{"id":29996,"date":"2021-07-05T10:00:01","date_gmt":"2021-07-05T14:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/?p=29996"},"modified":"2022-01-30T07:05:19","modified_gmt":"2022-01-30T12:05:19","slug":"the-role-of-confusion-in-your-gmat-prep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/the-role-of-confusion-in-your-gmat-prep\/","title":{"rendered":"The Role of Confusion in Your GMAT Prep"},"content":{"rendered":"

With regard to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything.\u00a0<\/em>Manhattan Prep<\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>Stacey Koprince<\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u00a0teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense.<\/em><\/p>\n

That seems like it should be a typo. Maybe I meant\u00a0Confucius<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, the Chinese teacher and philosopher? No, I really do mean\u00a0confusion<\/em>. Journalist Annie Murphy Paul contributed a post to NPR\u2019s\u00a0Mind\/Shift<\/em>\u00a0blog:\u00a0\u201cWhy Confusion Can Be a Good Thing.\u201d<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Why Is Confusion Good?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Murphy Paul supports her thesis with an important point: When we do not know the \u201cright\u201d way to do something, we open up our minds to many potential paths\u2014and sometimes an alternate potential path is better than the \u201cofficial\u201d path.<\/p>\n

When a test such as the GMAT is concerned, the discomfort inherent in figuring out that best path allows us to determine\u00a0why<\/em> a certain approach is preferable. That knowledge, in turn, helps us to know when we can reuse a certain line of thinking or solution process on a different (but similar) question in the future.<\/p>\n

How Can I Use Confusion to Help My Prep?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Murphy Paul offers three suggestions (the following quotes are from the article; the rest is just me):<\/p>\n

(1) \u201cExpose yourself to confusing material.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the GMAT, you have no choice: you are going to be exposing yourself to confusing material every day. So I will tweak Murphy Paul\u2019s suggestion slightly:\u00a0embrace the confusion<\/em>. Rather than feeling annoyed or frustrated when that feeling of confusion creeps in, tell yourself, \u201cOkay, I am on track here. I am going to figure this out\u2014and when I do, I am going to remember it, because my current confusion is actually going to help me remember better once I do know what I am doing!\u201d<\/p>\n

(2) \u201cWithhold the answers from yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes looking at the answer immediately is appropriate. If you are doing drill sets and you want to make sure that you learn from one problem before trying the next, then check the solution immediately.<\/p>\n

Other times, though, you are not doing yourself a favor by jumping right to the answer. In particular, when you\u00a0know that you do not know<\/em>\u2026 then do not look at the answer right away! Struggle with it for a while first.<\/p>\n

Look stuff up in your strategy guides\/books. Ask a friend or search a forum. Spend as much time as you want, then pick an answer\u2014even if it is just a guess\u2014and have a rationale for why you eliminated the answers that you eliminated. If possible, also have a rationale for why you chose the answer that you did.<\/p>\n

Got that? Okay, now go look at the answer. But wait! Do not read the solution yet\u2014just look at the answer first. Maybe you will want to go look at the problem again because<\/p>\n