller’s presentation on the way in which different sections of the test have varying predictive ability depending on the candidate’s background.) TL;DR? Sure. In short, IR is slowly becoming more important, so I’m going to officially up my “go for this” score recommendation. For next year’s application season, aim for a 5 or higher, 6 if you want to apply to a top school. And I’m expecting that number to go up again in a year. Also, if you’re coming from a traditionally “high quant” group, then your verbal and IR scores are more important factors in determining your chances for admission. GMAT vs. GRE Finally, yours truly (yes, me!) presented at the conference, alongside the General Manager of Manhattan Prep, my colleague and friend Rey Fernandez. We recently completed a study that, in-house, we called “GMAT vs. GRE: The Smackdown.” (No, we didn’t really. I just made that up. It’s important to have some fun with your job.  Our colleague Michael Bilow, data guru extraordinaire, designed this study to answer the question “How are you deciding which test to take?” Those choosing the GMAT were most influenced by the fact that some schools that do take both tests nevertheless prefer the GMAT over the GRE—Haas (UC-Berkeley), and Anderson (UCLA) fall into this category. Typically, when a school does prefer the GMAT, it will say so right on its website (that is, the schools are not trying to hide that information). Respondents who were still undecided were concerned about that fact as well but they were also concerned about the quant portion of the test; they weren’t as confident that their quant performance would be strong enough on the GMAT. One of the attendees at the conference (not someone from GMAC) pointed out that you’re taking the GRE up against candidates who are planning to apply to science and engineering Master’s programs, so while the GRE math may feel easier to some, you may not necessarily be able to lift your percentile ranking appreciably. If so, then you might as well take the GMAT, particularly in case you decide to apply to one of the schools that does prefer that test. What’s the big takeaway? I’m going to leave you with one quote (well, a paraphrase) from Dr. Guo of GMAC: because the GMAT is an adaptive test, your study time is best spent studying questions that are just a bit too hard for your current level—maybe they take you too long to do or maybe you can sometimes do them but you sometimes make mistakes. Don’t waste your time studying only the hardest questions, as you won’t even see those questions on the test unless you can answer the lower-level questions correctly (and efficiently!) to lift your score up to the stratosphere. Happy Studying! The post News from the GMAT Summit Fall 2014 appeared first on GMAT. |
22 Nov 2014, 04:00
| FROM Manhattan GMAT Blog: Ready for Round 2 Applications? Deadline Reminders for the Top 20 Business Schools |
 The round 2 deadlines for business schools are right around the corner and many students are panicking because they want to apply but don’t have the score they want on the GMAT. If this sounds like you, use the chart below to remind yourself of the deadlines for the top 20 schools and evaluate whether you have enough time to prep and take or retake the official exam. Looking for that extra kick to keep you on track? Our upcoming December GMAT Boot Camps are designed to prep you in just two weeks. Be prepared for intensive in-class work paired with hours of one-on-one coaching that will get you ready for the exam without sacrificing content knowledge. There are still a few spots open in our December Boot Camps (New York City and Live Online). Check out the full schedule and see all that’s included! School Round 2 Deadline 2014 Harvard University Monday, January 05, 2015 Stanford University Wednesday, January 07, 2015 University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) Sunday, January 05, 2014 University of Chicago (Booth) Tuesday, January 06, 2015 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) Thursday, January 08, 2015 Northwestern University (Kellogg) Wednesday, January 07, 2015 University of California–Berkeley (Haas) Wednesday, January 07, 2015 Columbia University Final Application Deadline: April 09, 2015 Dartmouth College (Tuck) Tuesday, January 06, 2015 New York University (Stern) Saturday, November 15, 2014 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (Ross) Saturday, March 14, 2014 University of Virginia (Darden) Wednesday, January 07, 2015 Yale University Thursday, January 08, 2015 Duke University (Fuqua) Monday, January 05, 2015 University of Texas–Austin (McCombs) Tuesday, January 06, 2015 University of California–Los Angeles (Anderson) Wednesday, January 07, 2015 Cornell University (Johnson) Wednesday, January 07, 2015 Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) Sunday, January 04, 2015 University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flager) Friday, December 12, 2014 Emory University (Goizueta) Friday, November 14, 2014 Indiana University–Bloomington (Kelley) Sunday, March 01, 2015 Washington University in St. Louis (Olin) Saturday, November 15, 2014 Georgetown University (McDonough) Monday, January 05, 2015 University of Notre Dame (Mendoza) Monday, January 12, 2015 University of Washington (Foster) Saturday, November 15, 2014 The post Ready for Round 2 Applications? Deadline Reminders for the Top 20 Business Schools appeared first on GMAT. |
22 Nov 2014, 12:00
| FROM Manhattan GMAT Blog: Ready for Round 2 Applications? Deadline Reminders for the Top 25 Business Schools |
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The round 2 deadlines for business schools are right around the corner and many students are panicking because they want to apply, but they don’t have the score they want on the GMAT. If this sounds like you, use the chart below to remind yourself of the deadlines for the top 25 schools and evaluate whether you have enough time to prep and take or retake the official exam. Looking for that extra kick to keep your studies on track? Our upcoming December GMAT Boot Camps are designed to prep you in just two weeks. Be prepared for intensive in-class work paired with hours of one-on-one coaching that will get you ready for the exam without sacrificing content knowledge. There are still a few spots open in our December Boot Camps (New York City and Live Online). Check out the full schedule and see all that’s included! School Round 2 Deadline 2014 Harvard University Monday, January 05, 2015 Stanford University Wednesday, January 07, 2015 University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) Sunday, January 05, 2014 University of Chicago (Booth) Tuesday, January 06, 2015 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) Thursday, January 08, 2015 Northwestern University (Kellogg) Wednesday, January 07, 2015 University of California–Berkeley (Haas) Wednesday, January 07, 2015 Columbia University Final Application Deadline: April 09, 2015 Dartmouth College (Tuck) Tuesday, January 06, 2015 New York University (Stern) Saturday, November 15, 2014 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (Ross) Saturday, March 14, 2014 University of Virginia (Darden) Wednesday, January 07, 2015 Yale University Thursday, January 08, 2015 Duke University (Fuqua) Monday, January 05, 2015 University of Texas–Austin (McCombs) Tuesday, January 06, 2015 University of California–Los Angeles (Anderson) Wednesday, January 07, 2015 Cornell University (Johnson) Wednesday, January 07, 2015 Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) Sunday, January 04, 2015 University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flager) Friday, December 12, 2014 Emory University (Goizueta) Friday, November 14, 2014 Indiana University–Bloomington (Kelley) Sunday, March 01, 2015 Washington University in St. Louis (Olin) Saturday, November 15, 2014 Georgetown University (McDonough) Monday, January 05, 2015 University of Notre Dame (Mendoza) Monday, January 12, 2015 University of Washington (Foster) Saturday, November 15, 2014 The post Ready for Round 2 Applications? Deadline Reminders for the Top 25 Business Schools appeared first on GMAT. |
25 Nov 2014, 04:00
| FROM Manhattan GMAT Blog: GMAT Data Sufficiency Strategy: Test Cases |
 If you’re going to do a great job on Data Sufficiency, then you’ve got to know how to Test Cases. This strategy will help you on countless DS problems. Try this GMATPrep® problem from the free exams. Give yourself about 2 minutes. Go! * “On the number line, if the number k is to the left of the number t, is the product kt to the right of t? “(1) t < 0 “(2) k < 1” If visualizing things helps you wrap your brain around the math (it certainly helps me), sketch out a number line:  k is somewhere to the left of t, but the two actual values could be anything. Both could be positive or both negative, or k could be negative and t positive. One of the two could even be zero. The question asks whether kt is to the right of t. That is, is the product kt greater than t by itself? There are a million possibilities for the values of k and t, so this question is what we call a theory question: are there certain characteristics of various numbers that would produce a consistent answer? Common characteristics tested on theory problems include positive, negative, zero, simple fractions, odds, evens, primes—basically, number properties. “(1) t < 0 This problem appears to be testing positive and negative, since the statement specifies that one of the values must be negative. Test some real numbers, always making sure that t is negative. Case #1: t k Valid case? Is kt > t? -1 -2 Valid: t < 0 and k < t 2 > -1? Yes. Testing Cases involves three consistent steps: First, choose numbers to test in the problem Second, make sure that you have selected a valid case. All of the givens must be true using your selected numbers. Third, answer the question. In this case, the answer is Yes. Now, your next strategy comes into play: try to prove the statement insufficient. How? Ask yourself what numbers you could try that would give you the opposite answer. The first time, you got a Yes. Can you get a No? Case #2: t k Valid case? Is kt > t? -1 2 Invalid! k is not less than t! Careful: this is where you might make a mistake. In trying to find the opposite case, you might try a mix of numbers that is invalid. Always make sure that you have a valid case before you