Make the GMAT your b@tch
AKA
How to ace any standardized test
AKA
The Thomas-Turner approach
Warning: This is a loooong detailed post.
Aaron’s note: Here’s how this works. Most people take between 0 and 1 test when preparing for the GMAT/LSAT. If you take between 2-5, you may do a few points better than these people. Once you take 6-10 tests, you will start to see the same kinds of questions over and over again. Both your confidence and your proficiency at those types of questions will see a breakthrough at that point. Once you take 15 tests or more, you develop an inner sense of timing that lets you know if you’re spending too much or too little time on each problem. I would argue that the comfort level you gain with timing on these types of tests is almost as important as learning the subject matter of the tests.
Here’s why this works – almost nobody else is willing to do this. Like anything else in life, success lies just a few steps beyond where most people will quit. When you think about it, however, it doesn’t make a lot of sense why people won’t commit to putting in serious time and effort to preparing for the GMAT/LSAT. Many schools put as much weight on your standardized test score as they will on your college grades. How you perform over a four hour period counts for as much as how you performed over four years. People will work all year long for four years to graduate from college, but balk at putting 100 hours of preparation into a test that counts just as much. You can use this fact to your advantage. If you are willing to put in serious amounts of work, you will do better than everyone with your ability that isn’t willing to take more than a practice test or two. Put another way: you are going to get lapped by the people like me who are willing to buckle down and study for this test. You may be naturally smarter, but you’re going to get crushed by people like me who will work harder.
Part 1: the GMAT
Full disclosure: On December 22nd 2011, I took the GMAT. My score was a 720 (49q 40v) out of a possible 800. This places me in the 94th percentile of all GMAT test takers and as a black male, makes me very competitive for admissions and scholarships to the nations top business schools. When I started prep for the GMAT in May my practice test score was 560. What follows is my simple system for mastering this test. I can not claim credit for this, as I was pushed and helped by my fellow mastermind compadre and LSAT conqueror (176 out of 180) Aaron Thomas .
What follows is our method for cracking the test. It may work for you. It may not. But it worked for me.
There are 5 steps:
1. Collect as many full practice tests as possible.
2. Take 3-4 full practice test every week.
3. Track and correct the problems you got wrong.
4. Study the sections where you are weak.
5. Take the test when you’re at your best.
1. Collect as many full practice tests as possible.
Our system is built on one tenet: these tests are LONG. The GMAT is 3.5 hours of intense problem solving and focus. You know what else takes 3.5 hours to complete? A marathon. So we treat testing like grueling athletic events and we train our brains to handle this amount of work. Most people who take the GMAT take the 2 free exams that you receive when you sign up. Those who do well take a few more.Those who do great take many more. I broke the 700 score mark and I took 26 full length practice exams. Here is a list of where you can find these tests, and the merits of each.
2 tests: MBA.com
When you sign up for the GMAT you get 2 free practice tests. Take one to start your prep and one at the end before you take the GMAT.
Cost: free
5 tests: 800 score.
Test are not truly adaptive and the scoring is weird. But they are cheap.
Cost:24.95
5 tests: manhattan GMAT CAT tests.
By far the most realistic GMAT questions (even more so than the free test provided by GMAC). I wish they made 20 of these.
Cost: 40.00 ($8 each)
1 test: Princeton Review
Good test. Solid questions. Very similar to GMAT but it can freeze and be glitchy. Be warned.
Cost: like a drug dealer the first hit is free
4 tests: Princeton Review
You’ll need to purchase the Cracking the GMAT book first. After which you will have access to their 4 online tests.
Cost: $13-$30 depending on how much you pay for the book.
7 test (6 CAT 1 in the book): Kaplan Review
Questions are basic. A good book if your goal is to break 600. Not strong enough to help push your score above 700. For many this will be a good place to start if you need to build confidence.
Cost: $20
6-10 tests: OFFICIAL GUIDE: create your own using the official guides
This requires some work and planning. Here’s how I did it.
Step 1. Create answer sheets. You can steal mine here.
Step 2. Use a random number generator to give you a list of questions for each section.
Step 3. Do the questions in the order the random generator spits out.
Step 4. As you do a question make a mark in the book.
Step 5. If you get to a question with a mark go to the next random number.
Step 6. Use a timer. You get 75 minutes for math and 75 minutes for verbal.
I did EVERY question in all the official guide books with a clock. These questions are retired GMAT questions. They will be very similar to what you see on the actual GMAT.
Cost:$41.00
10 test: McGraw Hill GMAT
The tests are too easy. The online stuff is weak. And there are lots of errors. I wish there was something positive I could say about this book. But there’s not.
Cost: overpriced $26.00
Whew.
2. Take 3-4 full practice test every week.
3. Track and Correct the problems you got wrong.
4. Study the sections where you are weak.
There is no way around this. You are training for a marathon. You’re going to have to run everyday. Here is my schedule:
Monday/Wednesday: 75 minutes
Do a math section. Pause the test. I did this either before or after the work.
Tuesday/Thursday : 100 minutes
Do a verbal section. Review problems missed. Take notes on which types of problems you missed. Put everything in an error log. I used this one as my template and changed what I needed.
Friday: Deep review. Whatever concept I struggled with the most, such as sentence corrections. I would use a guide book ( manhattan review in this case) and work through all the problems in the guide book. I suggest you buy all 8 manhattan GMAT guidebooks. They are great.
Saturday: 4 hour block. Take a full GMAT and review errors.
Sunday: Rest or do another full GMAT and review.
Total time commitment per week: 8.5-12 hours. I would aim for at least 120 hours of prep before you take the real thing.
5. Take the test when you’re at your best.
Unlike the SAT or LSAT you can schedule the GMAT for almost any day of the year. Pick a day and time that works best for you. For instance, I am a morning person and my job is stressful (I teach high school). So it was important for me to pick a test time in the morning and not on a school day. So I took the GMAT during our winter break at 8 am. While you’re studying for the GMAT randomize your practice test times. Find what time of day correlates with your highest score.
Also, try to schedule the test when you will have the least amount of stress. I took the GMAT in August and although my practice tests suggested I would break 700 my score was only a 650. I credit this to a ton of family stress. My mother was dying of stage 4 cancer and the night before the GMAT we checked her into hospice care. My stress levels were so high that I could not think clearly. When I retook it in December I was in a much better place and my brain was in better shape after having spent time really dealing with my mom’s illness and death.
Ok. That’s all I got for now. Feel free to pass this on to other folks. They can email me at Broderick.turner@gmail.com if they have questions.
The Mastermind Project 