\nWe often see students boasting in public forums about how many Official Guide problems they complete every week, or how they have run out of questions to do because they\u2019re just on fire with their GMAT prep. Unfortunately, many of them focus on the wrong thing \u2014 while you\u2019re studying, it\u2019s not a question of how many problems you can do (or how quickly you can do them), but rather what you\u2019re learning with each question. If you hit a sticking point with a problem, take a step back and ask yourself, \u201cWhat are they testing here? What in my toolkit will help me answer this question?\u201d and make a note of what your GMAT toolkit may be missing. That\u2019s a far more effective approach to preparation than burning through problem after problem, possibly reinforcing bad habits along the way.<\/p>\n
Balance Is Key<\/strong> Don\u2019t Look Things Up!<\/strong> Practice the Way You\u2019ll Play<\/strong> Be Mindful of Pacing<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes, we\u2019ve already made point here of not obsessing over pacing too much in your GMAT studies. However, you do need to make sure that you\u2019re setting yourself up to finish each section of the exam, and the best way to do that is with regular \u201ccheck ins\u201d to see how you\u2019re doing on pacing. While some students do 2,000+ practice problems and then take a couple of timed tests just before sitting for the real exam, we advise timing yourself earlier and more often. After you have mastered the basics, get in the habit of timing yourself once a week. It doesn\u2019t need to be a full practice test every time \u2014 trying to do 30 problems in 60 minutes is more than enough \u2014 but it should be enough to get a feel for how you\u2019re tracking. Don\u2019t save this until right before the test, because if you find that you\u2019re working too slowly, it may be too late to fix it. You don\u2019t need to be obsessed with pacing at every turn, but time yourself from time to time.<\/p>\n Ready to sign up for a GMAT course? Enroll through GMAT Club and save up to $180 (use discount code GMATC10)! Find a GMAT course<\/a> near you or take a look at our course options in some of our most popular cities: New York<\/a>, Chicago <\/a>and Los Angeles<\/a>.<\/p>\n Brian Galvin is the Director of Academic Programs at Veritas Prep, where he oversees all of the company\u2019s GMAT preparation courses. Do-it-yourself GMAT prep can be very effective, but it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,720],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-reading-comprehension-gmat","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4953"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5510,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4953\/revisions\/5510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWe often see students fall into two camps: They either tend to gravitate towards the problems that they like (\u201cOh good, a distance\/rate problem. I can do these.\u201d), or they develop an obsession with what they can\u2019t do well (\u201cI need to find 500 geometry questions NOW.\u201d). The reality is that you will encounter both kinds of questions on test day, and you need to be able to get good at the hard stuff while staying nimble and error-free with the easier stuff. In any one sitting, make sure you cover some of both: Work on the stuff you like as well as the material you hate.<\/p>\n
\nThis advice runs contrary to what Mom and Dad told us when we were kids: \u201cHow do you spell pterodactyl?\u201d \/ \u201cLook it up!\u201d While that\u2019s a terrific habit for a seven-year-old to get into, it\u2019s a terrible one for a GMAT student to practice. If you encounter problem for which you don\u2019t have an obvious plan of attack (such as knowing an algebraic formula or remembering a grammar rule), DON\u2019T look it up in the moment? Students who are obsessed with pacing (more on that in a minute) especially fall prey to this, since they\u2019re trying to get through problems as quickly as possible. The problem is that you won\u2019t be able to do that on test day. What will you be able to do on the big day? Figure out the problem with what you DO know, even if you don\u2019t know the easiest way to solve the problem. Even if it takes you five minutes during your GMAT practice, you will emerge better prepared in the long run. Afterward, definitely make a note and go back and learn (or re-learn) the thing you may have missed, but in the moment, solve the problem another way.<\/p>\n
\nThis may seem like a mundane point, but this is a subtle prep strategy that can earn you a few extra points on the verbal section on the big day: In any one GMAT study session, make a point of finishing on some verbal questions. Why? Because that\u2019s how you will do it on the real GMAT. As we\u2019ve written before<\/a>, the GMAT will throw meaty Reading Comprehension questions and tricky Sentence Correction problems at you after you have already been working for three hours\u2026 Don\u2019t let mental fatigue get in the way at that point. When you\u2019re about ready to hang it up for the night after a couple hours of studying, force yourself to do a few more verbal questions, and practice the skill of staying focused on them when you\u2019re starting to get tired.<\/p>\n![\"Veritas](\"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Veritas-New-Logo1.jpg\"){kind=logo}
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