{"id":394,"date":"2008-01-29T09:22:18","date_gmt":"2008-01-29T15:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/29\/manhattan-gmat-top-5-gmat-test-taking-strategies\/"},"modified":"2010-10-07T08:10:21","modified_gmt":"2010-10-07T14:10:21","slug":"manhattan-gmat-top-5-gmat-test-taking-strategies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/manhattan-gmat-top-5-gmat-test-taking-strategies\/","title":{"rendered":"Manhattan GMAT: Top 5 GMAT Test-Taking Strategies"},"content":{"rendered":"

While many are patiently waiting for results from this year\u2019s application cycle, a new wave of candidates are beginning to ponder the coming year. Of course, top of mind in terms of long term planning is\u2026. taking the GMAT! Our good friend Chris Ryan, Director of Instructor and Product Development at Manhattan GMAT<\/a>, recently penned a series on GMAT test taking strategies which we will be publishing on our blog as\u00a0each segment is released. Enjoy today\u2019s installment\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Top 5 GMAT Test-Taking Strategies<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve studied all the content, you\u2019ve done hundreds of problems, you\u2019ve taken practice test after practice test.\u00a0 And now, it\u2019s GMAT game day.\u00a0 You\u2019re following all the logistics tips: you got enough sleep last night, you\u2019ve shown up early, you haven\u2019t eaten anything funny, you plan to take the breaks while giving yourself enough time to check back in with the proctors.\u00a0 But what about actually taking the test?\u00a0 What do you have to remember while you\u2019re in the thick of battle?<\/p>\n

Here are five strategies to guide you.<\/p>\n

1) Turn the page.<\/strong>
\n\u00a0
\nImagine you\u2019ve just clicked \u201cC, Next, Confirm\u201d on a tough Data Sufficiency problem involving two overlapping triangles and lots of labeled angles.\u00a0 One of the statements was utterly baffling.\u00a0 You spent too much time deciding between C and E, and now you think you probably chose wrong, with your luck.<\/p>\n

Forget all that.<\/p>\n

You are facing a new problem.\u00a0 This is the only place your mind should be.\u00a0 Take out a \u201cblank sheet of mental paper\u201d and dive in.<\/p>\n

Now, as you get into this new problem, a whisper in your head tells you that the problem is too easy, so you probably got the last problem wrong, and by the way \u2013 you\u2019re doing poorly overall.<\/p>\n

Turn that whisper off.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You should not spend an instant of your time wondering about the past or about \u201chow you\u2019re doing.\u201d\u00a0 You truly have no idea how you\u2019re doing \u2013 and if you did know, it wouldn\u2019t help you anyway.<\/p>\n

The only opportunity you have to affect your fate is THIS problem.\u00a0 Forget about one minute ago.\u00a0 Focus on the here and now, and do the problem as best as you can.
\n2) Know when to fold \u2018em.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You are now embroiled in a different problem, and it\u2019s a dogfight.\u00a0 This problem seduced you \u2013 you thought you knew how to solve it, but the answer you got wasn\u2019t on the screen.\u00a0 Now you\u2019re scrambling to recheck all your math, and you can\u2019t find any errors.\u00a0 Frustrated, you feel like simply choosing the answer choice that\u2019s in the same ballpark as the answer that you calculated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now take a deep breath.<\/p>\n

And remember that to win this war, you have to lose some battles.\u00a0 Don\u2019t be a perfectionist.\u00a0 Remember that even people who get very high scores on the GMAT get a substantial proportion of questions wrong.\u00a0 Be ready to cut bait and walk away.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut,\u201d you think to yourself angrily, \u201cI\u2019ve spent all this time, and now it\u2019ll all be wasted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, maybe not.\u00a0 Step back and see if you can take an intelligent guess.\u00a0 Eliminate some answers if you can.\u00a0 Sometimes, by giving up on Plan A, you can spot Plan B \u2013 which may not get you all the way to the right answer, but it might increase the odds.<\/p>\n

So you give this \u201cPlan B\u201d idea a try \u2013 and it doesn\u2019t work this time.\u00a0 You don\u2019t see any other way to attack this evil problem.\u00a0 What do you do now?<\/p>\n

Tell yourself the problem is experimental \u2013 and that\u2019s why it\u2019s so cryptic!\u00a0 As many as a quarter of the questions are in fact experimental, and will not count towards your score.\u00a0 Of course, you shouldn\u2019t try to guess which ones, but if you find yourself at approximately the 2-minute mark with no way forward on a particularly dastardly problem, tell yourself that the problem probably doesn\u2019t even count.\u00a0 Then, take your shot and move on.<\/p>\n