actually try to answer the question. Discard case 2. Case #3: t k Valid case? Is kt > t? -1 -5 Valid: t < 0 and k < t 5 > -1? Yes. Hmm. We got another Yes answer. What does this mean? If you can’t come up with the opposite answer, see if you can understand why. According to this statement, t is always negative. Since k must be smaller than t, k will also always be negative. The product kt, then, will be the product of two negative numbers, which is always positive. As a result, kt must always be larger than t, since kt is positive and t is negative. Okay, statement (1) is sufficient. Cross off answers BCE and check out statement (2): “(2) k < 1” You know the drill. Test cases again! Case #1: k t Valid case? Is kt > t? 0 1 Valid: k < 1 and k < t 0 > 1? No. You’ve got a No answer. Try to find a Yes. Case #2: k t Valid case? Is kt > t? -1 1 Valid: k < 1 and k < t -1 > 1? No. Hmm. I got another No. What needs to happen to make kt > t? Remember what happened when you were testing statement (1): try making them both negative! In fact, when you’re testing statement (2), see whether any of the cases you already tested for statement (1) are still valid for statement (2). If so, you can save yourself some work. Ideally, the below would be your path for statement (2), not what I first showed above: “(2) k < 1” Case #1: k t Valid case? Is kt > t? -2 -1 Valid: k < 1 and k < t Same case, still Yes. All you have to do is make sure that the case is valid. If so, you’ve already done the math, so you know that the answer is the same (in this case, Yes). Now, try to find your opposite answer: can you get a No? Case #2: Try something I couldn’t try before. k could be positive or even 0… k t Valid case? Is kt > t? 0 1 Valid: k < 1 and k < t 0 > 1? No. A Yes and a No add up to an insufficient answer. Eliminate answer (D). The correct answer is (A). Guess what? The technique can also work on some Problem Solving problems. Try it out on the following GMATPrep problem, then join me next week to discuss the answer: * “For which of the following functions f is f(x) = f(1 – x) for all x? “(A) f(x) = 1 – x “(B) f(x) = 1 – x2 “(C) f(x) = x2 – (1 – x)2 “(D) f(x) = x2(1 – x)2 “(E)  Key Takeaways: Test Cases on Data Sufficiency (1) When DS asks you a “theory” question, test cases. Theory questions allow multiple possible scenarios, or cases. Your goal is to see whether the given information provides a consistent answer. (2) Specifically, try to disprove the statement: if you can find one Yes and one No answer, then you’re done with that statement. You know it’s insufficient. If you keep trying different kinds of numbers but getting the same answer, see whether you can think through the theory to prove to yourself that the statement really does always work. (If you can’t, but the numbers you try keep giving you one consistent answer, just go ahead and assume that the statement is sufficient. If you’ve made a mistake, you can learn from it later.) * GMATPrep® questions courtesy of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Usage of this question does not imply endorsement by GMAC. Studying for the GMAT? Take our free GMAT practice exam or sign up for a free GMAT trial class running all the time near you, or online. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+,LinkedIn, and follow us on Twitter! The post GMAT Data Sufficiency Strategy: Test Cases appeared first on GMAT. |
01 Dec 2014, 11:00
| FROM Manhattan GMAT Blog: The Newest Manhattan GMAT Strategy Guides Have Arrived! |
 I am really excited to announce that our latest and greatest GMAT Strategy Guides are hitting bookshelves right now! We’ve been working all year on updating our materials to give you the best and most up-to-date study materials possible. What’s so great about the new books? So many things, I don’t know where to start! Okay, let’s talk about quant first. Every quant book contains between 1 and 3 entirely new chapters. These chapters are devoted to strategies that will help you solve quant problems more efficiently and more effectively. These strategies are a crucial reason why all of our teachers score in the 99th percentile on the GMAT (I certainly wouldn’t consider taking the test without using them). We’ve always taught them in class and now we’re putting them in our books for the first time. These strategies include: Choosing Smart Numbers: you can turn certain algebra problems into arithmetic problems by substituting in your own numbers for the variables. We’re all better at arithmetic than we are at algebra, so you’ll definitely make your life easier (and be able to answer harder questions) by choosing smart numbers. Testing Cases: On many data sufficiency problems (and even some problem solving problems), you’ll want to test cases in order to determine whether a statement is sufficient (or to eliminate wrong answers on PS). These problems are “theory” problems: the question may ask “Is n odd?” and then provide information that doesn’t allow you to determine a specific value for n, just whether specific characteristics are true of n. Working Backwards: Sometimes, the problem is pretty annoying to set up and solve but the answers are all “nice” numbers: relatively small integers. In this case, you may be able to work backwards from the answers: pick one and try it in the problem to see whether it’s correct. The beauty of this technique: if you get good at it, on many problems you won’t have to try more than two answers in order to get to the correct one. I tested three answers on the solution in the article linked here, but I only really needed to test the first two; see if you can figure out why. Estimation: Sometimes, the problem would be really irritating to solve exactly, but the answers are all decently spread apart. When this is the case, you can just estimate to solve! There are also a bunch of strategies for jumping between fractions, decimals, and percents to solve more quickly. Combos: The GMAT likes to ask us to solve for a combination of variables, such as x + y. Sure, it’s possible that you may have to find x and y individually and then add them up, but it’s actually more likely that you’ll want to solve directly for that combo (x + y), especially on Data Sufficiency. Learn how to do this and also how to avoid DS traps in which the statement is not sufficient to solve for the individual variables but is sufficient to solve for the Combo. Draw It Out: You can often solve the extra-annoying story problems, such as rates & work, via a “back of the envelope” approach: you sketch out a picture of the scenario and just “step” through it. For instance, you’d draw a timeline and map out exactly where those two trains are after 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours. It’s a little bit shocking how often this kind of strategy will get you all the way down to a single answer. What is the best way to use the books? I’ll leave you with a few tips about studying for quant. First, here’s the order that we use in our own classes:
Next, I’d recommend starting with a few problems from the problem set at the end of the chapter—that’s right, before you even read the chapter! This creates curiosity, which really wakes your brain up and primes it to learn. Don’t do a bunch and don’t do the hardest ones (unless you think you’re really good at that topic). Just do about 2 or 3 problems and then dive into the chapter. (This will also help you to know how much time you’re likely going to want to spend on the chapter; if the problems are really a struggle, you may even want to review the equivalent chapter in our Foundations of Math Guide, if you have that book too.) When you get to the end of the main chapters of that book, do the OG Mixed Questions Quiz that we’ve devised for you. (Certain longer books also have mid-way quizzes.) You can find these quizzes on our web site, where our Official Guide Problem Set study lists live. You’ll receive access to these problem sets and quizzes, along with other bonus materials, when you register your books on our site. We moved the OG problem sets online because GMAC is going to start publishing new versions of their Official Guide books every year (in July, we’ve heard), so by moving the problem sets online, we’ve ensured that you’ll always be able to go and get the sets for the specific OG editions that you own. I do have some interesting updates on the Verbal side as well, but I’m nearing my word count limit, so I’m going to make you wait until tomorrow. Also, a plea: if you get the new books, tell me what you think down in the comments. (Compliments or criticisms—I do want both.) Happy studying! Studying for the GMAT? Take our free GMAT practice exam or sign up for a free GMAT trial class running all the time near you, or online. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+,LinkedIn, and follow us on Twitter! The post The Newest Manhattan GMAT Strategy Guides Have Arrived! appeared first on GMAT. |
02 Dec 2014, 13:00
| FROM Manhattan GMAT Blog: The newest GMAT Strategy Guides have arrived! (Part II) |
