Know What to Do On Any GMAT Problem
You’ve studied, and studied, and studied, and studied. You can rattle off the first twenty perfect squares and the definition of a dependent clause. You know the four-step process for Critical Reasoning and the formula for the volume of a cylinder. So, why are you still missing GMAT problems?
First: it’s not because you haven’t done enough problems yet, and the solution isn’t to seek out more and more problems to try. The number of possible problems on the official GMAT is both practically infinite, and extremely limited. What I mean is that you can’t possibly see every single problem you might see on your test ahead of time. But if you’ve gone through the Official Guide to the GMAT, you have been exposed to every concept that might show up on the test.
After a certain point, you’ve seen all the problems you need to see, and you’ve memorized everything you need to memorize. If your score still isn’t where you’d like, something’s missing. Here’s what it is.
On test day, the GMAT won’t ask you to list the first twenty perfect squares or define a dependent clause. In other words, the GMAT won’t tell you what to do. It tells you to solve a problem, but it doesn’t tell you whether to draw a table, write some equations, find the core of the sentence, or take a wild guess. It only provides the problems: what you actually do—what you think, what you write, and how you decide on an answer—is completely up to you.
So, part of taking the GMAT successfully is making good, fast decisions about what to do, without any help. Take Sentence Correction, for example. Should you find the core of the sentence, or should you focus on the modifiers? Should you make sure all of the verbs are in the same tense, or should you find the antecedent for each preposition?
A good test-taker has a set of mental clues she relies on. Whether she realizes it or not, when she sees one of these clues in a problem, it tells her something about what to do next. And where does she get these clues? From the way that she studies practice problems.
Add a new page to your error log right now. It only needs two columns:
When I see this clue… …do/think this
When you review a practice problem, start by breaking down the correct way to solve it. Break it all the way down into simple steps. For instance, if you’re doing Sentence Correction, one step might be to find the core of the sentence.
Write these steps down in the column on the right, under “…do/think this.” Include any notes or examples you need to remember exactly what you were supposed to do.
Now here’s the hard part. What was the clue, in the problem, that told you to take that step? When are you supposed to find the core of the sentence? Maybe the sentence was extremely long, with a ton of modifiers, and you couldn’t parse it at all without simplifying it in your head. Maybe the clue was a singular/plural split, which can be a hint to go find the main subject and verb. Whatever it was, put it in the column on the left, under “When I see this.”
There’s no way to preview the exact problems you’ll see on your official GMAT. But I promise that the problems on your official test will contain the exact same clues as the practice problems in the Official Guide. They’ll be mixed up and out of order, but they’ll be there! And the more time you spend thinking about them, the more likely you are to know what to do when you see a new problem.
So, add that section to your error log, and skim through it once or twice a week (maybe when you spend time reviewing old problems?). If you have no idea what to do when you see a new problem, carefully tease it out as you review, focusing not just on how to solve the problem, but on how the GMAT pushes you in the right direction.
KEEP READING: 8 Essential GMAT Study Tips
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Chelsey Cooley is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Seattle, Washington. Chelsey always followed her heart when it came to her education. Luckily, her heart led her straight to the perfect background for GMAT and GRE teaching: she has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and history, a master’s degree in linguistics, a 790 on the GMAT, and a perfect 170Q/170V on the GRE. Check out Chelsey’s upcoming GMAT prep offerings here.