Every 6-10 weeks someone asks me how I studied for the GMAT and any advice I have. Well, here’s my story!
Unfortunately, in college I was friends with a bunch of over achievers who thought it’d be a good idea to take the GMAT during senior year after they’d secured full time jobs. So, due to peer pressure and insecurity, I too signed up to take the test.
I took the ManhattanGMAT class which was ~7 weeks long. Each week consisted of 2 hours in a classroom, and 2 hours or so of homework. I’d say I did around 1/2 of the recommended homework each week. After taking the prep course, I immediately signed up for a date to take the actual exam which was about 2 weeks out. The date was during my finals week at NYU, but I wanted to take it before I headed out for a post-graduation trip to Asia with friends (the same ones who’d peer pressured me into taking this exam!!).
Before the prep course, I took a practice test and scored ~610 (my memory is slightly hazy, but it was in that ballpark). My goal was to get to a 700 by the time I took the test, and I was around a 680 by the time I finished the prep course.
The number one piece of advice for anyone taking this test is to create and use flashcards to internalize the information you need to answer the most difficult questions. This was a strategy I stole directly from my Dad who used it to become a doctor (much harder than getting into bschool – so it seemed battle tested).
With that in mind, I went through the 7-8 books that the test prep course had provided, and made a flashcard for any piece of info that I thought would help me answer questions. I made them for the types of triangles, grammar rules, and for the toughest types of questions (two trains going towards each other, the ones that require factorials, etc).
I had 200-300 flashcards, and would look at them when I had 5 mins on the subway, or while waiting for a friend. When I’d correctly answered a given card in three consecutive cycles (I put the card on the bottom of the deck after I’d tried to answer it), I discarded it.
The week before the test, I studied for 3-4 hours/day (mostly the flashcards plus some practice problems). The day before, I didn’t do anything but workout, eat some good food, and watch a movie. It’s important to rest your brain and de-stress! Now, I’d probably also do an extra long mediation session but I wasn’t into that back then.
I don’t remember exactly the slope of the curve, but there was a huge increase in my scores in the week before the test. I started off maybe at the 700 mark for a practice test, and then got a 720, and a 750 before my studying ended (don’t take too many practice tests. They are good to gauge where you’re at, but take a lot of time and aren’t very instructive in helping you improve). I’m pretty confident if I’d pushed the test back another week I could have continued to improve…but the commonly accepted rule says increasing your score above a 700 doesn’t help too much in getting you into school. Btw, I share these numbers only so you can see my progress from the original 610 to when I took the exam and what I did to get there – not to brag!!!
The day of the test of course I was a bit nervous. The worst part of the GMAT is that they ask you “do you want to accept this score” after you take the test. Basically, you can say “no” – and it’s like it never happened. But, if you “accept the score” it goes on your record. My advice: just accept the score unless you had a monumental meltdown for some reason. Because of the way the test works, you get harder questions if you answer questions correctly. So, if you’re getting hard questions, even if you can’t answer them, you’re doing well!
In the end, I scored a 740. I remember not being completely happy with the score when I got it, and the person working the front desk who’d given me the score basically said “I don’t get it – if I got that score, I’d be jumping up and down!”
My advice is to not put that much pressure on yourself. And, if you score above the range you need to get into your dream school, go celebrate! Luckily, I came to my senses about 10 mins after leaving the test center and couldn’t wipe the smile off my face for a few days.
Good luck, don’t stress, and look forward to two of the best years of your life 🙂
I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own blog and was wondering what all is required to get
setup? I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost
a pretty penny? I’m not very internet smart so I’m not 100% positive.
Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
For the reason that the admin of this web site is working,
no hesitation very rapidly it will be renowned, due to its feature contents.
After checking out a few of the blog articles on your web site, I
seriously like your way of writing a blog. I book-marked
it to my bookmark webpage list and will be checking back in the near
future. Please check out my web site too and let me know how you feel.