 The newest GMAT Strategy Guides have hit the shelves! We’re really excited about these new books, the perfect stocking stuffers to make all of your dreams come true. (Well…your GMAT-related dreams, anyway.) Yesterday, we talked about the Quant Guides and today I’ve got the Verbal scoop for you. Let’s start with Sentence Correction. The SC Guide begins with a new strategy chapter that discusses our 4-Step SC Process and lays out drills that you can do to get better at such skills as the First Glance and Finding a Starting Point. We’ve also significantly expanded the Subject-Verb Agreement chapter to include a full treatment of Sentence Structure, an area that has been becoming much more commonly tested on the GMAT. We’ve added important segments to Modifiers, Parallelism, and Verbs and we’ve woven relevant Meaning topics into every chapter in the book. Finally, we’ve streamlined the Idioms material. The main chapter contains a strategy for tackling idioms as well as the most commonly tested idioms found on the GMAT. A separate appendix contains the less-commonly-tested idioms. We recommend taking the time to memorize the ones listed in the main chapter, but to use the appendix more as a resource to look up the correct idiom when you struggle with a particular problem. (It’s impossible to memorize every idiom in a language; there are thousands, if not tens of thousands!) What about RC and CR? Glad you asked! Our Reading Comprehension Guide was re-written from scratch. We’ve streamlined the process for reading passages and added lessons designed to help you wade through these dense passages and extract the kernels you need to answer questions. We’ve also expanded our lessons for each question type and provided you with end-of-chapter cheat sheets that summarize what to do for each question type and what common traps to avoid. (I’m most excited about this book; students often complain that RC is hard to study, and I’m hoping that this book will change your minds!) Of all of the books, Critical Reasoning has changed the least, although we did add more information about Fill-In-The-Blank question types. This Guide also provides you with end-of-chapter cheat sheets that summarize how to recognize each type of question, what to look for in the argument, what kind of characteristics the right answer needs to possess, and how to spot the most common trap answers. What is the best way to use the books? Here’s how we typically study each topic in class: Sentence Correction First, we learn how to use the SC Process and we discuss the main topics being tested (grammar and meaning); these correspond to chapters 1 and 2 of the book. Then, we work through one new chapter a week, starting with Chapter 3 (Sentence Structure). The order of chapters in the book is the same order we use in class. You can use the same approach mentioned for quant (in the first half of this article): do some end-of-chapter problems first to see what your skills are. If you know that you don’t really know this material, then you can also skip this step. After you’ve finished a chapter, try some of those end-of-chapter problems to ensure that you did actually internalize the concepts that you just learned. Then, if you have the OG books, follow up with some questions from the OG Problem Sets, located in your Manhattan Prep Student Center. Reading Comprehension The class contains three RC lessons. First, we learn how to read. Bet you thought you already knew how, didn’t you? Of course you do know how to read, but the way you read in the real world may not work very well on the GMAT. You’ll learn a new way to deal with the short timeframe we’re given on the test. After that, you’ll learn how to handle General questions, the ones for which you need to wrap your brain around the main ideas of the passage. Then, you’ll move on to Specific Questions, including Detail, Inference, and Purpose questions. The test writers are asking us to do something a bit different for each one, so you’ll need to learn how to recognize each type in the first place and then how to handle it. In class, we finish off with a Challenging RC lesson. You can create something similar for yourself by tackling harder and harder OG passages. Critical Reasoning Critical Reasoning begins with a thorough treatment of argument building blocks and the 4-Step CR Process. After that, you’ll learn about each question type (do actually use the order presented in the book). Pay attention to what the book says about frequency of each type; some types are much more common than others (and those types should obviously get more of your attention). For both CR and RC, tear out or photo-copy the cheat sheets and use them to quiz yourself. Alternatively, put the material onto flash cards yourself (the act of rewriting the material will help you to remember it better!) and drill while you’re sitting on the subway or waiting for that meeting to start. Is that all I need to do? That will certainly keep you busy for a while. As you get further into your studies, note that you also need to lift yourself to the 2nd Level of GMAT Study. Yes, of course, there are lots of facts, formulas, and rules to memorize, and your brain will be focused on those areas at first. It’s crucial, however, for you to learn the various strategies presented in our Guides, as well as your own decision-making strategies based on your own strengths and weaknesses, and timing strategies. In short, get ready to make a commitment. Think of studying for the GMAT as a university-level course: you’re going to spend hours every week for about 3 to 4 months to get ready for this test. With a solid plan, you’ll achieve your goals. Visit our store and be the first to own the full set of our brand new Strategy Guides. Happy studying! Studying for the GMAT? Take our free GMAT practice exam or sign up for a free GMAT trial class running all the time near you, or online. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+,LinkedIn, and follow us on Twitter! The post The newest GMAT Strategy Guides have arrived! (Part II) appeared first on GMAT. |
18 Dec 2014, 10:01
| FROM Manhattan GMAT Blog: mbaMission: The 2016 MBA Class Profile Infographic |
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We’ve invited our friends at mbaMissionto share their 2016 MBA Class Profile Infographic! Check out their findings below and visit mbamission.com to sign up for a free consultation. Choosing the right MBA program for your needs can be challenging. How do you identify the best one for your specific personal, educational, and professional goals? An important element of your business school experience will be your fellow students—the other aspiring MBAs with whom you will be living and studying every day. Using Class of 2016 profile statistics from the top ten U.S. programs (according to U.S. News & World Report 2015), we at mbaMission have created this infographic to help show how the different programs compare. Enjoy!  The post mbaMission: The 2016 MBA Class Profile Infographic appeared first on GMAT. |
02 Jan 2015, 09:00
| FROM Manhattan GMAT Blog: GMAT Sentence Correction: How To Find the Core Sentence (Part 1) |
 Recently, I was discussing sentence structure with one of my classes and we practiced a crucial but difficult GMAT skill: how to strip an SC sentence to its core components. Multiple OG problems can be solved just by eliminating faulty sentence cores—and the real GMAT is testing this skill today more than we see in the published materials. So I’m going to write a series of articles on just this topic; welcome to part 1 (and props to my Wednesday evening GMAT Fall AA class for inspiring this series!). Try out this GMATPrepÒ problem from the free exams. (Note: in the solution, I’m going to discuss aspects of our SC Process; if you haven’t learned it already, go read about it right now, then come back and try this problem.) * “With surface temperatures estimated at minus 230 degrees Fahrenheit, Jupiter’s moon Europa has long been considered far too cold to support life, and with 60 square miles of water thought to be frozen from top to bottom. “(A) Europa has long been considered far too cold to support life, and with “(B) Europa has long been considered far too cold to support life, its “(C) Europa has long been considered as far too cold to support life and has “(D) Europa, long considered as far too cold to support life, and its “(E) Europa, long considered to be far too cold to support life, and to have” The First Glance does help on this one, but only if you have studied sentence structure explicitly. Before I did so, I used to think: “Oh, they started with Europa because they added a comma in some answers, but that doesn’t really tell me anything.” But I’ve learned better! What is that comma replacing? Check it out: the first three answers all have a verb following Europa. The final two don’t; that is, the verb disappears. That immediately makes me suspect sentence structure, because a sentence does have to have a verb. If you remove the main verb from one location, you have to put one in someplace else. I’ll be watching out for that when I read the sentence. And now it’s time to do just that. As I read the sentence, I strip it down to what we call the “sentence core” in my mind. It took me a long time to develop this skill. I’ll show you the result, first, and then I’ll tell you how I learned to do it. The “sentence core” refers to the stuff that has to be there in order to have a complete sentence. Everything else is “extra”: it may be important later, but right now, I’m ignoring it.  I greyed out the portions that are not part of the core. How does the sentence look to you? Notice something weird: I didn’t just strip it down to a completely correct sentence. There’s something wrong with the core. In other words, the goal is not to create a correct sentence; rather, you’re using certain rules to strip to the core even when that core is incorrect. Using this skill requires you to develop two abilities: the ability to tell what is core vs. extra and the ability to keep things that are wrong, despite the fact that they’ll make your core sound funny. The core of the sentence above is: Europa has long been considered too cold to support life, and. Clearly, that’s not a good sentence! So why did I strip out what I stripped out, and yet leave that “comma and” in there? Here was my thought process: Text of sentence My thoughts: “With…” Preposition. Introduces a modifier. Can’t be the core. “With surface temperatures estimated at minus 230 degrees Fahrenheit,” Each word I’ve italicized introduces a new noun modifier. Nothing here is a subject or main verb. * “Jupiter’s moon Europa” The main noun is Europa; ignore the earlier words. “Europa has long been considered far too cold to support life,” That’s a complete sentence. Yay. “, and” A complete sentence followed by “comma and”? I’m expecting another complete sentence to follow. ** “with 60 square miles of water thought to be frozen from top to bottom.” Same deal as the beginning of the sentence! Each word I’ve italicized introduces a new modifier. Nothing here that can function as a subject or main verb. * Why isn’t estimated a verb? Estimated is a past participle and can be part of a verb form, but you can’t say “Temperatures estimated at minus 230 degrees Fahrenheit.” You’d have to say “Temperatures are estimated at…” (Note: you could say “She estimated her commute to be 45 minutes from door to door.” In other words, estimated by itself can be the main verb of a sentence. In my example, though, the subject is actually doing the estimating. In the GMATPrep problem above, the temperatures can’t estimate anything!) ** Why is it that I expected another complete sentence to follow the “comma and”? The word and is a parallelism marker; it signals