Debrief/Online Format/Tips/Resources (online whiteboard, 770/Q50/V45)

Question

First, big thanks to  bb  &  Bunuel  for the GMAT Club Quant tests -- I did 20 of them with the online whiteboard, and my confidence & accuracy improved significantly.

I know this is long, so the most actionable suggestions are bolded below.

Notes & Tips on Online Format:
 • A great thing about the online format is that you have more flexibility to  thoughtfully choose the ideal start time for you . I've seen research that 3-4 hours after waking is ideal, so I chose 9:45am on June 10th, but it can depend on the person, so think about when you are most focused and sharp. (graph attached)
• It can be helpful to  practice an energizing and healthy morning routine, planned in advance  -- mine included: 16 oz of water immediately, going outside for walk/stretches, light reading, meditation in bath, light cardio & yoga, protein breakfast. (I limited fluid intake and caffeine before my test, to reduce the risk of needing a restroom break, since there's no break after quant).
• When I did the system test, my internet speed failed, and I noticed that my heart rate spiked as I immediately felt some uncertainty.  After resetting the modem and disabling other Wifi devices and fixing the issue, I took an extra 2 minutes to lie down and do deep breathing to relax before finishing checking in to the exam.  Take the time you need to get your mindset where you want it before you start. See attached table on "Ideal Activation Level". 
• The 2 proctors (1st one you speak with during check-in, the 2nd uses text chat during the exam) were very friendly, and I was extra friendly and thankful at the start as we checked my surroundings with the camera (I had to prove that my 3 extra monitors were unplugged).  This friendly interaction at the start actually helped me relax and loosen up.
• Once you're checked in, you have a screen where you confirm your name.  Before proceeding, I hit the "Chat" button to test it -- I thought it would just open a chat box, but instead you get a pop-up saying "the proctor will help you shortly".  A minute later, the chat box popped up, and I typed, "sorry, I was just testing the button, thanks very much".  The proctor typed a friendly response, and then on the next screen, I used the 2 minutes of general instructions and 30 seconds of quant instructions for deep belly breathing ( video demo here ,  article here ) / meditation / mantras.  
•  For the deep breathing, the more you practice on a daily basis, the better you can automatically call upon it to relax in a more stressful situation. As you take practice tests, it can also be helpful to use external cues as a reminder to breathe -- before each section, on the confirm screens after each question, and whenever you feel additional tension. 
• For the mantras, perhaps consider -- what habits / cues / intentions could be useful for you?  Based on your error log, what habits could help you prevent the kind of mistakes you tend to make?  There's a lot we can learn about peak mental performance from sports psychology, and  brief mantras are popular among elite athletes . 
Based on my #1 error cause of imprecise reading & loss of focus, my mantras are: 
Overall: "I'm sharp, focused, precise!"
Quant: "Read sharp, write sharp, read EVERY word" (for example, to not miss "If x is a positive integer")
Verbal: "Fingers (reminder to attack the question and  eliminate with fingers ), Stem First (engaging with the stem before the passage),  Curious  (mindset)."
•  Do the  System Test  well in advance of the exam, so you are comfortable with the process.   You will do the same process on the day of the exam as well, after clicking the Begin Exam link on the right on the Pearson VUE site, and before speaking to the proctor.
• The font is quite small, and the words stretch across the width of the entire screen, which feels a bit strange on a CR question (unlike the in-person exam, where it's confined to a smaller part of the screen).  This was particularly pronounced on my 27" monitor, but  this wide formatting would be less noticeable on a smaller monitor.  (example formatting attached)
• At the top of the screen, you have the "Whiteboard" and "Chat" buttons and a small square showing your video feed.  You never see the proctor, but they can hear you, so  you can speak if they ask you a question in the chat, instead of typing a response.   At one point, I had my hand over my mouth, and the proctor's chat box popped up saying to please not do that.  There have been other debriefs where the proctor told them to stop mumbling.  I did a little mumbling, just mouthing a few words that you probably couldn't hear, but the proctor never complained about it. 
•   I highly recommend trying  focusmate.com    -- it is an awesome virtual coworking productivity tool for creating structure, accountability, focus, and brief encouraging interaction. I use it to plan my schedule the night before and be held accountable. ( Here is a Daily Training Log & Error Log Template you can use ) Also, it will help to practice focusing while there is a video feed of yourself with someone you don't know -- so you are more comfortable with this on the exam.  
•  Use any downtime productively. There are 30 seconds of instructions between quant and verbal, and if you finish early on quant, take the extra time to rest and prepare for verbal; I recommend mantras, deep breathing, and moving your body a bit -- I've seen research that movement is great for mental function, so it's a good habit in general when you're training.  You don't have to confirm the final question.   I had 6 extra minutes, so I closed my eyes and stretched my arms up and to the sides, and moved my legs and ankles.
• I can easily lose focus without proactive steps to prevent this. Other debriefs mentioned that fatigue can be a factor without a break, and precise reading is essential on verbal, so it's helpful to ask yourself,  how can you proactively energize yourself and refocus when you feel fatigue or distraction?  
First, I have a mantra that sounds silly but helps me -- I smile and say to myself passionately, "I energize and uplift myself on command!". If you mentally laugh at yourself a little, even better -- it relieves tension. 
Second, partly inspired by chess players, I lean forward towards the screen, and it noticeably improves my attention. 
• All of the screens automatically proceed when time runs out, except for the end of your break after the verbal section.   You have to manually click the "end break" button before your 5 minutes ends, or you will lose time on IR.  
• I was surprised when the IR instructions appeared immediately after the Verbal section -- I was expecting the "break" screen, but the IR instructions come first (and have a 30-second timer), and then on the next screen you can click the button on the bottom right to "Begin Break".  There is a 60-second timer on this initial break screen, which says that if you don't do anything, your break will automatically start in 60 seconds.  After you click the button, there is a 5-minute countdown timer.  With the online whiteboard, I did not need permission from the proctor to take my break, but  now you need to show the proctor that your physical whiteboard is clean, before taking your break.