Save your time to invest in problems you really know how to do.
\n3) Do your work on the scratch paper, not in your head.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now you get a problem involving odds and evens.\u00a0 The problem looks pretty straightforward, so you start thinking, \u201cOkay, let\u2019s see, x odd plus y even is odd, then I multiply that odd by this other odd and I get odd.\u00a0 Or I could have x be even, so then even plus even is even, then I multiply that even by odd and I get\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Stop.\u00a0 You are setting yourself up for a fall.<\/p>\n

Your working memory can only hold a few items at a time \u2013 under the best conditions.\u00a0 And studies have shown that under test pressure, the powers of your working memory shrink even further.\u00a0 Remember that other odds and evens problem you did in your head while you were sitting at your kitchen table with a plate of cookies?\u00a0 That problem won\u2019t be so easy right now, here in the exam center.<\/p>\n

Write out your steps.\u00a0 Put the scenarios down on the scratch paper.\u00a0 Make the process as easy on your brain as possible.<\/p>\n

And be organized.\u00a0 Be a friend to your future self \u2013 the self you\u2019re going to be in thirty seconds, when you\u2019re looking back over all these scribbles and trying to figure out what you just wrote down.
\n4) Check the time periodically\u00a0 \u2013 but don\u2019t be clock-paranoid.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now you\u2019re into another problem, and you\u2019re worried you\u2019re spending too much time.\u00a0 Your eyes dart to the clock every half a minute; you can just feel the seconds dropping away, like grains of sand through the neck of an hourglass.\u00a0 There go a few more.\u00a0 And a few more\u2026<\/p>\n

Stop.\u00a0 Focus on the problem you\u2019re doing.\u00a0 By checking the clock so often, you\u2019re taking your mind off of solving the problem itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Moreover, you\u2019re liable to think you\u2019re taking more time than you actually are.\u00a0 As a result, you may put in too little effort and bail out too quickly.<\/p>\n

Manage time by keeping to a rhythm, a kind of internal drumbeat.\u00a0 Then, every so often, check the clock and figure out if you\u2019re ahead, behind or right on pace.\u00a0 You can use benchmarks (where should you be every 15 minutes?) or simply compare the time left to the number of problems remaining.\u00a0 You should have 2 minutes per math problem and approximately 1 minute & 50 seconds per verbal problem (don\u2019t compute that precisely \u2013 simply figure 2 minutes per problem, then take off about 10%).<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re behind, adjust your drumbeat accordingly.\u00a0 You\u2019ll need to shave seconds here and there.\u00a0 Don\u2019t try to make it all up in one fell swoop.
\n5) Take a moment to smile.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve got 10 minutes left and 7 math problems to do.\u00a0 Panic has set in.\u00a0 You\u2019re about to start randomly guessing, even though you know how to do this problem in front of you.\u00a0 And you can\u2019t help thinking that the whole exam has gone horribly wrong.<\/p>\n

Okay, this last prescription will seem extremely difficult at first.\u00a0 Apply the muscles of your face to your tightly pursed lips, causing the corners to arch upwards as you breathe in deeply through your nose.\u00a0 Now let the breath back out.\u00a0 Keep smiling, even if it\u2019s forced.<\/p>\n

Emotion affects cognition, for good or for ill.\u00a0 If you panic, you can\u2019t think.\u00a0 And a direct way to change your emotional state is simply to fasten a brief smile on your face.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now get back into the fight.\u00a0 But stay positive \u2013 it\u2019s the best way to ensure that your performance measures up to your abilities.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

The GMAT is like a tennis match at Wimbledon.\u00a0 And like a tennis pro, you should recognize that the game is not truly physical: it\u2019s mental.\u00a0 Control your mind on the court, and your body will take care of itself.\u00a0 In a similar way, if you control your mind during the exam, using the strategies described above, your hard-earned GMAT skills will show up and take care of business.\u00a0 Good luck!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While many are patiently waiting for results from this year\u2019s application cycle, a new wave of candidates are beginning to ponder the coming year. Of course, top of mind in terms of long term planning is\u2026. taking the GMAT! Our good friend Chris Ryan, Director of Instructor and Product Development at Manhattan GMAT, recently penned … Read More  <\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nManhattan GMAT: Top 5 GMAT Test-Taking Strategies | mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/manhattan-gmat-top-5-gmat-test-taking-strategies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Manhattan GMAT: Top 5 GMAT Test-Taking Strategies | mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While many are patiently waiting for results from this year\u2019s application cycle, a new wave of candidates are beginning to ponder the coming year. 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