that two parts of the sentence need to be made parallel. When you have one complete sentence, and you follow that with “comma and,” you need to set up another complete sentence to be parallel to that first complete sentence. For example: She studied all day, and she went to dinner with friends that night. The portion before the and is a complete sentence, as is the portion after the and. (Note: the word and can connect other things besides two complete sentences. It can connect other segments of a sentence as well, such as: She likes to eat pizza, pasta, and steak. In this case, although there is a “comma and” in the sentence, the part before the comma is not a complete sentence by itself. Rather, it is the start of a list.) Okay, so my core is: Europa has long been considered too cold to support life, and. And that’s incorrect. Eliminate answer (A). Either that and needs to go away or, if it stays, I need to have a second complete sentence. Since you know the sentence core is at issue here, check the cores using the other answer choices:  Here are the cores written out: “(B) Europa has long been considered too cold to support life. “(C) Europa has long been considered as too cold to support life and has 60 square miles of water. “(D) Europa and its 60 square miles of water. “(E) Europa.” (On the real test, you wouldn’t have time to write that out, but you may want to in practice in order to build expertise with this technique.) Answers (D) and (E) don’t even have main verbs! Eliminate both. Answers (B) and (C) both contain complete sentences, but there’s something else wrong with one of them. Did you spot it? The correct idiom is consider X Y: I consider her intelligent. There are some rare circumstances in which you can use consider as, but on the GMAT, go with consider X Y. Answers (C), (D), and (E) all use incorrect forms of the idiom. Answer (C) also loses some meaning. The second piece of information, about the water, is meant to emphasize the fact that the moon is very cold. When you separate the two pieces of information with an and, however, they appear to be unrelated (except that they’re both facts about Europa): the moon is too cold to support life and, by the way, it also has a lot of frozen water. Still, that’s something of a judgment call; the idiom is definitive. The correct answer is (B). Go get some practice with this and join me next time, when we’ll try another GMATPrep problem and talk about some additional aspects of this technique. Key Takeaways: Strip the sentence to the Core (1) Generally, this is a process of elimination: you’re removing the things that cannot be part of the core sentence. With rare exceptions, prepositional phrases typically aren’t part of the core. I left the prepositional phrase of water in answers (C) and (D) because 60 square miles by itself doesn’t make any sense. In any case, prepositional phrases never contain the subject of the sentence. (2) Other non-core-sentence clues: phrases or clauses set off by two commas, relative pronouns such as which and who, comma + -ed or comma + ing modifiers, -ed or –ing words that cannot function as the main verb (try them in a simple sentence with the same subject from the SC problem, as I did with temperatures estimated…) (3) A complete sentence on the GMAT must have a subject and a working verb, at a minimum. You may have multiple subjects or working verbs. You could also have two complete sentences connected by a comma and conjunction (such as comma and) or a semi-colon. We’ll talk about some additional complete sentence structures next time. * GMATPrep® questions courtesy of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Usage of this question does not imply endorsement by GMAC. The post GMAT Sentence Correction: How To Find the Core Sentence (Part 1) appeared first on GMAT. |
05 Jan 2015, 17:00
| FROM Manhattan GMAT Blog: GMAT Sentence Correction: How To Find the Core Sentence (Part 2) |
 Welcome to the second installment of our Core Sentence series; if you haven’t yet read Part 1, do so now before continuing with this segment. How has your practice been going? It’s hard to develop the ability to “grey out” parts of the sentence in your mind. Did you find that you were able to do so without writing anything down? Or did you find that the technique solidified better when you did write out the core sentence? Most people do have to start, in practice, by writing out the core. The goal is to be able to do everything (or almost everything) in your head by the time the real test rolls around. Try out this GMATPrep® problem from the free exams; give yourself about 1 minute 20 seconds. (You can always choose to spend a little longer, since that time is an average, not a limit; more than about 20-30 seconds longer, though, typically just indicates that you’ve gotten stuck. At that point, guess from among the remaining answers and move on.) * “Galileo did not invent the telescope, but on hearing, in 1609, that such an optical instrument had been made, he quickly built his own device from an organ pipe and spectacle lenses. “(A) Galileo did not invent the telescope, but on hearing, in 1609, that such an optical instrument had been made, he “(B) Galileo had not invented the telescope, but when he heard, in 1609, of such an optical instrument having been made, “(C) Galileo, even though he had not invented the telescope, on hearing, in 1609, that such an optical instrument had been made, he “(D) Even though Galileo did not invent the telescope, on hearing, in 1609, that such an optical instrument had been made, “(E) Even though Galileo did not invent the telescope, but when he heard, in 1609, of such an optical instrument being made, he” The First Glance shows a possible sentence structure issue: The first two start with a noun and verb, while the third tosses in a comma after that subject. I’m definitely going to need to check for that verb later! The final two start with even though, which signals a clause, but a dependent one. That means I’ll have to make sure there’s an independent clause (complete sentence) somewhere later on. Time to read the original sentence. It’s decently complex. What’s the core sentence?  Here’s the core: Galileo did not invent the telescope, but he built his own device. This actually consists of two complete sentences connected by a “comma and” conjunction. There’s nothing wrong with the core on this one. Now, you have a choice. You can check the modifiers in the original sentence (and, indeed, if you did spot any problems, you’d want to go deal with those right away). If not, though, then start with those potential structure issues spotted during the first glance. Strip out the core for the other four answers: “(B) Galileo had not invented the telescope, but quickly built his own device. “(C) Galileo he quickly built his own device. “(D) Even though Galileo did not invent the telescope, quickly built his own device. “(E) Even though Galileo did not invent the telescope, but he quickly built his own device.” Excellent! Now we have something to work with! Answer (C) doubles the subject; we don’t need to say both Galileo and he. Answers (D) and (E) both start with even though, creating a dependent clause. Answer (D) doesn’t have an independent clause later because the part after the comma is missing the subject he. Note: answer (B) might appear to have the same problem as (D), but the structures are not the same. Answer (B) begins with an independent clause. In this case, it’s okay to say the subject only once at the beginning and then attach two different verbs (had not invented and built) to that subject. (You may still think this one sounds funny. More on this below.) Answer (E) does have an independent clause later, but there’s a meaning problem. The word but already indicates a contrast. Using both even though and but to connect the two parts of the sentence is redundant. Okay, (C), (D) and (E) have all been eliminated. Now, compare (A) and (B) directly. “(A) Galileo did not invent the telescope, but on hearing, in 1609, that such an optical instrument had been made, he “(B) Galileo had not invented the telescope, but when he heard, in 1609, of such an optical instrument having been made,” There are a couple of different ways to tackle this, but I’m going to stick to the sentence structure route, since that’s our theme today. Answer (B) does have one more clause in it, though it’s a dependent clause: “Galileo had not invented the telescope, but when he heard of such an optical instrument having been made, quickly built his own device.” Now, we do have a problem with the structure! If that intervening dependent clause weren’t there at all, then the core could have been okay: Subject verb, but verb. Technically, you wouldn’t want a comma there, but that’s really the only small issue. When, however, you introduce a dependent clause in the middle, you can’t carry that original subject, Galileo, all the way over to the second verb at the end. Instead, as with answer (D), you need a complete sentence after the dependent clause, something like: Galileo did not invent the telescope, but when he heard that one had been made, HE quickly built his own device. Answer (B) is also incorrect. The correct answer is (A). You’re halfway through! Join me next time, when we’ll take a look at another type of complex sentence structure used commonly on the GMAT. Key Takeaways: Strip the sentence to the Core, part 2 (1) In the Galileo problem, only the correct answer contains a “legal” core sentence. Though there are other ways to eliminate answers on this problem, you still need to learn how to deal with structure. GMAC (the organization that makes the GMAT) has said for several years now that they are including more SC problems in which you really do have to understand the underlying meaning or sentence structure in order to get yourself all the way down to the right answer. (2) Complex sentence structures can come in many flavors. One of the most common is the compound sentence, which consists of at least two complete sentences connected by a “comma + conjunction” or a semi-colon. The comma conjunction” structure will use the FANBOYS (For And Nor But Or Yes So). You can learn more about the FANBOYS in chapter 3 (Sentence Structure) of our 6th edition Sentence Correction Strategy Guide. (3) A sentence can also contain dependent clauses (and the complicated sentences we see on the GMAT often do). Common words that signal a dependent clause include although, if, since, that, unless, when, and while. You can learn more about these in chapter 4 (Modifiers) of our 6ED SC guide. * GMATPrep® questions courtesy of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Usage of this question does not imply endorsement by GMAC. The post GMAT Sentence Correction: How To Find the Core Sentence (Part 2) appeared first on GMAT. |
