The Strategy

"There's no gene for fate"
- Vincent Freeman, Gattaca

I have several friends who plan to take or retake the GMAT in the coming months. Keen to help, I always offer to answer questions about my experiences and, in may cases, I refer them to this blog. In addition to "what was your score," the most common questions I field usually involve my study strategy. While I used this blog to document my personal GMAT quest, I see the need to document a review of my methods and tactics, including the books and tools I used.

I should note that the following strategy originally came to me by way of a fellow test taker who was gracious enough to share his story, his books, and his clear-headed advice. His methods seem to work: they earned him a 730 and helped me score a 720.

Aside from a few reference websites, I used three GMAT books in the following order: Cracking the GMAT, 2007 Edition by the Princeton Review, GMAT 800, 2006-2007, by Kaplan, and The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 11th Edition by GMAC. Why did I choose to use books rather than pay for online classes or one-on-one tutelage? Frankly, I wasn't willing to pay someone to teach me what I could find in a book store. In my experience, classes or online seminars are an excellent way to keep yourself honest and motivated, but if you're willing to stick to a study schedule and dedicate enough time to the cause, you'll probably save a lot of money. Business school applications, not to mention the cost of attending, are expensive enough- don't drop the extra grand or two unless you feel you have no other choice. On to the books ...

Princeton Review's Cracking the GMAT, was a solid, if simple, way to re-introduce myself to good study habits and sounds test-taking methods. While most of the sample questions are less challenging than actual GMAT questions, this book primed me for harder questions in the next two books. Cracking the GMAT 's strength lies in three categories: demystifying background information, "getting into the head" of a test writer, and providing easy techniques to whittle away questions.

The background information (how the test came about, why schools use it, who writes it, etc) gave me a historical baseline to understand the context in which I was taking the test. While this isn't necessarily important for every test taker, understanding how this madness came into being reminded me that the test 1.) is just a quantifiable baseline for schools to measure students against the mean, 2.) was written by human beings and is therefore fallible, debatable, and ultimately beatable, and 3.) does not measure heart, guts, integrity, or intelligence. In other words, God did not create this test to tell the world how smart you are- people created it to tell business schools how well you score on a standardized test.

As such, Princeton Review also does a good job explaining the human element behind the test questions. As a former test question writer for Educational Testing Service (ETS), I fully concur with their assessment of the test writing process. By examining the ways a test writer builds questions from stems, answers, and distractors, I was able to find key themes and ideas that helped me several times during the exam.

Of course, Princeton Review is well known for it's "cracking" techniques- tools and tricks that help a test taker quickly and efficiently find the right answer or reduce several answers to the most likely few. Their GMAT techniques are no exception. I followed their instructions through every section and completed every sample question they provided. Overall, I found that this book was a good introduction to the test and a great foundation from which to tackle harder questions.

Kaplan's GMAT 800, provided a much more difficult set of questions. While it does suggest techniques, some of which proved valuable on the test, it's central strength lies in the pure quantity of "difficult" questions. As the test adapts to a test taker by making the questions harder or easier depending on whether you got the prior question right or wrong (more on that later), it is very important to get used to seeing several hard questions in succession. By doing so, you train yourself to "play in the top tier" of the test, and your score should reflect your hard work.

Again, just as I did with the Princeton Review's book, I worked through 800 cover-to-cover and did every question at least once.

This might also be a good time to mention two logistical tricks that seemed to help me use these books most effectively:

• I never actually wrote in the books themselves. Instead, I recorded my answers on a separate sheet of paper that I kept for reference later. This allowed me to return to questions without seeing faint pencil marks that might have lead me to the correct answer.
• Keeping track of my answers also allowed me to re-try questions and focus on the ones that I missed consistently. Chances are, if you miss a question even after reviewing the answer, you've found a key blind spot. Working on specific questions that gave me the most trouble helped sharpen my study habits and focus my efforts.

The final book I used- The Official Guide- was probably the key element that pushed me beyond 700. While the first two books built a good foundation and got me used to doing difficult problems, the Official Guide provided copious practice questions, enough to fill night after night of study. These questions were also the highest quality in terms of matching the "look and feel" of questions on the actual test. While the other books do an admirable job mimicking GMAT questions, you can instantly tell that the Official Guide's questions are the real deal. With literally hundreds of practice questions for each section, I simply pounded through each group using the same patterns I'd established while studying the two preceding books. By the time I had chipped through every section and found my trouble areas, I was ready to take the official practice tests.

While I spent a little time discussing my method of taking practice tests in other posts, I think it's worth revisiting the subject. First, I used two computer-based test: the CD version provided with the Princeton Review's Cracking the GMAT and GMAC's official practice tests found on http://www.mba.com/.

I've heard varying reports about how well the Princeton Review tests track to your actual score. Some say that these tests score too high, some say they score too low. In my experience, they scored a little low for how I felt like I did, but that's simply my perception. I would recommend using these to prepare for the pace and feel of the test, and to do more questions, but not to gauge your score. Take them any time after you've finished reviewing the Princeton Review's guide, but don't waste them; you should treat every test you take like the real thing in order to get the most out of the experience.

The GMAC's practice tests, on the other hand, felt like they mirrored the real test very closely. I used these tests as my final checkpoints and took them only after completing all of the guides. I took the first perhaps a week before my actual test, and the second a few days before. In both cases, I cleared my entire morning schedule and acted as though the test was live. I woke up at the same time I would on test day, ate breakfast, and sat down to take the test without distraction.

I found two key differences between my approach to the first and second tests, and they both seemed to have a big impact on my final score. First, I didn't "warm up" on a few difficult questions before taking the first test. That slowed my progress and compromised my ability to quickly, correctly answer those critical first questions. Before the second test, however, I worked 4 or 5 difficult Official Guide problems. I immediately noticed a difference- my brain didn't feel quite as shocked by the initial questions and my process was more smooth, calm, and crisp.

Second, I discovered that my pace in the first test was completely inefficient. I tried to spread my time across every problem, only to discover that I hadn't taken my time on the first 10 - 15 questions. While I got more correct overall on the first test, I got a higher score on the second by taking as much time as I needed on the first 15 questions. Because the test is adaptive, it weighs initial questions more heavily than later questions. In my experience, your score will be far better if you get the first 10 questions correct and guess on the last 10, than if you evenly distribute your time trying to give ever quesiton equal time across the entire test. In other words, double (even triple) check the first dozen questions and don't freak out if you have to guess on the last handful in each section, at that point, guessing won't change your score very much.

It might also be helpful to note the amount of time i devoted to studying. I spent between two and three hours studying each weeknight and between eight and ten hours studying each weekend for approximately three months. I also made flash cards that I flipped through during the day and worked blocks of questions over free lunch hours. In addition, I took two days off before the test to focus entirely on resting and studying. If you have the luxury, I highly suggest taking time away from work to study and defuse before the big day.

Of course, there is no silver bullet for scoring well on the GMAT. The above strategy worked for me, but others have found success spending less time, paying tutors, studying in groups, or simply cramming and taking the test as soon as possible. I am not a naturally gifted test taker and felt like I needed a long lead time to sufficiently train myself in the arts of GMAT testing. No matter the method that works for you, know that you can overcome this test through simple, honest hard work. Some gifted students naturally have the tools and instincts to do well without studying- I do not. Instead, I used consistent effort to supplement my lack of natural ability. I'm very happy with the results and, with my score in hand, I'm ready to face my next quest: Drapier vs. Business School Applications. I sincerely hope you find the same success!

Good luck!