Category: Big picture

Tell yourself this before you quit on the GMAT: It is not an IQ test and you can improve. 

All you need is a lot of patience and a good plan. People quit on the GMAT when they set unrealistic goals and compare themselves to others. If you start an intense gym schedule in May, and the last time you did a sit-up was in 2008, I am sorry, but your 6-pack will have to wait another year. Some things in life you can’t cram for, and one of them is the GMAT. You need to understand where you stand.

For example, take this quiz to test your foundations:

The downward spiral study plan

Typically, one would put 700 as their objective, sign up for a course, and begin working hard for 1 or 2 months, expecting that their target score is pretty much guaranteed. The common belief is that “if I do this study program, I will get the score”, which very often is not the case. 90% of time to be precise because most set 700 as their target score.

Some achieve their target scores, but, most don’t. They try 1 or 2 more times: same score. Eventually, they quit because the sting of repeated disappointment is hard to take, and because (and very wrongly so), they begin to think that the test is an IQ test.It is not.

Remember that there are two types of people who “begin” studying for the GMAT. Those who are already prepared and those who are not. An engineer that has been doing algebra for more than half their life on almost a daily basis is already prepared. A lawyer that has been reading complicated legal documents or preparing for trial is already prepared. A consultant solving complex problems for 10 hours on a daily basis for 3 or 4 years straight is already prepared. They’ve already done the heavy lifting.

The GMAT tests your ability to think logically and critically to make inferences. That is a skill that is developed through consistent practice. If you have already put in the time, the GMAT prep phase will be a breeze. If you haven’t been putting in the hours, you will have to now. That’s it.

Most 1 or 2 month prep courses are designed with candidates who are already prepared in mind. All they need is a review to remember little details and some practice because the real work has already been done. It is extremely difficult to learn how to solve problems in 2 months or to change your thinking habits in a short period of time. An analogy would be learning a new language. It’s not something that you can cram for. You must be patient and take your time.

There is no list of formulas or “tricks” that you can memorize to be ready, or a number of practice tests that you can take to be prepared. If you have been struggling with the GMAT, you need to drastically alter your thinking style, and that takes time.

Take an official practice test. If you’re scoring less than 550, it means that you need to work on your foundations: basic maths and reading comprehension. You have at least 6-7 months of consistent daily work ahead of you because that score means that you need to fundamentally change the way you solve problems.

Forget what your friend, sister, brother or some other person scored on the GMAT. Forget that person “who studied for a week and scored a 700 on the first try”. Their story doesn’t matter. What matters is your story, and what you need to do to get the score you need. If there is a long way ahead of you, then so be it. It is time to play catch up. Be humble in accepting that others have already put in the time and that now you must put in yours – there are no shortcuts.

Give yourself the time and measure yourself only against yourself. Nobody else matters.

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Like in science, sport or any other field, the GMAT requires a mastery of a specific set of theory in order to do well. Doing well means being flexible enough to apply your knowledge in different scenarios and situations.

Consider sailing for example. Imagine that you take your first class one day. Typically, on a first class you learn about the different parts of a boat: Aft, starboard, sail, bow, rudder etc. You also learn about different maneuvers such as jibing and tacking. If it’s a pleasant day, perhaps you will go out on your first practical and with the help of your instructor, perform these maneuvers.

Now imagine that on the second day you feel confident enough in your ability and go out on your own. The weather however is not so pleasant. The wind and the currents are strong, and your instructor is not there to guide you. How easy will it be to navigate? Not so easy. One day is not enough to internalize the theory you learned.

To sail well, particularly in rough weather conditions, your knowledge of navigation basics must be very clear in your mind. You must know how to navigate, maneuver, and understand well the function of every part of the boat. Now is not the time to learn, now is the time to sail. The theory you learnt and the boat are tools that you need to arrive at your final destination.