Notes on Online vs Physical Whiteboard
 • I got comfortable with the online whiteboard, but there were 2 particularly unusual questions that I took a long time on, that probably would have been easier with a physical whiteboard. However, the flip side is that I could have solved them easier with clearer thinking and strategy at the start, instead of rushed and confused scribbling and erasing. The other 29 questions felt great, but I clearly made a few errors somewhere.
• A nice thing about doing a lot of practice with the online whiteboard is that now the physical board feels like a luxury.
• Below are the products I'm practicing with, and I'm happy with them. It's actually easier to use than the normal yellow pad, because you have more flexibility -- I like the freedom of being able to use as much space as necessary, and if I keep the block eraser on top of the board, it takes only 1-2 seconds to erase. (photo attached)
 Whiteboard  
 Pens 
 Eraser

GMAT Preparation Resources Used:
 • Huge thanks to the GMAT Club community, for the great explanations when I needed to  better understand the all-important WHY behind the right and wrong answer choices on verbal.  
• Thanks to  GMATNinja  for recommending LSAT practice. I used  Khan Academy's 10 free practice tests , and this challenge helped me improve my reading focus, precision, and speed.
• Practice tests from GMAT Club,  Official Practice , Manhattan, Veritas, Kaplan
• OG questions on Efficient Learning, plus the excellent  Advanced Questions  product.
• Older official questions on GMAT Club.  Tag search  is very useful.
• 4 "Fake" practice tests using the  new Official Practice Questions 2 product  
• Adaptive flashcard app:  Brainscape.com 
• Reference Books:  MGMAT "All the Verbal"  , and  Erica Meltzer's GMAT Sentence Correction Guide 
• I generally prefer official problems, but I also like the structure of  Target Test Prep  -- very thorough, excellent interface and customer service, detailed analytics to track your progress and weaknesses, and great for targeting specific topics. Questions are tagged to very specific topics, so you can efficiently review the relevant lesson and example questions with just 1 click (this is much more efficient than books or searches). You're encouraged to log the cause of each mistake, which is very important. Their new verbal lessons are also very detailed, and I look forward to trying more of them as they roll out. Great work by  ScottTargetTestPrep ,  JeffTargetTestPrep ,  MartyTargetTestPrep  & their team.