07 Jan 2015, 16:00
| FROM Manhattan GMAT Blog: GMAT, LSAT, and GRE Instructor Auditions: Decision In A Day |
 Manhattan Prep is holding a two one-day auditions for new GMAT, GRE, and LSAT instructors in Dallas and Fort Worth! Come join us February 7th in Dallas or February 8th in Fort Worth at 10:00 AM and transform your passion for teaching into a lucrative and fulfilling part-time or full-time career. Manhattan Prep offers instructors flexible hours and great pay ($100/hour for all teaching and $116/hour on all tutoring). In addition to teaching classes, instructors can work on other projects such as curriculum development. Our regular instructor audition process, which includes a series of video, online, and in-person mock lessons, usually takes weeks, even months, to complete. However, we are offering one-day events on February 7th and on 8th for teachers interested in working with us. All candidates who attend will receive a decision that day. The events will take place in Dallas and Fort Worth at the locations listed below. It is open to candidates who live in the area, who have teaching experience, and who are GMAT, LSAT, or GRE experts. The audition will include several rounds of lessons, as well as other activities. Each round will be pass/ fail. The day will begin at 10 AM and may last as late as 5:30 PM for those who make it to the final round. Candidates will need to prepare lessons for some rounds; we will send a more detailed instruction packet to those who sign up for the event. Dallas, TX (Saturday, February 7, 2015) Meridian Business Center 6060 N. Central Expwy Suite 560, 5th Fl. Dallas, TX 75206 Fort Worth, TX (Sunday, February 8, 2015) Courtyard Fort Worth at University 3150 Riverfront Drive Fort Worth, TX 76107 To register, please email Rina at auditions@manhattanprep.com. Make sure to include in your full name, an attachment of your resume detailing your teaching experience, and an official GRE, GMAT, or LSAT score report. We look forward to meeting you in February! The post GMAT, LSAT, and GRE Instructor Auditions: Decision In A Day appeared first on GMAT. |
09 Jan 2015, 13:00
| FROM Manhattan GMAT Blog: GMAT Sentence Correction: How To Find the Core Sentence (Part III) |
 Welcome to the third installment of our Core Sentence series. In part 1, we began learning how to strip an SC sentence (or any sentence!) down to the core sentence structure. Inpart 2, we took a look at a compound sentence structure. Today, we’re going to look at yet another interesting sentence structure that is commonly used on the GMAT. Try out this GMATPrep® problem from the free exams. (Note: as in the previous installments, I’m going to discuss aspects of our SC Process; if you haven’t learned it already, read about it before doing this problem.) * “Many financial experts believe that policy makers at the Federal Reserve, now viewing the economy as balanced between moderate growth and low inflation, are almost certain to leave interest rates unchanged for the foreseeable future. “(A) Reserve, now viewing the economy as balanced between moderate growth and low inflation, are “(B) Reserve, now viewing the economy to be balanced between that of moderate growth and low inflation and are “(C) Reserve who, now viewing the economy as balanced between moderate growth and low inflation, are “(D) Reserve, who now view the economy to be balanced between that of moderate growth and low inflation, will be “(E) Reserve, which now views the economy to be balanced between moderate growth and low inflation, is” The First Glance didn’t tell me a lot on this one. In each case, there appears to be some kind of modifier going on, signaled either by the who / which language or by the comma, but I don’t have a good idea of what’s being tested. Time to read the sentence. I don’t know about you, but the original sentence really doesn’t sound good to me. The difficulty, though, is that I don’t know exactly why. I just find myself thinking, “Ugh, I wouldn’t say it that way.” Specifically, I don’t like the “now viewing” after the comma…but when I examined it a second time, I couldn’t find an actual error. That’s a good clue to me that I need to leave the answer in; they’re just trying to fool my ear (and almost succeeding!). Because I’m not certain what to examine and because I know that there may be something going on with modifiers, I’m going to strip the original sentence down to the core:  Here’s the core: Many experts believe that policy makers are almost certain to leave interest rates unchanged. This sentence uses what we call a “Subject-Verb-THAT” structure. When you see the word that immediately after a verb, expect another subject and verb (and possibly object) to come after. The full core will be Subject-Verb-THAT-Subject-Verb(-Object).  Back to the problem: notice where the underline falls. The Subject-Verb-THAT-Subject part is not underlined, but the second verb is, and it’s the last underlined word. Check the core sentence with the different options in the answers: Many experts believe that policy makers __________ almost certain to leave rates unchanged. (A) Many experts believe that policy makers are almost certain to leave rates unchanged. (B) Many experts believe that policy makers and are almost certain to leave rates unchanged. (C) Many experts believe that policy makers. (D) Many experts believe that policy makers will be almost certain to leave rates unchanged. (E) Many experts believe that policy makers is almost certain to leave rates unchanged. Excellent! First, answer (E) is wrong because it uses a singular verb to match with the plural policy makers. Next, notice that answer (B) tosses the conjunction and into the mix. A sentence can have two verbs, in which case you could connect them with an and, but this answer just tosses in a random and between the subject and the verb. Answer (B) is also incorrect. Answer (C) is tricky! At first, it might look like the core is the same as answer (A)’s core. It’s not. Notice the lack of a comma before the word who. Take a look at this example: The cat thought that the dog who lived next door was really annoying. What’s the core sentence here? This still has a subject-verb-THAT-subject-verb(-object) set-up. It also has a modifier that contains its own verb—but this verb is not part of the core sentence: The cat thought that the dog [who lived next door] was really annoying. Answer (C) has this same structure: Many experts believe that policy makers [who are almost certain to leave rates unchanged]… Where’s the main verb that goes with policy makers? It isn’t there at all. Answer (C) is a sentence fragment. We’re down to answers (A) and (D). Both cores are solid, so we’ll have to dig a little deeper. So far, we’ve been ignoring the modifier in the middle of the sentence. Let’s take a look; compare the two answers directly: “(A) Reserve, now viewing the economy as balanced between moderate growth and low inflation, are “(D) Reserve, who now view the economy to be balanced between that of moderate growth and low inflation, will be” Probably the most obvious difference is are vs. will be. I don’t like this one though because I think either tense can logically finish the sentence. I’m going to look for something else. There are two other big differences. First, there’s an idiom. Is it view as or view to be? If you’re not sure, there’s also a comparison issue. Is the economy balanced between growth and inflation? Or between that of growth and inflation? The that of structure should be referring to another noun somewhere else: She likes her brother’s house more than she likes that of her sister. In this case, that of refers to house. What does that of refer to in answer (D)? I’m not really sure. The economy? The Federal Reserve? These don’t make sense. The two things that are balanced are, in fact, the growth and the inflation; that of is unnecessary. Answer (D) is incorrect. The correct answer is (A). The correct idiom is view as, so answers (B), (D), and (E) are all incorrect based on the idiom. Key Takeaways: Strip the sentence to the Core (1) When you see the word that immediately following a verb, then you have a Subject-Verb-THAT-Subject-Verb(-Object) structure. Check the core sentence to make sure that all of the necessary pieces are present. Also make sure, as always, that the subjects and verbs match. (2) If you still have two or more answers left after dealing with the core sentence, then check any modifiers. The two main modifier issues are bad placement (which makes them seem to be pointing to the wrong thing) or meaning issues. In this case, the modifier tossed in a couple of extraneous words that messed up the meaning of the between X and Y idiom. * GMATPrep® questions courtesy of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Usage of this question does not imply endorsement by GMAC. The post GMAT Sentence Correction: How To Find the Core Sentence (Part III) appeared first on GMAT. |
12 Jan 2015, 17:00
| FROM Manhattan GMAT Blog: What is the GMAT? An Introduction to the GMAT Exam |
