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Posts: 5,200
Do some people find taking a break from studying to be beneficial? Perhaps taking a 'study-holiday' every 2 or 3 days for example?
We are in a unique situation right now with this pandemic. When I started, I made a mistake of taking no breaks or days off from studying. I don’t recommend that. At the same time I would not recommend taking three days off 
I think the GL number for somebody who works would be taking one day off and not feeling guilty. Taking two days or more a week seems to be unclear for what purpose.... You’re basically taking 30 to 50% off and I think that will have an impact on your retention but it’s only a theory and you’re welcome to prove me wrong
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I think the GL number for somebody who works would be taking one day off and not feeling guilty. Taking two days or more a week seems to be unclear for what purpose.... You’re basically taking 30 to 50% off and I think that will have an impact on your retention but it’s only a theory and you’re welcome to prove me wrong
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BradyMVP
Joined: 16 Jan 2020
Last visit: 29 Apr 2021
Posts: 76
Location: United States
Schools: Duke '22 (M$)
GMAT 1: 720 Q49 V38
GPA: 3.9
WE:Investment Banking (Other)
Products:
[quote="bb"]We are in a unique situation right now with this pandemic. When I started, I made a mistake of taking no breaks or days off from studying. I don’t recommend that. At the same time I would not recommend taking three days off
I think the GL number for somebody who works would be taking one day off and not feeling guilty. Taking two days or more a week seems to be unclear for what purpose.... You’re basically taking 30 to 50% off and I think that will have an impact on your retention but it’s only a theory and you’re welcome to prove me wrong
What'snot being talked about enough is that plenty of people are going to have to overkill studying to retain everything for whenever they can take the exam away. A pretty cruel world!
I think the GL number for somebody who works would be taking one day off and not feeling guilty. Taking two days or more a week seems to be unclear for what purpose.... You’re basically taking 30 to 50% off and I think that will have an impact on your retention but it’s only a theory and you’re welcome to prove me wrong
What'snot being talked about enough is that plenty of people are going to have to overkill studying to retain everything for whenever they can take the exam away. A pretty cruel world!
Agree. It’s hard to stay at your prime for a long time. It takes a lot of effort and it’s exhausting. Where do you take your test online without scratch paper or you idle for a long time to wait for a physical test center to open up, scores are going to take a hit.
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Posted from my mobile device
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BradyMVP
Joined: 16 Jan 2020
Last visit: 29 Apr 2021
Posts: 76
Location: United States
Schools: Duke '22 (M$)
GMAT 1: 720 Q49 V38
GPA: 3.9
WE:Investment Banking (Other)
Products:
bb
I am in a situation where I had 720+ on every GMAT mock prep, and under-performed on test day. Retake was day was when COVID went south in the states and here I am just trying to retain knowledge for what will probably be 100+ day
EMPOWERgmatRichC
Expert
Major Poster
Joined: 19 Dec 2014
Last visit: 31 Dec 2023
Posts: 21,775
Status:GMAT Assassin/Co-Founder
Affiliations: EMPOWERgmat
Location: United States (CA)
GMAT 1: 800 Q51 V49
GRE 1: Q170 V170
Expert reply
Hi All,
As a general rule, we tend to advise taking one day "off" from your studies each week. Many GMATers feel compelled to study as much as they can, but unfortunately, too much studying can lead to "burnout" (and "cramming" generally does not lead to great results on tests such as the GMAT).
Hi BradyMVP,
I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as planned. When a significant score drop occur on Test Day, the two likely "causes" involve either something that was unrealistic during practice or something that was surprising (or not accounted for) on Test Day. Before we discuss any of those potential issues though, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:
Studies:
1) How did you score on the Official GMAT (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
2) How long did you study before your 1st attempt? What type of study routine have you been following since then?
3) What study materials have you used over the course of ALL of your studies?
4) On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
Goals:
5) What is your overall goal score?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?
You might also choose to purchase the Enhanced Score Report. While the ESR doesn’t provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what went wrong on Test Day (and what you should work on to score higher). If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
As a general rule, we tend to advise taking one day "off" from your studies each week. Many GMATers feel compelled to study as much as they can, but unfortunately, too much studying can lead to "burnout" (and "cramming" generally does not lead to great results on tests such as the GMAT).
Hi BradyMVP,
I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as planned. When a significant score drop occur on Test Day, the two likely "causes" involve either something that was unrealistic during practice or something that was surprising (or not accounted for) on Test Day. Before we discuss any of those potential issues though, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:
Studies:
1) How did you score on the Official GMAT (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
2) How long did you study before your 1st attempt? What type of study routine have you been following since then?
3) What study materials have you used over the course of ALL of your studies?
4) On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
Goals:
5) What is your overall goal score?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?
You might also choose to purchase the Enhanced Score Report. While the ESR doesn’t provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what went wrong on Test Day (and what you should work on to score higher). If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
FYI there is a petition on change org.
I can't attach here because I am not "allowed to post attachments".
I can't attach here because I am not "allowed to post attachments".
ScottTargetTestPrep
Expert
Target Test Prep Representative
Joined: 14 Oct 2015
Last visit: 15 Sep 2026
Posts: 22,740
Status:Founder & CEO
Affiliations: Target Test Prep
Location: United States (CA)
Expert reply
Posts: 22,740
Although it varies by student, I don't think taking a day off every so often to “recharge the batteries” is the worst idea. However, I think taking a day off every 2 or 3 days would be too much. Yes, studying for the GMAT is a grind but more than anything you just need to put in the time.
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