This is similar to the GMAT in that your understanding of the theory must be nailed down long before your test date. A difficult problem requiring knowledge of square root multiplication rules for example is not about solving the square root, but about using the square root multiplication rules, your tools, to determine the answer. If you’re knowledge of theory is weak, you cannot solve difficult problems that have subtle differences from what you practiced. You have on average 2 minutes per question. These 2 minutes are for solving the problem, not for remembering what rule you need to use and how to use it.

There is no way around it: to improve your GMAT score you must improve your reading comprehension skills. There are three parts in the verbal section of the test: sentence correction, critical reasoning, and reading comprehension. Whether you are an avid or novice reader, going through the verbal section can be like navigating in dark waters if you come unprepared. It is not only how good your English is that decides the score you will achieve, but also how quickly you can comprehend the material. The average reading speed is about 250 words per minute. However, there are certain exercises and techniques you can do to improve your score dramatically. But, you cannot expect to see results overnight. First, lets identify the most common habits that hinder both your reading speed and comprehension.

The first habit that slows your reading is fixation. People general tend to ‘fixate’ on every word while reading. This obviously breaks your flow. The second habit is regression. Our minds sometimes wander off while our eyes keep reading, only to stop after some time and realize that we really don’t remember what we have been reading. The last and most detrimental reading habit is what some experts refer to as ‘sub-vocalization’. Think of sub-vocalization as the ‘voice’ you hear in your head while reading. You obviously do not have to “hear” every word while reading, but as with most people, you probably do. Tackling each of those three habits to lower their impact is key to becoming a more efficient reader.

One simple and proven technique to improve concentration is to use your hand to lead your eyes while reading. This is a very simple method that will almost immediately improve your concentration.

Using your hand works better when reading from written material than from a computer screen. So, what can you do to address that? Start by eliminating all distractions that we have come to take for granted as part of our daily interaction with our screens: Facebook IMs, email notifications, news flashes, background music, etc. You will be amazed by how more focused you will be when it is only you and the material that you are reading. If you want to go up a notch, try a free online tool called AccelaReader. This web tool developed by a company called Iris allows you to copy and paste chunks of text into a text editor and configure how many words are displayed at a time on the screen, and at what speed.

One last technique that we will talk about here is very direct: take 20 minutes of your time and read any thing you like. After the 20 minutes are over, mark where you have stopped. Now go back and read the material you have just read, but this time, do it in 10 minutes. Do not worry too much about comprehension at this point because this exercise is about improving your reading speed. Remember that practice makes perfect. In time, you will notice that not only are you reading faster, but also understanding and retaining more information.

Speaking of retaining, we will talk more about the difference between comprehension and retention in our next blog. Until then, give those techniques we talked about a try, and see how much you improve your reading speed and comprehension. There are other more advanced tools that we will talk about, but start here first.

Advanced reading comprehension on the Gmat Verbal is the core skill required for a good verbal score. More than just how fast you read, how well you understand what you have just read is more important. For example, did you need to go back and re-read the first sentence? That would be called “regression”, and is one of a few bad reading habits you should aim to reduce. This requires diligent and conscious practice. Another bad reading habit is internal vocalization – Saying the words out loud in your head. It is impossible to completely eliminate internal vocalization, but a little less of it will add very valuable seconds on your exam.

It is common, especially for non-avid readers (notice I did not say non-native english speakers), to run out of time towards the end of the Verbal section. Keep in mind that the Verbal section is less adaptive than the Quant section. Particularly important for people aiming for a high verbal score, one or two mistakes will drop your raw score by 3 to 5 points. If you were doing well in the beginning by taking your time, the extra minutes you took will catch up on you towards the end.

It pays off to improve your reading speed and your reading comprehension. As with other valuable skills, you cannot improve overnight. Instead, you have to be conscious about your shortcomings in reading comprehension and begin improving that skill early on in your preparation. The few seconds you waste or save through bad or good reading habits on each question, will add up against or in your favor towards the end of the test.

Some helpful links to improve your reading comprehension on the Gmat

Try this free speed reading test to determine your reading speed. Make sure to read at your normal pace.

In addition, this short course  to improve you reading skills is a great place to start.

To many, Gmat critical reasoning is the hardest section to improve, especially with little time left to prepare.

