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 🙂
This article is truly a good one it assists new internet
visitors, who are wishing in favor of blogging.
Good blog you have got here.. It’s difficult to find high-quality writing like yours nowadays.
I really appreciate individuals like you! Take care!!
I know this web page offers quality based articles or reviews and extra material, is there any other web page which gives such stuff
in quality?
Definitely believe that which you stated. Your favorite justification seemed to be
on the web the simplest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I certainly get annoyed while people think about worries that they plainly don’t
know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top and also defined out the whole thing without having
side effect , people could take a signal.
Will probably be back to get more. Thanks
I got this site from my buddy who shared with me concerning this web site and now this time I
am visiting this site and reading very informative content
at this place.
Keep this going please, great job!
Hola! I’ve been reading your site for a long time now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Lubbock Tx!
Just wanted to mention keep up the excellent job!
Ahaa, its good conversation concerning this article at this place at this blog, I
have read all that, so now me also commenting here.
Hi, its pleasant piece of writing about media print, we
all know media is a enormous source of information.
I was wondering if you ever thought of changing the structure of
your blog? Its very well written; I love what youve
got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it
better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having 1 or 2 pictures.
Maybe you could space it out better?
Sweet blog! I found it while surfing around on Yahoo News.
Do you have any tips on how to get listed in Yahoo News?
I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there!
Appreciate it
Have you ever thought about writing an e-book
or guest authoring on other sites? I have a blog based on the same information you discuss and would love to have you share some stories/information. I know my visitors would appreciate your
work. If you are even remotely interested, feel free to shoot me an e-mail.
Its such as you read my thoughts! You seem to know a lot approximately this, like you wrote the e book in it or something.
I feel that you could do with some % to power the message house a little bit, but instead of
that, that is wonderful blog. A fantastic read. I’ll certainly be back.
This piece of writing presents clear idea in favor of the new viewers of blogging,
that in fact how to do running a blog.
Having read this I believed it was really informative.
I appreciate you finding the time and energy to put this
informative article together. I once again find myself spending a lot of
time both reading and leaving comments. But so what, it was still worthwhile!
I think this is among the such a lot important information for me.
And i’m happy reading your article. But want to observation on few common issues, The site
taste is perfect, the articles is truly nice : D. Excellent task, cheers
I visited multiple blogs however the audio feature for audio songs present at
this website is truly fabulous.
of course like your web-site but you have to take a look at the spelling
on quite a few of your posts. A number of them are rife with
spelling issues and I to find it very troublesome to
inform the reality however I’ll certainly come again again.
Hello would you mind letting me know which hosting
company you’re working with? I’ve loaded your blog in 3 different web browsers and I must say
this blog loads a lot quicker then most. Can you recommend a good web hosting provider
at a honest price? Thank you, I appreciate it!
It’s awesome in support of me to have a web page, which is helpful designed for my know-how.
thanks admin
Hello 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 coding knowledge to make your own blog?
Any help would be really appreciated!
Woah! I’m really loving the template/theme of this site.
It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s hard to get that “perfect balance” between usability and visual appearance.
I must say you’ve done a great job with this. Additionally, the blog loads very
fast for me on Firefox. Excellent Blog!
Your style is so unique in comparison to other people I’ve
read stuff from. Thank you for posting when you’ve got the
opportunity, Guess I’ll just book mark this web site.
I loved as much as you’ll receive carried out right here.
The sketch is tasteful, your authored material stylish.
nonetheless, you command get bought an impatience over that you wish be delivering the
following. unwell unquestionably come more formerly again since exactly the same nearly very often inside
case you shield this increase.
Hey, I think your site might be having browser compatibility issues.
When I look at your blog site in Ie, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping.
I just wanted to give you a quick heads up!
Other then that, amazing blog!
Oh my goodness! Awesome article dude! Many thanks, However I am going through issues with your RSS.