Other Favorite Resources:
 •  Habits/discipline tools:  focusmate.com  (#1 favorite, a major game-changer) ,  Habitbull app for daily habit tracking ,  Spar app for challenges with the accountability of financial rewards/penalties  (the most important daily challenge was to always plan my day the night before, to increase discipline & reduce "decision fatigue")
 I highly recommend setting a recurring nightly reminder to plan your following day  ( great article on the power of "implementation intentions" here )
 Here's a Daily Training Log & Error Log Template you can use 
 Here's a template to write your WHY for your GMAT & MBA goals . My clients have found it very helpful, and  research supports the power of a clear sense of purpose , to increase your focus, energy, and discipline, and persist through inevitable challenges.
•  Distraction blocker tools & habits  -- it's best to completely remove any temptation, rather than rely on willpower
 i.  Delete social media & news apps from phone, and keep phone in separate room from work desk.  ( article/research here )
 ii.  Cold Turkey  -- for Mac or Windows -- blocks sites and applications
 iii.  Block Site - Website Blocker  for Chrome
 iv.  Kill News Feed  for Chrome: 
 v.  Momentum  for Chrome: 
 vi.  DF Tube  for Chrome
• Books: 
 How Champions Think  (author is Lebron James' sports psychologist;  audiobook should be free with this link if you haven't received a book from a friend before ) 
 Atomic Habits  ( free Audible link here )
 The Power of Habit  
 Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning  ( summary & infographics here )
 Indistractable 
 Executive Toughness  ( key habit is a daily 100-second Mental Workout-- brief article here )
 Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise 
 The Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips for Improving Your Skills 
 Ultralearning  
 Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less  (it's so important to remind myself to practice these principles that I've listened to the audiobook 4 times) ( 2 free chapters here on how to say "NO" gracefully ;  free Audible link here ) 
 The Way of the Warrior Kid  (kid's book, but loved the principles, characters, and voice acting. Main point:  write down a personal code and hold yourself accountable to live by it  --  here's the one from the book ). ( free Audible link here ) 
• Documentaries: 
 In Search of Greatness  (featuring Jerry Rice, Wayne Gretzky, and Pele)
 Almost Impossible series 
•  "Finding Your Best" online course  from Pete Carroll & peak performance psychologist Dr. Michael Gervais. Dr. Gervais'  Finding Mastery  is my favorite podcast. (Some favorite episodes  here ,  here ,  here , and  here )
3 key takeaways from the course:
1)   Write your personal philosophy  in 25 words or less, and recite it daily.  For example, Coach Carroll's is simple, "Always Compete". Mine is "To Serve, I Hone my Habits every day -- with Passion, Purpose, Priority, and Play".
2) Carroll's definition of "compete" is not to beat others -- instead, it's "Challenge yourself and support others who are striving to be their best" (graphic attached). This is what's awesome about our GMAT Club community here! 
3) Research supports that a highly effective dose of meditation is just 8 minutes -- this helped me make it a consistent daily habit.
• Calm mindfulness app --  Lebron James' 38-minute series is excellent , and it's interesting to hear him explain why sleep is his top priority. There's a  7 day free premium trial , or alternatively,  Insight Timer  is free. Many also like  Headspace . My personal favorite is unguided, with relaxing " Binaural Beats " background music -- accepting in advance that my mind will wander sometimes, and just calmly keep  refocusing  on deeply relaxing belly breathing for 8 minutes.  I recommend finding a daily habit that works for you. 
 Here's a study showing that a 2-week mindfulness course improved GRE scores significantly.  This makes sense, because training our minds for focused attention and precision is so important.

Self-Assessment
 
On my 4 attempts, I've had a goal of 800 each time, which can put a lot of pressure on myself to not make a mistake. Using the resources above, I've been working to cultivate a more effective mindset -- optimism and intense focus, but less tension and pressure on myself. I decided in advance that I would just focus on what I could control in my preparation and process, and accept whatever the outcome was. Another useful mantra adapted from legendary football coach Bill Walsh, is "Focus on the Play, and  The Score Takes Care of Itself ". In the past, I've had issues with indecision and wavering between choices on verbal, and felt some time pressure at the end. On this one, my pacing and confidence felt much better, and I had more than 5 minutes of extra time on both quant and verbal. I felt confident that I scored 780+, but I clearly made more mistakes than I expected. Most likely, the verbal errors came from a few SC problems that I was between 2 choices on. I decided to look at the bright side, and noted that the V45 is a new personal best.

There were 2 conditions that were less than ideal, that I will attempt to improve next time:
1) I normally sleep great, but I had an unusually annoying earworm, and I had trouble going back to sleep in the middle of the night. I make good sleep habits a priority, and use a strict 9:30 bedtime alarm leading up to the test.  Since the GMAT harshly punishes imprecision and careless errors, improving sleep can make a huge difference  -- a notable example is a client going from 620 to 740 on 2 practice tests within a week, when well-rested versus tired.
2) I tend to be sensitive to outside noise, and there was extremely loud construction drilling that I didn't expect at that time. For an instant I thought, "Damn, I should have negotiated with the foreman", but fortunately, I think my meditation practice is helping because I quickly refocused and was able to block it out better than I expected.

Before my next attempt, I will prioritize SC, and work on increasing quant precision to get back to Q51. I look forward to taking the GMAT Online again with the physical whiteboard.

Thanks for reading, and please let me know if you have any comments or questions, thanks.

mcelroytutoring · Answer

Amazingly detailed and helpful debrief, Ben! Thanks for sharing.