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The Graduate Management Admission Test, better known as the GMAT®, is a standardized test used in the admissions process for business school and other specialized Master’s programs. The exam measures certain skills that the business schools care about, most notably Executive Reasoning skills. It does not test any specific business knowledge. When is the GMAT given? You can take the GMAT year-round, nearly any day of the week (though they limit you to 5 sittings in a 12-month period and require a wait of 31 days between tests). The exam is given on a computer and is known as a “CAT.” What is a CAT? A CAT is a computer-adaptive test: the test actually adapts itself to you while you’re taking it! Two of the four sections on the GMAT, the Quantitative and Verbal sections, are adaptive. Each of these two sections begins with a random, approximately medium-level question. The computer chooses each subsequent question based upon your collective performance to that point in the section. The practical implications are important. First, every test taker will take a different exam with a different mix of questions, but the test feels hard for everyone, since the test will just keep getting harder until it finds a particular person’s limit. Second, the scoring is pretty peculiar; it’s important to understand how the scoring works. Want to try your hand at a practice test? Take our free, full-length practice exam here. How is the GMAT Scored? Tests you took in school were generally based on the percentage of questions answered correctly: the more you got right, the higher the score you received. As a result, you have been trained to take your time and try to get everything right when you take a test. This general strategy does not work on computer-adaptive sections of the GMAT because, strangely enough, the quant and verbal scores are not based on the percentage of questions answered correctly. On the GMAT, most people answer similar percentages of questions correctly, typically in the 50% to 70% range (even at higher scoring levels!). How is that possible? The first thing to know: the GMAT is not a school test. The quant section is not really a math test, and the verbal section is not really a grammar test. Of course, you do need to know how to handle those topics. The test writers are really interested, however, in knowing how good you are at making decisions and managing scarce resources. (That’s the second time we’ve linked to that same article. Go read it!) Okay, if test-takers all get a similar percentage correct, how does the GMAT distinguish among different performance levels? You can think of the GMAT as a test that searches for each person’s “60% level,” or the difficulty range in which the person is able to answer approximately 60% of the questions correctly. (This is not exactly what happens, but it’s a good way to think about the difference between “regular” tests and computer-adaptive tests.) Your score will be determined by the difficulty of the questions that you answer correctly versus the difficulty of those that you answer incorrectly. Know what you’re getting yourself into The above discussion is just an introduction into how the GMAT works; before you take the real test, make sure you understand how GMAT scoring works and the implications that has for how to spend your time and mental energy. Here are a few highlights:
The GMAT is 3.5 hours long and may take nearly 4 hours to complete if you take the optional breaks (hint: take the optional breaks!). What is tested on the GMAT? The GMAT consists of four separate sections, each with its own score. The sections are always given in the same order.  The scores for the last two sections, Quant and Verbal, are also combined into one score on a 200 (low) to 800 (high) scale. This is the score most people care about when taking the GMAT. Section 1: The Essay During the first section, the test will give you an argument to analyze (it will resemble Critical Reasoning arguments) and you will have 30 minutes to compose an essay response (typed!). Section 2: Integrated Reasoning Then, you’ll dive straight into the Integrated Reasoning section, which was added to the GMAT in 2012. These questions cover both math and verbal topics. Some questions will more closely resemble pure math or verbal questions while others will be a true mixture of these skills. IR questions tend to provide a decent amount of extraneous information (information that we don’t need to use in order to answer the question); this section is testing your ability to wade through a bunch of data and identify the relevant information. Try our free GMAT Integrated Reasoning lessons and learn how to study for this section of the test. At the end of this section, you’ll be able to take an 8 minute break. Section 3: Quant After the break, you’ll start the Quant section, during which you’ll answer 37 math questions (in 75 minutes), covering topics from algebra, geometry, statistics, and other areas. Quant questions come in two flavors, Problem Solving and Data Sufficiency; they test the same underlying skills but do so in different ways, so you’ll want to learn the strategies for dealing with each type. At the end of this section, you’ll be able to take another 8 minute break. Section 4: Verbal Finally, after your second break, you’ll tackle the Verbal section, during which you’ll answer 41 questions in 75 minutes. These questions focus on grammar, reasoning, and logic. Sentence Correction questions ask you to pick the sentence that is grammatically correct and has a clear, logical meaning. Critical Reasoning questions want you to assess the logical construction of an argument. Reading Comprehension begins with a passage to read, accompanied by a series of questions to answer. How long are GMAT scores valid? GMAT scores are valid for 5 years from the date of the test; after that time, the score will drop off of your record. If you take a test but cancel your scores, your record will show that you took a test on that date, but it will not show any scores; after 5 years, a canceled score notice will also drop off of your record. Studying for the GMAT? Take our free GMAT practice exam or sign up for a free GMAT trial class running all the time near you, or online. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+,LinkedIn, and follow us on Twitter! The post What is the GMAT? An Introduction to the GMAT Exam appeared first on GMAT. |
15 Jan 2015, 17:00
| FROM Manhattan GMAT Blog: GMAT Sentence Correction: How To Find the Core Sentence (Part 4) |
 It’s here at last: the fourth and final installment of our series on core sentence structure! I recommend reading all of the installments in order, starting with part 1. Try out this GMATPrep® problem from the free exams. * “The greatest road system built in the Americas prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus was the Incan highway, which, over 2,500 miles long and extending from northern Ecuador through Peru to southern Chile. “(A) Columbus was the Incan highway, which, over 2,500 miles long and extending “(B) Columbus was the Incan highway, over 2,500 miles in length, and extended “(C) Columbus, the Incan highway, which was over 2,500 miles in length and extended “(D) Columbus, the Incan highway, being over 2,500 miles in length, was extended “(E) Columbus, the Incan highway, was over 2,500 miles long, extending” The First Glance in this question is similar to the one from the second problem in the series. Here, the first two answers start with a noun and verb, but the next three insert a comma after the subject. Once again, this is a clue to check the core subject-verb sentence structure. First, strip down the original sentence:  Here’s the core: The greatest road system was the Incan highway. (Technically, greatest is a modifier, but I’m leaving it in because it conveys important meaning. We’re not just talking about any road system. We’re talking about the greatest one in a certain era.) The noun at the beginning of the underline, Columbus, is not the subject of the sentence but the verb was does turn out to be the main verb in the sentence. The First Glance revealed that some answers removed that verb, so check the remaining cores. “(B) The greatest road system was the Incan highway and extended from Ecuador to Chile. “(C) The greatest road system. “(D) The greatest road system was extended from Ecuador to Chile. “(E) The greatest road system was over 2,500 miles long.” Answer (C) is a sentence fragment; it doesn’t contain a main verb. The other choices do contain valid core sentences, though answers (B) and (D) have funny meanings. Let’s tackle (B) first. “(B) The greatest road system was the Incan highway and extended from Ecuador to Chile. When two parts of a sentence are connected by the word and, those two parallel pieces of information are not required to have a direct connection: Yesterday, I worked for 8 hours and had dinner with my family. Those things did not happen simultaneously. One did not lead to the other. They are both things that I did yesterday, but other than that, they don’t have anything to do with each other. In the Columbus sentence, though, it doesn’t make sense for the two pieces of information to be separated in this way. The road system was the greatest system built to that point in time because it was so long. The fact that it extended across all of these countries is part of the point. As a result, we don’t want to present these as separate facts that have nothing to do with each other. Eliminate answer (B). Now, let’s take a look at (D). What’s the difference in meaning between these two sentences: (D) “The greatest road system was extended from Ecuador to Chile.” alternative: The greatest road system extended from Ecuador to Chile. In my alternative example, the sentence indicates that the system went from one country to another and this is part of the reason it was the greatest road system at one point in time. This is the logical meaning, so the alternative example works. Answer (D), by contrast, indicates that the road was first built (and considered the greatest system of that time), and then at some later time, the road system was extended even further. Combine this with the modifier about the actual length of the road. When was the system over 2,500 miles in length: when it was first built or after it was extended? It’s unclear. (And, more logically, it’s probably the case that it didn’t earn the designation of greatest road system until after it was built out from Ecuador to Chile—in other words, we’re probably not talking about two different timeframes here. Indeed, three of the answers do convey that the road earned the designation as the greatest system in part because of this Ecuador-to Chile portion.) What next? We’re down to (A) and (E). It turns out that certain modifiers are also required to be clauses. (A clause is the official grammar term for a set of words that includes a conjugated or tensed verb.) Every sentence is required to contain at least one independent clause, but sentences can also contain dependent clauses, which provide extra information about something else in the sentence. Take a look at this example: Each December, the company releases its annual report, which summarizes major accomplishments from the past year. The core sentence is