It’s very straightforward to find out any topic on net as compared to books, as I found this
article at this website.
My spouse and I stumbled over here by a different web address and thought
I should check things out. I like what I see so now i am following you.
Look forward to looking over your web page again.
Oh my goodness! Impressive article dude! Thank you so much, However
I am experiencing difficulties with your RSS. I don’t know the reason why I can’t join it.
Is there anybody else having identical RSS issues?
Anyone that knows the solution can you kindly respond?
Thanks!!
Every weekend i used to go to see this web site, for the reason that i want enjoyment,
for the reason that this this web site conations genuinely fastidious funny information too.
Hmm is anyone else experiencing problems with the images on this blog loading?
I’m trying to determine if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog.
Any feed-back would be greatly appreciated.
Great goods from you, man. I have understand your stuff previous to and you are just extremely magnificent.
I really like what you’ve acquired here, really like what you are saying and the way in which you say
it. You make it entertaining and you still care
for to keep it sensible. I cant wait to read far more
from you. This is really a wonderful site.
An interesting discussion is definitely worth comment.
I do believe that you ought to write more on this subject matter, it may not be a taboo matter
but usually people don’t discuss such subjects. To the next!
Best wishes!!
I enjoy reading a peice that can get individuals to think.
Similarly, many thanks connected with allowing for by myself to examination!
you’re truly a excellent webmaster. The web site loading speed is amazing.
It seems that you are doing any distinctive trick.
Moreover, The contents are masterpiece. you have performed a magnificent task in this matter!
An outstanding share! I have just forwarded this onto a co-worker
who had been doing a little homework on this. And he in fact bought me dinner because
I found it for him… lol. So let me reword this…. Thank YOU for the
meal!! But yeah, thanks for spending the time to talk about this topic here
on your web site.
Superb blog you have here but I was wondering if you knew of any community forums that cover the
same topics discussed in this article? I’d really love to be a part
of online community where I can get comments from other knowledgeable
individuals that share the same interest.
If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Kudos!
This site was… how do you say it? Relevant!! Finally
I’ve found something that helped me. Thank you!
Can you tell us more about this? I’d want to find out some additional information.
There’s definately a great deal to learn about this issue.
I really like all of the points you have made.
I think that everything said made a great deal of sense. But,
what about this? what if you typed a catchier
post title? I ain’t saying your content is not solid, but what if you
added a title that makes people desire more?
I mean How I Studied for the GMAT –
Phil Strazzulla's Blog is a little plain. You might look
at Yahoo’s front page and note how they create article titles to
get viewers interested. You might add a related video or a related picture or two to get people excited about what you’ve got to say.
Just my opinion, it would make your website a little livelier.
In a new paper, Frankle and colleagues discovered such subnetworks lurking within BERT, a state-of-the-art neural network approach to
all-natural language processing NLP.
Today, I went to the beachfront with my kids. I found
a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She put the shell to her
ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear.
She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is entirely
off topic but I had to tell someone!
Hi there, its nice article on the topic of media print, we all understand media is a enormous source of information.
Hello there! Do you know if they make any plugins to assist with SEO?
I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good gains.
If you know of any please share. Many thanks!
Hey just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text in your article seem to berunning off the screen in Chrome. I’m not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to do with browser compatibility but I thought I’d post to let you know.The style and design look great though! Hope you get the problem solved soon. Thanks
Greetings! I know this is kinda off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this website?
I’m getting fed up of WordPress because I’ve had issues with hackers
and I’m looking at options for another platform.
I would be fantastic if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.
hey there and thank you for your info – I’ve definitely picked
up something new from right here. I did however expertise a few technical points using this
website, as I experienced to reload the website
many times previous to I could get it to load properly.
I had been wondering if your hosting is OK? Not that I’m complaining, but slow loading
instances times will very frequently affect your placement in google
and could damage your high-quality score if ads and
marketing with Adwords. Well I am adding this RSS to my e-mail and could look out for a lot more of your respective exciting
content. Make sure you update this again soon.
