What drugs help you focus on GMAT?

Question

Hi everyone!

First of all, i'd like to sincerely thank the community. It's a great pleasure to be a part of gmatclub and have an access to user's advices.
Please share your experience on the following topic: is it a good idea to use drugs which may help to focus before the exam? I have no experience on this topic, but I heard that many US students in top-universities use prescription stimulants such as Adderall, Dexedrine, and Concerta. 
Sometimes I make silly mistakes in Quant just because of loss of concentration. Maybe you can recommend some techniques which are helpful?

Thanks so much!

kiran120680 · Answer

It is off-topic in this forum. You better to consult doctor/psychiatrist.

GMATPill · Answer

Not technically a "drug" - but GMAT Pill offers thousands of short video tutorial walkthroughs of OG questions and exercises to get you to your target score.

During your SC studies, we encourage you to follow along expert video explanations to guide you in your thought process.

Here's a shared Google doc of video links you may find helpful:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1f_ckd ... H1HmTgctJI

You can learn more about GMAT Pill at:

www.gmatpill.com

Vigasimrair · Answer

Sorry for that. But still, sometimes knowledge is not enough, you should be in good physical form to succeed. If one invest more than 100 hours to pass the test, why is it off topic to ask about ways to focus better? we need result by all means

Staphyk · Answer

Won’t advice any drug ,might work today but affect your brain later so desist from any drug .As for mistakes we all make them,get a notebook and write down every mistake you make and this should be reviewed everyday.
Now try putting earpiece when solving Quant ,when your brain starts wandering just take your eyes off the question for a split of seconds ,breathe in and out and back to the question. Chocolate should be a friend too , All the best

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Vigasimrair,

To start, there are a variety of factors that can influence your performance on a practice CAT/mock (or on Test Day), so assuming that a 'lack of concentration' is a major factor that is keeping you from your Score Goal - and that taking a 'concentration drug' is a reasonable solution to that problem - are dubious ideas. You could potentially have a diagnosable condition that requires a medication such as the ones that you listed, but that is a MEDICAL question - for a MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL to answer - and not one for a website full of strangers to answer for you.

There are almost certainly approaches and Tactics that you can use to improve in every section of the GMAT, but before I can offer you that type of advice, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) How have you scored on EACH of your CATs/mocks (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

Goals:
4) What is your goal score?
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
7) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Vigasimrair · Answer

Hi Rich!

Thanks for your answer. To clarify: I don't intend to use medical drugs. I'm just curious on this topic. Maybe I've heard some misleading information, which made me think that the use of drugs may be an option for a guy with bad Quant)). I know about side effects and I understand some possible bad consequences. And I appreciate strict scientific approach which I see in the answers above. I agree that it sounds like an idiotic idea. But I'm just curious: what if someone knows the topic deeper than me?

I've been studying since the beginning of the year. In March I took a monthly offline course.

I began to work hard (I mean every day after work and on holidays) since the beginning of May.

I use this forum and materials from my offline-course.

I took several CATs/mocks.

Economist - 510, 30-12-18 lost access, so can't say the Q&V scores
Manhattan prep - 570, 02-02-19 Q 42 V 27
Veritas prep - 540, 09-02-19 Q 40 V 24
Go gmat - 710, 04-05- 2019 - my access expired, so can't say the Q&V scores
Mba com - 710, 09-05-201 Q 50 V 36
LSE-650-670, 19-05-19 Q 47-48 V 34-35
Kaplan - 660, 26-05-19 Q 44 V 37

As for goals:
1) 750
2) The end of summer/the beginning of autumn 2019
3) 1st found - autumn 2019
4) Don't know exactly. I've decided to score 750 first.

Thank you in advance!

TheUltimateWinner · Answer

Vigasimrair 
What do you mean by the highlighted part? Do you want to mean that you need to concentrate at least for exam duration? or, do you mean that you want to use these drugs so that your previous knowledge (e.g., for math: you were good at math when you were at high school or college but you forgot everything right away) come back?

Vigasimrair · Answer

Asad , hi!

Thank you for the question, it's a pleasure to answer.

The general idea which I've heard is that there is a group of medicines which help neurons in our brain to communicate faster. I've noticed that sometimes my ability to solve GMAT problems is low, for example after working day or sleepless night. But there are also not so common factors, for example my mood or inexplicable inability to pull myself together. So I try to figure out what kind of techniques my be helpful to reach the best state of my mind.
Yes, I need to concentrate at least for exam duration. Because these 3,5 hours are crucial and I don't want to depend on my mood or some uncontrollable factors. As for knowledge, I think it may not be returned without learning. So I don't believe in magic pill. And unfortunately I was not so good in math at school))

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Vigasimrair,

To start, the 750+ score is approximately the 98th percentile - meaning that 98% of Test Takers never score that high (regardless of how long they study or the number of times that they take the GMAT). Thankfully, NO Business School requires a score that high - so it's important to realize that the score that you "want" and the score that you "need" are not the same thing. If you truly do not know which Business Schools you want to apply to, then that's something of an issue - since you won't have an idea of whether your Official Score is 'competitive-enough' or not for the Programs that interest you. I understand that you probably 'want' a 750+, but what if you score 740 or 710 or 690? Would you stop studying and accept any of those results or would you retest again and again until you hit 750+?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

TheUltimateWinner · Answer

Vigasimrair 
I've also a query about LSD. One of my friends tell me that this one helps to sharp human brain, but I have no idea about it. Better if I know more on it.

Vigasimrair · Answer

EMPOWERgmatRichC

To say the truth, I dream of top business school. I've decided to apply first wave (in autumn 2019). So 700+ is an option for me anyway, but my dream is 750. I have an inner feeling, that the only way to succeed is to set a goal that will be difficult to achieve.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Vigasimrair,

You still have plenty of time to study and improve before the Round 1 application deadlines later this year, but you'll want to be efficient with your studies going forward (so that you do not get too stressed by those approaching deadlines and end up taking the GMAT under less-than-ideal circumstances).

"Review" is an exceptionally important part of the GMAT training process; your ability to define WHY you're getting questions wrong is essential to defining the areas that you need to work on (and the specific things that you need to 'fix'). As such, I'd like to know a bit more about your last CAT (the 660). While a full Mistake Tracker would provide a lot more information, there are some basic questions that you should be able to answer (and the more EXACT you can be with your answers, the better):

After reviewing each section of this recent CAT, how many questions did you get wrong....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some math/verbal that you just could not remember how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?
4) Because you were low on time and had to guess?
5) How many Verbal questions did you 'narrow down to 2 choices' but still get wrong?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

akela · Answer

Hi  Vigasimrair ,

Found an article by  GMATNinja :
 Why Adderall, Ritalin, and other PEDs won’t help your GMAT score

Hope this helps!

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