I don’t understand why I cannot subscribe to it. Is
there anybody else getting identical RSS issues? Anyone that knows
the answer will you kindly respond? Thanks!!
I every time emailed this weblog post page to all my contacts, since if like to read it
next my contacts will too.
Hello i am kavin, its my first time to commenting anyplace, when i read this paragraph i thought i could also create comment due to this sensible paragraph.
I have learn several just right stuff here. Definitely
value bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how much attempt you set to create this type of
fantastic informative web site.
If some one desires to be updated with most up-to-date technologies after that he must be visit this
site and be up to date all the time.
First off I want to say great blog! I had a quick question which
I’d like to ask if you don’t mind. I was curious to know how you center yourself and clear your
head prior to writing. I’ve had a hard time clearing my thoughts in getting my thoughts
out. I do enjoy writing however it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are generally wasted just trying to figure out
how to begin. Any ideas or tips? Many thanks!
Thanks for finally talking about > How I Studied for the GMAT –
Phil Strazzulla's Blog < Liked it!
Wow, that’s what I was looking for, what a material!
existing here at this website, thanks admin of this site.
You could definitely see your skills within the article you write.
The arena hopes for even more passionate writers such as you who
are not afraid to mention how they believe. Always follow your heart.
I have learn some excellent stuff here. Definitely
worth bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how so much effort you put to make the sort of great informative
website.
Attractive section of content. I just stumbled upon your website and in accession capital to say
that I get actually enjoyed account your blog posts. Any way I’ll be subscribing for
your feeds or even I fulfillment you get entry to consistently
rapidly.
Hello there! I simply wish to give you a huge thumbs up for the great information you have right here on this post.
I’ll be coming back to your web site for more
soon.
Appreciate the recommendation. Let me try it
out.
I like the valuable info you supply on your articles.
I’ll bookmark your blog and test again right here frequently.
I am relatively sure I’ll be told many new stuff proper right here!
Good luck for the next!
You can definitely see your skills within the work you
write. The arena hopes for even more passionate writers like you who are not afraid to say how
they believe. All the time follow your heart.
Excellent article. Keep writing such kind of
info on your site. Im really impressed by your site.
Hello there, You’ve done a fantastic job.
I will definitely digg it and in my view recommend to my friends.
I am sure they’ll be benefited from this website.
When some one searches for his essential thing, so he/she needs to be available that in detail,
therefore that thing is maintained over here.
hello there and thank you for your info – I have definitely picked up anything new
from right here. I did however expertise a few technical points using this
website, since I experienced to reload the website lots of times previous to I
could get it to load correctly. I had been wondering if your web hosting is OK?
Not that I am complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will very frequently affect your placement in google and can damage your high-quality score if ads and marketing with Adwords.
Anyway I am adding this RSS to my e-mail and could look out for much more of your respective fascinating content.
Make sure you update this again soon.
Wonderful work! This is the type of info that are supposed to be shared around the web.
Shame on Google for not positioning this publish higher!
Come on over and talk over with my site . Thank you =)
Hi colleagues, how is all, and what you would like
to say regarding this post, in my view its truly amazing in support of me.
Somebody necessarily help to make severely posts I’d state.
That is the very first time I frequented your website page and
up to now? I surprised with the research you made
to make this particular submit amazing. Excellent process!
Hi to every , since I am actually keen of reading this web site’s
post to be updated regularly. It contains pleasant data.
I visited multiple websites however the audio quality for audio songs existing
at this site is actually excellent.
Hi, for all time i used to check blog posts
here in the early hours in the break of day, because i love to find out more and more.
First of all I want to say superb blog! I had a quick question in which I’d like to ask if you do not
mind. I was interested to find out how you center yourself and clear your thoughts prior to
writing. I’ve had a tough time clearing my mind in getting my ideas out there.
I truly do enjoy writing but it just seems like the
first 10 to 15 minutes are lost simply just trying to figure out how to begin. Any recommendations or hints?
Appreciate it!