I am regular visitor, how are you everybody? This article posted at this
web site is really fastidious.
This website was… how do I say it? Relevant!!
Finally I’ve found something that helped
me. Thank you!
Now I am going to do my breakfast, later than having my breakfast coming again to read more news.
I every time emailed this blog post page to all my contacts, as if
like to read it after that my friends will too.
It’s genuinely very complex in this full of activity life to listen news on Television,
so I only use internet for that purpose, and get the most recent information.
I’m extremely inspired with your writing talents and also with the structure for
your weblog. Is that this a paid theme or did you customize
it yourself? Anyway keep up the excellent high
quality writing, it is rare to peer a great weblog like this one nowadays..
I’m not sure why but this weblog is loading very slow for
me. Is anyone else having this problem or is it a problem on my end?
I’ll check back later and see if the problem still exists.
excellent issues altogether, you simply received a new reader.
What would you recommend about your post that you made a few days ago?
Any sure?
Wonderful, what a webpage it is! This website provides helpful information to us, keep it up.
Its like you read my mind! You appear to know so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something.
I think that you can do with a few pics to drive the message home a
bit, but instead of that, this is magnificent blog.
A great read. I will certainly be back.
Simply wish to say your article is as astounding.
The clearness in your put up is simply cool and i can assume you’re a professional in this subject.
Well along with your permission allow me to seize your feed to stay updated with imminent
post. Thanks one million and please keep up the enjoyable work.
With havin so much written content do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or copyright infringement?
My website has a lot of unique content I’ve either created myself or
outsourced but it seems a lot of it is popping it up all over the internet without my authorization. Do you know any
methods to help reduce content from being stolen? I’d definitely appreciate it.
It’s appropriate time to make some plans for the future and
it is time to be happy. I’ve read this post and if I could
I want to suggest you some interesting things or suggestions.
Perhaps you can write next articles referring to this article.
I desire to read even more things about it!
Hey there are using WordPress for your blog
platform? I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to
get started and set up my own. Do you require any html coding expertise to make your own blog?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
It’s truly very complicated in this busy life to listen news on TV, therefore
I only use the web for that reason, and obtain the newest information.
I’m extremely impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your weblog.
Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself?
Anyway keep up the nice quality writing, it is rare to see a great blog like this one today.
Hey there! I’ve been following your blog for some time now and finally
got the bravery to go ahead and give you a
shout out from Kingwood Texas! Just wanted
to tell you keep up the great job!
Woah! I’m really loving the template/theme of this blog. It’s simple,
yet effective. A lot of times it’s tough to get that “perfect balance” between usability and visual appearance.
I must say you have done a amazing job with this. Also, the blog loads super quick for me on Safari.
Exceptional Blog!
Pretty section of content. I simply stumbled upon your
blog and in accession capital to assert that I get
actually loved account your blog posts. Anyway I
will be subscribing on your feeds or even I success you access persistently quickly.
I am really impressed with your writing talents as neatly as with the format in your blog.
Is this a paid theme or did you modify it your self?
Either way stay up the nice high quality writing, it is uncommon to see a
great blog like this one nowadays..
I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone to
do it for you? Plz reply as I’m looking to construct my own blog and would like to find out where u got this from.
thanks a lot
Very good write-up. I certainly love this website.
Keep it up!
Take great care of people’s finances, and you’re set for life.
Visit my blog post … blow Job Blog
I don’t even know how I finished up right here, however I thought this put
up was good. I do not recognize who you’re but definitely you are going
to a well-known blogger for those who aren’t
already. Cheers!
Hey there! I understand this is somewhat off-topic
however I needed to ask. Does building a well-established website
such as yours require a massive amount work? I’m completely new to blogging however I
do write in my journal everyday. I’d like to
start a blog so I can share my own experience and views online.
Please let me know if you have any suggestions
or tips for brand new aspiring blog owners. Thankyou!