Hi Everyone. Let’s start off the weekend with a useful tip. If someone asks me - "
What is that one tip you would give a student who has started aspiring for GMAT?". My answer would be Do not time yourself in your learning phase. Let me elaborate why.
Timing oneself initially is the biggest mistake one can do. It is pretty common for students to worry about solving a question under 2 mins even when they have just started learning. Hence,
their focus shifts from learning the key skills to improving their timing. What they don't realize is that Timing is an Outcome of High Skill Level, so your focus should be on Improving your skill level.
THE 3 LEVELS OF LEARNING
There are 3 levels of learning that a student goes through while preparing for GMAT
- Level 1 - Learning concepts – Brings you to a level of 550 pts
- Level 2 – Following the right strategy to solve questions – Helps improve your score by 100-150 pts
- Level 3 – Fine tuning weak areas – Helps improve your score by 50-100 pts
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO NOT TIME YOURSELF?
The most crucial stage of your learning is Level 2, that is, Learning the right method for solving questions. Since GMAT is a logical test,
shortcuts and tricks don’t work on GMAT and the only way to score well is to learn the right logical methods, for example meaning based approach in SC, Scope Analysis in CR, Involved Reading in RC and Drawing Inferences in DS.
Now all these approaches seem time consuming in the beginning. While following these methods initially you might take even 4-5 mins to solve each question. At this juncture, students
start doubting the method thinking that they have only 2 mins to answer a question on GMAT and hence this approach may not work for them. So, they start looking for shortcuts or going through the approach halfheartedly without proper analysis.
LEARNING ANY NEW SKILL TAKES TIME
What they don’t realize is that learning any new skill takes time. When you probably learnt driving for the first time, it wasn’t easy. You had to think of the clutch, break, accelerator, gear box, side mirrors and so many things at the same time.
It was only after you drove for quite some time you got used to the method. Now you can probably converse with others while driving.
Similarly, if you follow a methodical approach you will take some time initially. At this moment, if you don’t worry about timing, you will learn the process better and with time it will become a natural process for you. As it becomes a natural process,
you’ll start following most steps intuitively without additional effort and that’s when the time will start to fall in place.
So, focus on getting the approach right and not on timing initially.
SO, WHEN SHOULD I START TIMING MYSELF?
That’s a question I’m sure you would be thinking of right now. Well, the answer is it depends. Some of us, get used to the methods faster than others. In general, I would say don’t time yourself at all when you’re learning all the topics. Only when you have finished Level 1 and Level 2, that is, covered all the concepts for GMAT and
finally ready to enter the fine-tuning phase start timing yourself.
Also, don’t directly move to 2 min per question. See how much time you’re taking for different question types and
reduce the time gradually. For example, if at the end of learning phase, you’re still taking 3.5 mins per question, you should first reduce it to 3 mins then to 2.5 mins and then to 2 mins per question.
So, from now on, do not worry about the time per question. Ensure that you learn and read each explanation well to understand the method used to solve questions. Remember GMAT is an application driven test so you need to focus on application. All the best!
Regards,
Piyush Beriwala
GMAT Strategy Expert - Helping students plan their studies efficiently from my experience of scoring 740 in first attempt