Unlike quant and sentence correction, critical reasoning does not have a set of rules or syllabus you should learn. However, you can improve your performance if you are more process oriented.

You should:

1. Understand the main structures of questions on the critical reading section.
2. Follow a process. If you are process oriented you will succeed on the gmat.

Structures of questions

There are two main question structures on the critical reasoning section.

If you develop a good process, you waste less time answering questions. In addition, you are less likely to make careless mistakes, especially when you are tired and under pressure. Remember that the verbal section is the last section on the Gmat and fatigue will quick in.

Gmat critical reasoning process

1. If the stimulus is an argument, identify the conclusion. This is a crucial step. If you do not identify the conclusion you cannot determine the correct answer. This is the most important step. Do not omit this step.
2. Read the question and understand exactly what is being asked. Are you required to strengthen or weaken the argument? Pay close attention and don’t look for the opposite of what is required.
3. Read the answer choices and eliminate the ones that are out of scope.
4. Review the answer choices and eliminate the ones that do not directly address the relationship between the premise and conclusion.
5. If you have two answer choices left, pay attention to the little details. Choose the answer that creates the desired effect.

Consider an example from the Official Guide 2013 – Q67.

First, we classify the stimulus as an argument. Then, we follow the process:

1. Identify the conclusion: The author claims that less fossil fuels are used in the operations of certain industries as a result of a partial switch to new technology.
2. Read the question carefully: which statement strengthens the argument?
3. Answer option (A): First, unless we know anything about the efficiency of the new technology, we cannot really know whether more or less fossil fuels are being used. Second, this does not directly address the relationship between “New technology / Lower fossil fuel use”.
   Answer option (B): How much energy required to manufacture the equipment is irrelevant. We care about the operations now.
4. Answer option (C): This is what we expect, but it does not address the relationship “New technology / Lower fossil fuel use”. So this is out.
   Answer option (D): There is no new information that compares the amount of fossil fuel used by the new technology and the older technology. Only that fossil fuels are still the primary source of power. If anything, this slightly weakens the argument. So this option is out.
5. We only have one answer choice left. This is an ideal situation which will not always occur. So lets analyze this choice:
   This answer choice directly addresses the relationship “New technology/Lower fossil fuel use” by stating that the new technology requires less fossil fuel than would have been by the old technology. Hence, the correct answer is (E).

Many gmat critical reasoning questions will not be so straightforward. Perhaps it seems straightforward now because we followed a process though. Difficult questions usually have two attractive answer choices left after you eliminate irrelevant ones. Of course, difficult is a relative term. The more you practice this strategy and pay attention to the little details, the more obvious the answers become. With enough preparation, you can reach a level in which every question will have one clear answer. The key is to be process oriented and focused.

A picture is worth a thousand words, or so goes the saying. That cannot be more true on the Gmat. Remember that on average, you have 2 min per Gmat Quant question, and just under 2 min per Verbal question. You do not have time to waste, and you must employ strategies that will increase your efficiency and accuracy. One of these strategies is visually presenting given data whenever possible.

It is essential that you begin practicing this habit early, and like with any other useful skills, it is not something that you can decide to start doing a few days before your Gmat test. If you can develop this strategy, you will be able to draw the conclusions necessary to solve the question much faster.

Gmat Quant example – Try out the next question

Before looking at the solution, give the following question a try, then compare the two solution methods below. One is more visually oriented than the other.

lets take one approach.

First, one that jumps straight into formulas:

Now, consider a more visual approach to solving this problem.

As you can see, a simple diagram makes a big difference. There is a clear context to what you are solving for, in this case ‘2y’. In addition, it is less likely to make careless mistakes, such as choosing y as the correct answer, instead of 2y. On the diagram, it is easy to remember that there are two trips, not just one.

In short: The Gmat rewards attention to detail and the ability to encompass all the relevant elements of a specific situation – a crucial skill for a business professional. A clear presentation of facts using a simple sketch will help you to paint the big picture, arrive at the correct answer quicker, and avoid careless mistakes in the process.