the portion before the comma. The “comma which” structure introduces a modifier describing the annual report: the annual report summarizes major accomplishments from the past year. The word summarizes is a tensed verb or conjugated verb, but it is not acting as a main verb in the sentence. Rather, it is strictly providing extra information about something in the core of the sentence (the annual report). Even though the “comma which” modifier is just extra information in the sentence, it does need to contain a tensed verb. Any modifier introduced by a relative pronoun has to contain a tensed verb. (Some examples of relative pronouns are which, who, that*, whom, whose.) *Note: the word that is flexible; it can play multiple roles in a sentence. In addition to acting as a relative pronoun, it can also be used in the Subject-Verb-THAT structure that we examined in the third installment of this series. (That can also be used in other ways…but this article is not about that topic.) (See what I did there? I showed you a third way that that can be used.) You may already have spotted that the original sentence contained an error related to this requirement that the comma which modifier has to contain a tensed verb. Here’s the modifier from the original sentence: “…the Incan highway, which, over 2,500 miles long and extending from northern Ecuador through Peru to southern Chile.” The portion over 2,500 miles long doesn’t contain a verb. The next portion, beginning extending from, may appear to contain a verb, but this is not a sentence: The highway extending from X to Y. You would need to say something like “The highway extended from X to Y.” In other words, answer (A) contains a faulty clause; the comma which modifier is missing its tensed verb. We’ve now eliminated (A), (B), (C), and (D). The correct answer is (E). Key Takeaways: Strip the Sentence to the Core (1) Sometimes, modifiers are required to have a tensed verb, too, as in answer (A) above. If the modifier is missing this verb, the construction is incomplete and the sentence is wrong. You can learn more about the types of modifiers that require tensed verbs in the Modifiers chapter of our Sentence Correction Strategy Guide. (2) Both sentence structure and modifiers are tightly tied to meaning. A sentence may be constructed acceptably on a purely technical level and still have meaning issues, as we saw in answers (B) and (D) above. (3) Now we come full circle: a sentence still has to be a sentence. If the main verb doesn’t exist, that answer choice has to be wrong, as in answer (C). This may seem like a “no-brainer” rule, but GMAT sentences are often so convoluted that it can be easy to overlook the fact that a verb is missing. Keep training yourself to look for the core sentence! * GMATPrep® questions courtesy of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Usage of this question does not imply endorsement by GMAC. The post GMAT Sentence Correction: How To Find the Core Sentence (Part 4) appeared first on GMAT. |
20 Jan 2015, 17:00
| FROM Manhattan GMAT Blog: Tackling Max/Min Statistics on the GMAT (Part 1) |
 Blast from the past! I first discussed the problems in this series way back in 2009. I’m reviving the series now because too many people just aren’t comfortable handling the weird maximize / minimize problem variations that the GMAT sometimes tosses at us. In this installment, we’re going to tackle two GMATPrep® questions. Next time, I’ll give you a super hard one from our own archives—just to see whether you learned the material as well as you thought you did. Here’s your first GMATPrep problem. Go for it! “*Three boxes of supplies have an average (arithmetic mean) weight of 7 kilograms and a median weight of 9 kilograms. What is the maximum possible weight, in kilograms, of the lightest box? “(A) 1 “(B) 2 “(C) 3 “(D) 4 “(E) 5” When you see the word maximum (or a synonym), sit up and take notice. This one word is going to be the determining factor in setting up this problem efficiently right from the beginning. (The word minimum or a synonym would also apply.) When you’re asked to maximize (or minimize) one thing, you are going to have one or more decision points throughout the problem in which you are going to have to maximize or minimize some other variables. Good decisions at these points will ultimately lead to the desired maximum (or minimum) quantity. This time, they want to maximize the lightest box. Step back from the problem a sec and picture three boxes sitting in front of you. You’re about to ship them off to a friend. Wrap your head around the dilemma: if you want to maximize the lightest box, what should you do to the other two boxes? Note also that the problem provides some constraints. There are three boxes and the median weight is 9 kg. No variability there: the middle box must weigh 9 kg.  The three items also have an average weight of 7. The total weight, then, must be (7)(3) = 21 kg. Subtract the middle box from the total to get the combined weight of the heaviest and lightest boxes: 21 – 9 = 12 kg. The heaviest box has to be equal to or greater than 9 (because it is to the right of the median). Likewise, the lightest box has to be equal to or smaller than 9. In order to maximize the weight of the lightest box, what should you do to the heaviest box? Minimize the weight of the heaviest box in order to maximize the weight of the lightest box. The smallest possible weight for the heaviest box is 9. If the heaviest box is minimized to 9, and the heaviest and lightest must add up to 12, then the maximum weight for the lightest box is 3. The correct answer is (C). Make sense? If you’ve got it, try this harder GMATPrep problem. Set your timer for 2 minutes! “*A certain city with a population of 132,000 is to be divided into 11 voting districts, and no district is to have a population that is more than 10 percent greater than the population of any other district. What is the minimum possible population that the least populated district could have? “(A) 10,700 “(B) 10,800 “(C) 10,900 “(D) 11,000 “(E) 11,100” Hmm. There are 11 voting districts, each with some number of people. We’re asked to find the minimum possible population in the least populated district—that is, the smallest population that any one district could possibly have. Let’s say that District 1 has the minimum population. Because all 11 districts have to add up to 132,000 people, you’d need to maximize the population in Districts 2 through 10. How? Now, you need more information from the problem: “no district is to have a population that is more than 10 percent greater than the population of any other district” So, if the smallest district has 100 people, then the largest district could have up to 10% more, or 110 people, but it can’t have any more than that. If the smallest district has 500 people, then the largest district could have up to 550 people but that’s it. How can you use that to figure out how to split up the 132,000 people? In the given problem, the number of people in the smallest district is unknown, so let’s call that x. If the smallest district is x, then calculate 10% and add that figure to x: x + 0.1x = 1.1x. The largest district could be 1.1x but can’t be any larger than that. Since you need to maximize the 10 remaining districts, set all 10 districts equal to 1.1x. As a result, there are (1.1x)(10) = 11x people in the 10 maximized districts (Districts 2 through 10), as well as the original x people in the minimized district (District 1). The problem indicated that all 11 districts add up to 132,000, so write that out mathematically: 11x + x = 132,000 12x = 132,000 x = 11,000 The correct answer is (D). Practice this process with any max/min problems you’ve seen recently and join me next time, when we’ll tackle a super hard problem. Key Takeaways for Max/Min Problems: (1) Figure out what variables are “in play”: what can you manipulate in the problem? Some of those variables will need to be maximized and some minimized in order to get to the desired answer. Figure out which is which at each step along the way. (2) Did you make a mistake—maximize when you should have minimized or vice versa? Go through the logic again, step by step, to figure out where you were led astray and why you should have done the opposite of what you did. (This is a good process in general whenever you make a mistake: figure out why you made the mistake you made, as well as how to do the work correctly next time.) * GMATPrep® questions courtesy of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Usage of this question does not imply endorsement by GMAC. The post Tackling Max/Min Statistics on the GMAT (Part 1) appeared first on GMAT. |
30 Jan 2015, 11:00
| FROM Manhattan GMAT Blog: The GMAT is now offering an Enhanced Score Report! |
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Big news from GMAC, the makers of the GMAT! Starting January 29th, you can order an Enhanced Score Report (ESR) that will contain all kinds of nifty data from your official GMAT CAT. I’ve got all of the details below, but first I’ll address a few details that will be on everyone’s mind. The ESR:
Why did they create this report? The motivation was primarily student-driven. Test-takers naturally want more data about their strengths and weaknesses for a variety of reasons, some obvious and some not so (more on this later). Spokesperson Rich D’Amato, speaking on behalf of GMAC, told me that they have been beta-testing the ESR with students for the past year, exploring what students would want to see, how they would use the information, and how best to display that information visually so that it is easy to analyze. In fact, Rich said something that impressed me enough to write down verbatim: “We spent a great deal of time listening.” So thank you to all of the beta-tester GMAT takers who gave their time and thoughtful opinions to help develop these reports, which will help all of the rest of us going forward. Rich was also very clear that they are not done listening! As they hear more from you about what is useful and what else you would like to know, they will likely release even better future versions, so please speak up and send in your feedback. What’s in the report? The report starts by telling you all of the info you already have: your scores for the Quant, Verbal, and IR sections. (Note: the report will not include any special or extra information about your essay score or performance.) The first page will also tell you your average time spent per question for each section. (Aside: I don’t find this particular information all that useful. If you finished a section roughly on time, then your average is going to be about the same as everyone else’s. If you didn’t finish a section, you already know that, so knowing the overall timing average doesn’t tell you much. But there are some later sub-sections for which the timing data is more useful.) The next page starts to delve more into the detail of the test. For the Integrated Reasoning section, you’ll learn the percentage of questions that you answered correctly (very interesting!), as well as your average timing for correct vs. incorrect questions. That timing data could be quite useful if it shows, for example, that you spent way too much time on the incorrect ones. Next, you’ll get some great data for Verbal and Quant. First, you’ll see your “rankings” across question type. For instance, in the below screen shot of a Verbal report, the (fictitious) test-taker scored in the 91st percentile on CR (wow!) but only the 46th percentile on SC. Clearly, this tester will want to concentrate on SC and RC if she takes the exam again.   The post The GMAT is now offering an Enhanced Score Report! appeared first on GMAT. |
04 Feb 2015, 10:00
| FROM Manhattan GMAT Blog: Round 3 Application Deadlines for the Top 25 B-Schools |
 The round three deadlines for business schools are right around the corner! Are you still working to hit your target GMAT score? Use the chart below to check the deadlines for the top 25 business schools, and evaluate whether you have enough time to prep and retake the official exam. Looking for some guidance to maximize your study time? Our upcoming February GMAT Boot Camps are designed to prep you in just two weeks. Be prepared for intensive in-class work paired with hours of one-on-one coaching that will get you ready for the exam quickly, without sacrificing content knowledge. We’re running a special promotion for our February Boot Camps only. Get $500 off with code CAMP500—but hurry, this promotion is only valid this month! There are still a few spots left in our upcoming boot camps (New York City and Live Online). Check out the full schedule and see all that’s included! School Round 3 Deadline Harvard University April 6, 2015 Stanford University April 1, 2015 University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) March 26, 2015 University of Chicago (Booth) April 7, 2015 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) N/A Northwestern University (Kellogg) April 1, 2015 University of California–Berkeley (Haas) March 11, 2015 Columbia University April 15, 2015 Dartmouth College (Tuck) April 1, 2015 New York University (Stern) March 15, 2015 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (Ross) March 23, 2015 University of Virginia (Darden) April 1, 2015 Yale University April 23, 2015 Duke University (Fuqua) March 19, 2015 University of Texas–Austin (McCombs) March 24, 2015 University of California–Los Angeles (Anderson) April 15, 2015 Cornell University (Johnson) March 11, 2015 Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) March 15, 2015 University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flager) March 13, 2015 Emory University (Goizueta) March 13, 2015 Indiana University–Bloomington (Kelley) March 01, 2015 Washington University in St. Louis (Olin) February 15, 2015 (Next: April 1) Georgetown University (McDonough) April 1, 2015 University of Notre Dame (Mendoza) February 23, 2015 University of Washington (Foster) March 15, 2015 The post Round 3 Application Deadlines for the Top 25 B-Schools appeared first on GMAT. |
05 Feb 2015, 09:00
| FROM Manhattan GMAT Blog: GMAT, GRE, and LSAT Instructor Auditions: Decision In A Day (Boston) |
 Manhattan Prep offers instructors flexible hours and great pay ($100/hour for all teaching and $116/hour for all tutoring). As a Manhattan Prep instructor, you will have autonomy in the classroom, but you will also be joining an incredibly talented and diverse network of people. We support our instructors by providing students, space, training, and an array of curricular resources. Our regular instructor audition process, which consists of a series of videos and mini lessons, usually takes weeks, even months, to complete. Through this process we winnow an applicant pool of hundreds down to a few people each year. We are offering a one-day event on March 9th for teachers interested in working with us. Candidates who attend will receive a decision that day. The event will take place at our Boston center at 140 Clarendon St., Main Fl (Back Bay), Boston, MA 02116. It is open to candidates who live in the Boston area, have taught before, and are experts in the GMAT, LSAT, or GRE. The day will include several rounds of lessons, as well as other activities. Each round will be pass / fail. The day will begin at 10:30 am. It may last as late as 5:30 pm for those who make it through the final round. Candidates will need to prepare lessons for some rounds; we will send more detailed instructions to candidates when they sign up for the event. To register, please email Rina at auditions@manhattanprep.com by Thursday, March 5. Please include in your email a resume including your teaching experience and a score report. The post GMAT, GRE, and LSAT Instructor Auditions: Decision In A Day (Boston) appeared first on GMAT. |
06 Feb 2015, 14:00
| FROM Manhattan GMAT Blog: Break Your “Good” GMAT Study Habits! What Learning Science Can Teach Us About Effective GMAT Studying |
 Distractions are bad. Routine, concentration, and hard work are good. These all seem like common-sense rules for studying, right? Surprisingly (for many people, at least), learning science tells us that these “good habits” may actually be hurting your learning process! When you were in college, your study process probably looked something like this: for a given class, you’d attend a lecture each week, do the readings (or at least most of them), and maybe turn in an assignment or problem set. Then, at the end of the semester, you’d spend a week furiously cramming all of that information to prepare for the test. Since this is the way you’ve always studied, it’s probably how you’re approaching the GMAT, too. But I have bad news: this is not an effective approach for the GMAT! Taking notes then cramming the night before the test is beneficial for tests that ask you to recite knowledge: “what were the major consequences of the Hawley-Smoot tariff” or “explain Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle.” You can hold a lot of facts -for a brief time – in your short-term memory when cramming. You memorize facts, you spit them out for the test… and then, if you’re like me, you find that you’ve forgotten half of what you memorized by the next semester. Why the GMAT is Different The GMAT doesn’t reward this style of studying because it’s not simply a test of facts or knowledge. The GMAT requires you to know a lot of rules, of course, but the main thing that it’s testing is your ability to apply those concepts to new problems, to adapt familiar patterns, and to use strategic decision-making. You’ll never see the same problem twice. Shallow memorization is not nearly enough. You need deep conceptual understanding. In How We Learn*, science writer Benedict Carey outlines decades of research about how this kind of learning happens. Many of the findings go against what you probably thought were “good” study habits. Distractions are a Good Thing Your teachers or your parents probably told you: “always study in the same, quiet space. Create a ritual of studying, and keep it consistent.” And of course, that’s good advice to a point; if it’s too loud or distracting to think, you won’t learn very much. But Carey tells us that subtle variations in our routine – going to a different room, or library, or coffee shop; alternating between light background music, silence, or the hum of people talking – can actually improve our learning. When we’re studying, we’re also subconsciously registering clues from the world around us, and weaving them into what we’ve learned. Different subconscious markers create richer connections. These connections are further strengthened if you review the material in a different context than you initially learned it. As Carey says, “each alteration of the routine further enriches the skills being rehearsed, making them sharper and more accessible for a longer period of time.” Study Less… More Often There’s a good reason why you don’t remember most of the material you spent long hours cramming before the final: long study sessions are bad for retention. If you want to hang onto the information that you’re working so hard to learn, you should try what learning scientists call “the spacing effect.” Don’t try to learn a topic in one long sitting. Instead, study a little bit, then return to it a few days later. According to Carey, “people learn at least as much, and retain it much longer, when they distribute – or ‘space’ – their study time than when they concentrate it.” If you plan to spend 90 minutes learning exponent rules, for example, it’s more effective to spend 45 minutes on it on Tuesday, then return to the topic for another 45 minutes on Thursday or Friday (or even better, three 30-min sessions) rather than just concentrating your learning into one long session. Get Mixed Up Stay organized and see it through until completion. Guess what? Those ideas are wrong, too. Data suggests that instead of studying one topic until you’ve mastered it, then moving onto the next, you should mix up your studying. If you’re quizzing yourself on quadratics, mix in a few questions from inequalities, weighted averages, etc. By throwing your brain some curve balls, you’re training yourself to adapt and make strategic choices. It may seem more confusing at first, but forcing yourself to think more will cause you to learn and remember more. The post Break Your “Good” GMAT Study Habits! What Learning Science Can Teach Us About Effective GMAT Studying appeared first on GMAT. |
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Hi Generic [Bot],
Here are updates for you:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Tuck at Dartmouth
AGSM at UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE
 Free Resources
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