Congrats on your remarkable consistency with regard to your GMAT scores (760/770/770/770). As a person whose scores tend to jump around more from one test to another, I'm envious. : )

Are you planning to take the GMAT Online with physical whiteboard as well? There's not much margin for error when only a 780, 790 or 800 will do!

-Brian

bb · Answer

Wow! Awesome Review! Thank you Ben!!! Congrats on your score and thanks for putting this together. Good luck on your physical whiteboard test (but don't make us wait a month for your debrief

)

GMATCoachBen · Answer

mcelroytutoring  Thanks very much, Brian!

Yes, I just scheduled a retake for August (until today, my account wasn't allowing me to schedule, and email support was not responsive), and look forward to it!

GMATCoachBen · Answer

Thanks very much,  bb ! Haha, you're 100% right, I'm sorry for the delay and am putting it into my "personal error log" -- I promise to learn from my mistake and post much sooner next time! I use other social media very little, but I appreciate the opportunity to share my experience with the supportive and striving community here.

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Ben. Cool debrief, and now I know a bit more about that "Ben" guy who is on chat all the time.

I see that you want to score Q51 again. Maybe this post will help. How To Increase Your GMAT Quant Score In case you want to score V51 as well, maybe these will help. https://www.businessbecause.com/news/gm ... percentile These could be of interest as well. https://healingchronicles.com/2014/01/0 ... n-to-heal/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20OoDElOzBo I'd really like to see some people use TTP to score 800 on the GMAT. You could be the first. It's all about intention. Make it so.

GMATCoachBen · Answer

Excellent, thanks very much,  MartyTargetTestPrep ! Your 800 is inspiring, and thanks for all your resources and insights!

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Amazing job and amazing debrief!! You crushed it!!

Thank you for sharing and good luck with things going forward.

AndrewN · Answer

Congratulations,  GMATCoachBen . I will confess to having noticed before your debrief that you had taken the Online GMAT™ and earned a 770, a fantastic score. I came across one of your posts in some random thread, and I always look forward to reading your responses. I hope we will continue to cross paths, whether indirectly or directly. I will also admit to getting a little itchy about strapping myself to the hot seat and putting my own mental reserve to the test. (I even took a practice test, and guess what? I missed a question on Verbal, a Sentence Correction of all question types, one that I was on the fence about and changed...) You seem to be more digitally connected than I, so I doubt I would have a need to block apps and such. (If you know how to disable Google notifications from popping up at random when seemingly disabled in System Preferences, I would be much obliged.) The readings were more up my alley, so to speak. I have but one for you, as well as for anyone else who stumbles upon my reply:  Who Ordered this Truckload of Dung?  by Ajahn Brahm. I find it hard to believe that anyone could read such a book and not laugh while at the same time come to feel a little closer to something profound. Although not directly related to any kind of standardized test prep, it is something I think you would find both useful and interesting.

Thank you for the details on matters such as system checks and so on. These sorts of mundane considerations, particularly when issues crop up, can make all the difference to the mental state in which a test-taker may approach the task at hand, and I have not read another debrief quite as detailed to this end.

Keep up the fine work. You are a credit to the community, and I, for one, am pulling for you to reach that target score.

- Andrew

GMATCoachBen · Answer

MentorTutoring  Thanks very much! I appreciate your insights and encouragement, and am very excited about the book recommendation -- it is now a proud addition to my Kindle library! The title made me laugh, and I'm sure there's more to come.

unraveled · Answer

Hey Ben, Thanks for putting up such a great post that's so helpful. It's absolutely breathtaking.

I have started following a bit of your recommendations on meditation part as i believe mindset plays a vital role in the test. I loved every part of this post and hope to inculcate a few things, if not all, to achieve my goals. Just to mention, the link's broken(missing h of https) - please check. Though i got the pdf.

All the best for your next attempt.

GMATCoachBen · Answer

unraveled  It's great to hear that you are finding it helpful, and thanks so much for the kind words and feedback!

I fixed the link, thanks for the head's up!

mcelroytutoring · Answer

Hi Ben, I hope that all is going well for you during these unprecedented times.

Any updates to share regarding your planned GMAT Online physical whiteboard retake in August 2020?

MBAB123 · Answer

Hey  GMATCoachBen

I'm wondering if it's a great idea to take a few LSAT tests like you did for a non-expert? The LSAT question are obviously a great resource once official sources have been exhausted, but I'm wondering if taking the LSAT mocks helps. The LSAT sounds much more brutal and taxing than the GMAT and sounds kinda exciting.

Neel503 · Answer

Thank you for the help.
e GMAT exam is designed to test skills that are highly important to business and management programs. It assesses analytical writing and problem-solving abilities, along with the data sufficiency, logic, and critical reasoning skills that are vital to real-world business and management success.

