The intended purpose of Tuesday's State of the Union was to take inventory of where the nation stands: what recent actions and policies have been successful and which need to change; what threats and opportunities does the country face; where are we, where do we want to be, and how do we get there? These are questions that, frankly, GMAT students don\u2019t ask themselves nearly enough.<\/p>\n
As a demographic group, GMAT students are among the most driven and hardworking people on the planet, but often those qualities manifest themselves in the most brute-force of study strategies: do more practice tests; solve more practice problems; spend more hours \u201cstudying\u201d.\u00a0 What these practices tend to miss is that the GMAT is by nature an analytical exam, designed to reward those who think critically, analytically, and efficiently not just about each problem, but about the entire process as a whole.\u00a0 Browse a GMAT study forum and you\u2019re likely to read countless comments and threads such as:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been studying x hours per week for y months and my score has stagnated.\u00a0 What do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve used the Official Guide 11th and 12th editions and the verbal and quant supplements in addition to three other books; where can I find more practice problems?\u201d<\/p>\n
These comments certainly don\u2019t lack for motivation \u2013 the students are clearly committed to putting in the work necessary to succeed.\u00a0 Given that the GMAT isn\u2019t a test of one\u2019s capacity for hard work, however, but rather a test of one\u2019s ability to efficiently solve problems, these comments miss the boat entirely.<\/p>\n
To effectively succeed on the GMAT, most candidates will need to consciously think analytically about their study process \u2013 you\u2019ll need to hold an informal \u201cState of the Union\u201d address for yourself every so often to determine how to effectively use your upcoming study time.\u00a0 Simply \u201cstudying more\u201d and \u201cworking harder\u201d won\u2019t produce success; you\u2019ll need to think like an executive (or like the executive branch of government) to assess a plan for moving forward.\u00a0 To do so, ask yourself questions like the following, and use your practice test and homework results to help you answer:<\/p>\n
1) Which concept areas are still giving you the most trouble?\u00a0 How can you address those before simply diving into more tests or problems?<\/p>\n
2) Which question types do you tend to miss most frequently?\u00a0 Do you have a systematic strategy for attacking them or do you tend to \u201cgo by feel\u201d?\u00a0 If it\u2019s the latter, how can you change your approach to be more consistent?<\/p>\n
3) Which question types or content areas are costing you the most time?\u00a0 How can you approach these questions differently to solve them more efficiently?<\/p>\n
4) Which \u201ccareless\u201d or \u201csilly\u201d mistakes do you tend to make most frequently?\u00a0 Make sure that you note these and look out for them \u2013 it\u2019s very easy to brush off \u201csilly\u201d mistakes in practice, but if you\u2019ve made it once you\u2019re vulnerable to making it again, especially under test pressure.<\/p>\n
5) If the test were tomorrow, which topics or question types do you think would keep you awake tonight with worry?<\/p>\n
6) Similarly, if the test were in three days, what would you spend tomorrow studying?<\/p>\n
Based on these and similar questions, you should come up with a plan to study effectively and efficiently over the next few study sessions.\u00a0 For example:<\/p>\n
-I need to improve my pacing on the quant side, so I\u2019ll do some timed drills\u00a0 to help identify and set up word problems faster<\/p>\n
-I tend to ignore strategy when facing Sentence Correction questions, and just go with \u201cwhat sounds right\u201d, so I need to train myself to consciously identify common errors.<\/p>\n
-I just don\u2019t feel\u00a0 comfortable with exponents, so I need to refresh those concepts and look for patterns in the lines of questioning so that I know what to expect.<\/p>\n
With specific goals and targets for study sessions, you can better track your progress and get more value out of less study time.\u00a0 If you can leave a 90-minute session at the library confident that you\u2019ve improved upon a weakness, that\u2019s a much more effective use of time than spinning your wheels on 3 hours\u2019 worth of \u201cjust doing problems\u201d.\u00a0 Hold yourself accountable for takeaways at the end of each study session.\u00a0 What did you learn?\u00a0 How will you continue to improve upon it?\u00a0 What does that mean for your next practice test?<\/p>\n
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