How to Review a Data Sufficiency Question
You’ve heard it here before: reviewing practice problems is even more valuable than doing them. Here’s a step-by-step guide to reviewing your GMAT Data Sufficiency problems.
Two Minutes of GMAT Quant: A Breakdown – Part 1
Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! Check out our upcoming courses here.
Two minutes is not a huge amount of time. Yet if you want to finish the entire GMAT Quant section in 75 minutes, two minutes is about all you have to solve each problem. Don’t interpret that to mean you just have to go quickly or skip important steps like checking your work. Instead, seek out a more efficient process for dealing with GMAT problems.
Better yet, read along as I detail an efficient process for dealing with your two minutes. Read more
GMAT Sentence Correction: What can the underline tell you?
I ran across the GMAT problem below when I was reviewing a GMATPrep® test that I took a while back, and as soon as I saw it, I knew I needed to share it with you. There are some really intriguing aspects to this one. Read more
Just Started Studying for the GMAT? Here’s Where to Begin
When you first look at the resources available to get you through the GMAT, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Should you read through all the strategy guides? Complete every Official Guide problem you can find? Sign up for every workshop? Let’s breakdown your options and take this step by step. Read more
How many GMAT practice tests should you take?
How many GMAT practice tests should you take while studying for the test? GMAT expert Jonathan Schneider weighs in. Read more
Should I take a GMAT class or study on my own?
Can you learn everything you need to know in order to ace the GMAT on your own? Read more
GMAT Prep: Stop Wasting My Time
Have you ever worked with someone who inevitably managed to come up with things to do that were a complete waste of time? Maybe it was an insecure boss who was never confident about what he was doing, so he went for the “everything and the kitchen sink” approach to generating deliverables in the last few days before the deadline. Or maybe it was a fellow student on a group project, someone so diligent (cough, cough) that she wanted to turn in a 20-page report when the teacher suggested 10 pages (and actually specified a 12-page limit).
You know who I’m talking about, right? We’ve all run across these situations in our academic or working lives. You want to be polite…but you also want to get your work done and not waste time on activities that don’t really help you reach the overall goal.
The GMAT is trying to waste your time
Okay, the test writers are not literally sitting there cackling and saying, “How can we get them to waste their lives?!?” But the overall sentiment still holds because of the way that the GMAT is constructed. You already know the classic “If you get something right, they give you something harder” pattern, right?
Well, at some point, that “something harder” is going to be something that isn’t worth your time. You’re probably not going to get it right no matter what you do. Even if you do, you’re going to use up valuable time that you could be using on other problems.
Most important of all, you’re going to be using up your finite brain energy on something that probably isn’t going to pay off. How many times in your life have you crashed towards the end of a test or a long day at work because your brain just couldn’t keep going any longer? The GMAT is a “where you end is what you get” test: if you crash before the end of the section, your score will suffer greatly.
This is basically no different than that co-worker who’s trying to get you to build a marketing presentation when the client has specifically requested that you analyze the pros and cons of acquiring a competitor. Tomorrow at the client meeting, it won’t matter how good your intentions were. Your client is going to be mad that you wasted time on something that doesn’t actually help them.