Posted from my mobile device

MBAB123 · Answer

I took the LSAT mock on Khan academy today and the analytical reasoning section blew me away (this section is not even close to anything that is tested on the GMAT so I just skipped through it). The RC passages were extremely long and I had to guess on the last 5-6 questions. I was just about able to complete the LR/CR questions (got 41/51 correct). My score turned out to be 159.

Any advice @AndreN,  GMATNinja ,  GMATCoachBen ,  mcelroytutoring ,  MartyTargetTestPrep  and other experts on what is the best way to approach LSAT questions? Filtering on GMAT club is definitely a classic way, but I'm wondering if taking LSAT mocks might help. I was definitely much, much more tired while taking the LSAT mock than I've ever been while taking the GMAT/GMAT mocks so LSAT mocks could be good training.

GMATCoachBen · Answer

Brian123  Your attitude of excitement to pursue challenges is awesome — "The LSAT sounds much more brutal and taxing than the GMAT and  sounds kinda exciting. "

Yeah, I liked taking the mocks on Khan Academy — they are definitely a very hard challenge with a lot of extra time pressure compared to the GMAT. So, 41/51 is excellent, especially with 5-6 guesses on RC; the RC is extremely difficult to finish on time. It's reasonable to just attempt 3 of the 4 passages in the 35 minutes, and track your accuracy on only those (if you do 21 problems, that's still only 1:40 per problem). You were definitely smart to skip Analytical Reasoning; that's totally different from the GMAT.

The LSAT mocks will train you on mental toughness, focus, reading, quick attention to detail, and decision-making under time pressure. Just make sure that you remember to take your time on the actual GMAT because you will likely have more time to check your answers.

I decided to start skipping the parallel reasoning LSAT Logical Reasoning questions (which are often very long) because they are mostly different from GMAT CR. There are usually around 2 of those, so that makes the time pressure a bit less too.

Best wishes on your training and exam!

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  Brian123 . I think I was supposed to be the person named at the beginning of your list. I agree with the response  GMATCoachBen  has given above. Enthusiasm is great; wanting to master CR is an admirable goal. At the same time, I cannot help but caution against feeling as though LSAT questions are somehow  necessary  to achieving mastery of GMAT™ CR questions—they are not. I liken the endeavor to a professional athlete, say, a marathoner, deciding to cross-train by cycling. To be an elite marathoner, of course, one  must  train to run marathon distances; cycling is just a fun way to exercise.

I know many Experts, including  GMATNinja  himself, who get behind this LSAT cross-training notion. However, I have been outspoken against the practice since I started posting, primarily because most students cannot tell the difference between a GMAT™-type question and one that is restricted to the LSAT. (Other Experts who have shared my view include  VeritasKarishma  and  RonPurewal .) For more on my own reasoning, see the following posts, a selection from more than a page of responses in which I have referred to the LSAT and offered similar counsel:

1)  15 August 2019 
2)  24 March 2020 
3)  22 June 2020 
4)  20 July 2020 
5)  25 December 2020 
6)  30 March 2021

Finally, I think it is important to put the CR task into perspective: You will likely see about 8 such questions on the exam. Is it really necessary to reach beyond  the 1200 or so  official  CR questions  that have been released to do your best on these 8 or so questions? I am skeptical.

Anyway, I do not mean to dampen your enthusiasm. By all means, explore away. Just keep in mind why you are doing it.

- Andrew

mcelroytutoring · Answer

Agreed. I also teach LSAT (and have scored 179, ahem), and I would never  dare  subject my GMAT students to LSAT Logical Reasoning questions.

Yes, there are many similarities, but there are too many differences between the two exams, even among the LSAT LR question types that actually exist on the GMAT.

That's like telling someone to get better at tennis by playing racquetball, which is of course a bad idea, because you get better at tennis by playing tennis.

With roughly 4,000 unique, official GMAT questions (over 1,000 of which are CR questions), why settle for anything other than the real thing?

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

You might be better off using GMAT practice questions or official or third party GMAT practice tests than LSAT practice tests because, in doing so, you'll be developing skills more directly relevant to the GMAT than some you'd develop by playing around with the LSAT.

That said, to a large degree, rocking the GMAT is about noticing things and reasoning, both of which you need to do in order to get LSAT questions correct as well. So, clearly, in answering LSAT questions, you would develop skills that apply to the GMAT. So, if you feel like playing around with the LSAT and enjoy playing tests like a game, then maybe you should, but perhaps not too much. You have plenty to accomplish that's more directly related to the GMAT.

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