My GMAT Was Canceled. Now What?
Update: On April 14th, 2020, GMAC announced that an online GMAT will be available starting on April 20th. I’ve posted some of the main details in another post. I’ll be taking the exam on the 20th and will tell you what to expect and how best to get ready—keep an eye on our blog on Tuesday April 21st.
Some of you will decide to take the online GMAT; if you’re in this group, look for my post next week. Others will decide to wait until the GMAT is available again in testing centers; if you’re in this group, read on.
As you no doubt know by now, many GMAT testing centers are currently closed as a result of the pandemic. GMAC has announced that the test will move to a take-at-home option sometime in April. How do you keep getting ready for the GMAT in the face of this uncertainty?
I had a class that ended on March 10th; many of my students had already booked their exams and are now finding themselves in the unenviable position of having to extend their studies for a potentially indeterminate length of time. I’ll be sharing with you the same thoughts that I shared with them.
First: We’ll keep our blog and other communication channels updated, but you can also go straight to the source: the mba.com website. Both our page and the official one will keep you up to date on test center closures (and, eventually, reopenings) and any other news that will help you to plan.
I’m really stressed out right now.
Me, too. Even in the best of times, it’s stressful to get ready for these kinds of exams—and of course you’re even more stressed right now. (It’s also normal to feel like you shouldn’t be stressed out about this when there are much bigger things going on in the world…even though you are still stressed out about it.)
Take a deep breath, as deep as you can. Breathe through your nose (so that it takes a long time) and let it out slowly. Loosen up your clenched abdominal muscles. Your plan has changed, yes, but you can still move forward in general.
I’ll address various scenarios below but first I have a question for you: Do you have more time on your hands right now or less time? If your work or family commitments mean that you have a lot less time to think about the GMAT right now, I’d recommend one of two paths: Postponement or Maintenance Mode.
What’s Postponement?
Put your GMAT studies 100% on hold until you have the bandwidth to think about this again. Don’t give it a second thought—you have my permission. I’ve already recommended this to one of my students, based on that person’s circumstances.
And what about Maintenance Mode?
This is for those who are too busy right now but think they will be able to pick back up in a month or so and don’t want to lose the progress they’ve made. Don’t try to learn new material or even improve your existing skills; your goal during these weeks is not to get better. Your goal is simply not to lose skills.
If you choose Maintenance Mode, plan to spend about 3 to 4 hours a week studying. Try a few of each problem type (timed!)—this is a great time to re-do some problems from your error log. Do some skill drills out of Foundations of Math or Foundations of Verbal, as needed. Review flash cards.
One more note: The world has changed and it makes sense to reevaluate your prior decisions in light of that. Think back to whenever you made the decision to study for the GMAT this year. If you’d known then what you know right now, would you still have chosen to take the GMAT now? If the answer is no or probably not, then rip the bandaid off: Skip Maintenance Mode and go straight to Postponement. You can pick things up again later this year or next year.
What if, instead, you have the same time—or even more time—to focus on the GMAT now? Read on.
I was planning to take the exam this summer or fall.
Carry on. At the moment, you don’t need to worry about planning anything any differently than you would have if you had taken the GMAT last year at this time.
I was going to take the exam in the next month or two. What do I do now?
You likely fall into one of two broad categories.
Category 1: I think I need more time…
If you’d already been thinking that you could use more time, then assume you won’t take the exam before May or June and make a plan to lift your score or rededicate yourself to your studies, just as you would have done in normal times. It’s common for people to push back their original test date.
Category 2: I was feeling good; I was almost ready to go…
If, on the other hand, your score is about in the range that you want and you were almost ready to go, then we have to talk about how to stretch out your studies for a few weeks. It’s annoying. But humans have a pretty good track record of adapting. We’ll figure this out.
As of this writing, GMAC has said that the test will be available online in mid-April, so let’s assume you’ll take the test in later April or early May. (Yes, it’s possible that you will have to push this out again, but it’s still a good idea to have a date in mind to give you something to work toward.)
What do I do with the extra time?
The general study path for everyone is to work at improving your skills (and, therefore, your score) until you get yourself up into your desired scoring range. Then, spend the last 10 to 14 days training to “peak on game day”—like an athlete trying to peak on the day of the gold-medal match.
We’re not going to change that Game Planning period—it’ll still be your last 10 to 14 days. We’re going to add your extra time to the “Lift My Score” period.
Let’s say that you’d originally planned to take the real test in 3 weeks but you’re going to reschedule for 6 weeks from now, so you’ve got an additional 3 weeks of study time. You’ll still reserve your final 2 weeks for game planning, leaving you 4 weeks of primary study time. What do you do with that 4 weeks?
If you are in Category 1 (need more time)
First, think about why you need more time. If you’ve found that your prior study hasn’t been as effective as you’d like, or you weren’t studying as much as you’d intended, use this as an opportunity to rededicate yourself to your studies. What wasn’t working for you before? What can you do differently in the coming weeks to help yourself work better? Ask friends, fellow students, and teachers for advice as well.
Next, two to four weeks is enough time to do one full Lift My Score cycle. One cycle consists of taking a practice test, analyzing it to categorize your strengths and weaknesses (more below), and then making a 2-3 week study plan based on your analysis.
Start by, analyzing the data from your most recent practice test (if it’s been more than 3-4 weeks, you may want to take another) and figure out what your priorities should be right now. Put everything into one of three buckets:
- Bucket 1 Strengths: I’m already good here.
- Bucket 2 Priorities: My “opportunity” weaknesses—they’re not great, but they’re not terrible either. These are my best opportunities to improve.
- Bucket 3 Ignore For Now: My biggest weaknesses—not where I want to spend my time, as long as I still have Bucket 2 stuff I can use to lift my score.
Spend the next few weeks working through Bucket 2 items, then roll into Game Planning when the time comes. (There’s the link again so you don’t have to go find it earlier.)
If you are in Category 2 (pretty good to go already)
If you’ve been studying, say, 12 to 15 hours a week, one option is to cut your time in half—that is, spread that time out over two weeks instead. You can still make real progress in 6 to 8 hours per week.
Alternatively, intersperse some Maintenance Mode weeks with your full study weeks to stretch the time out. So take a Maintenance Mode week this week (and maybe practice some mindfulness to get some equilibrium back into your life), then do a full study week next week.
What if I’m waiting for the testing center to reopen but the timeline stretches out? What if my schedule changes? What if…?
I’m a planner by nature, so I fully get the urge to want to have the path all mapped out. It’s true that we can’t predict the future—but, hey, we couldn’t before, either!
Uncertainty is higher than usual at the moment. Things are likely to play out in different ways in different locations and of course different people are going to have changing circumstances. So this is a great time to plan just for what we know right now and to defer decisions that can be deferred. Make your best call now and, once we know what’s actually happening in a few weeks, we’ll adjust as needed. (Feel free to tell me about your situation and ask me for my opinion on our forums.)
I’ll repeat something I said earlier. We’re human. We’re going to figure this out. Now go do a GMAT problem and then teach it to your cat, dog, partner / roommate / child, or anyone you can get to listen to you on Facetime.
Good luck and happy studying!
RELATED: Coronavirus GMAT Accommodations and Updates
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Stacey Koprince is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Montreal, Canada and Los Angeles, California. Stacey has been teaching the GMAT, GRE, and LSAT for more than 15 years and is one of the most well-known instructors in the industry. Stacey loves to teach and is absolutely fascinated by standardized tests. Check out Stacey’s upcoming GMAT courses here.