Posted on by Phil

How I Studied for the GMAT

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 🙂

14,712 Replies to “How I Studied for the GMAT”

  2. I just could not go away your web site before suggesting that I actually enjoyed the usual info a person supply for your
    guests? Is gonna be again continuously to check out new posts

  3. Excellent article. Keep writing such kind of information on your site.
    Im really impressed by your blog.
    Hey there, You’ve done a great job. I’ll definitely digg it and in my view suggest to my friends.
    I am sure they will be benefited from this
    web site.

  4. In fact no matter if someone doesn’t understand afterward its up to other users
    that they will assist, so here it occurs.

  6. You truly make that seem really easy with your business demonstration but We all find
    these kinds of matter focus on actually a thing that I think We would
    never enjoy. It seems as well complex and intensely broad to me.
    I am looking forward to your impending post, Sick and tired try to
    get used to it!

  7. It’s in point of fact a great and helpful piece of info.
    I’m happy that you simply shared this useful info with us. Please stay
    us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.

  8. Undeniably 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 irked while people consider worries that they just do
    not know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top as well as defined out the whole thing without having side
    effect , people can take a signal. Will probably be back to get more.
    Thanks

  9. Spot on with this write-up, I absolutely think this web site needs a great
    deal more attention. I’ll probably be returning to read through more, thanks for the advice!

  10. Aw, this was an incredibly good post. Spending some time
    and actual effort to create a really good article… but what can I say… I hesitate a lot and never manage to get anything done.

  11. Hello there I am so excited I found your webpage, I really found you by error, while I was browsing on Askjeeve for something else, Anyhow I am
    here now and would just like to say thanks a lot for a fantastic post
    and a all round enjoyable blog (I also love
    the theme/design), I don’t have time to go through it all
    at the minute but I have bookmarked it and also added your RSS feeds, so
    when I have time I will be back to read a lot more, Please do keep up
    the great work.

  12. Hello, i think that i saw you visited my web site thus i came to “return the favor”.I’m
    trying to find things to enhance my site!I suppose its ok to use some of your
    ideas!!

  15. I do consider all the ideas you’ve offered in your post. They’re
    very convincing and will certainly work. Nonetheless,
    the posts are very short for novices. Could you please prolong them a bit from
    subsequent time? Thank you for the post.

  16. Just wish to say your article is as astonishing.

    The clearness in your post is simply great and i can assume you’re an expert on this
    subject. Fine with your permission allow me to grab your feed to
    keep updated with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and
    please continue the enjoyable work.

  17. I don’t even know how I finished up here, however I thought this publish was good.
    I do not recognise who you’re but definitely you
    are going to a well-known blogger if you happen to are not already.
    Cheers!

  18. You really make that seem quite simple with your display but Many of us find
    this type of matter to become actually something
    which I think We might never take pleasure in. It
    seems also complex and intensely broad to me. I am looking forward to
    your forthcoming post, I am able to try to get comfortable with
    it!

  20. If you desire to obtain a good deal from this article then you
    have to apply such strategies to your won website.

  21. Valuable information. Fortunate me I found your site by accident, and I’m surprised why this twist of fate didn’t came about in advance!
    I bookmarked it.

  22. Cool blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere?
    A theme like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog
    shine. Please let me know where you got your design. Bless you

  23. Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew of
    any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my newest twitter
    updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you
    would have some experience with something like this.
    Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look
    forward to your new updates.

  24. Good way of describing, and fastidious piece of writing to obtain data about
    my presentation subject matter, which i am going to convey
    in college.

  26. I’m impressed, I must say. Seldom do I come across a blog that’s
    both equally educative and engaging, and without a doubt, you’ve hit the nail on the
    head. The issue is something not enough men and women are speaking intelligently about.
    I am very happy that I stumbled across this during my search for something relating to this.

  27. I don’t know whether it’s just me or if everybody else encountering
    problems with your website. It appears as if some of the text in your content are running off the
    screen. Can somebody else please provide feedback and let me know if this is happening to
    them as well? This could be a problem with my internet browser because I’ve had this happen previously.
    Thanks

  28. Hey there! I know this is kinda off topic however , I’d figured I’d ask.
    Would you be interested in trading links or maybe guest writing a blog post or
    vice-versa? My site addresses a lot of the same topics as yours and I believe we
    could greatly benefit from each other. If you might
    be interested feel free to send me an email.
    I look forward to hearing from you! Terrific blog by the way!

  30. Hello! I’ve been reading your weblog for a long time now and finally
    got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Huffman Tx!
    Just wanted to mention keep up the fantastic job!

  32. Hello! I could have sworn I’ve been to this website before but after browsing
    through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Anyways,
    I’m definitely delighted I found it and I’ll be bookmarking and checking back often!

  33. It’s appropriate time to make some plans for the future and it’s time
    to be happy. I have read this post and if I could I desire 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!

  34. Heya i’m for the first time here. I found this board and I find It
    really useful & it helped me out much. I hope to give something back and help others like you aided me.

  36. With havin so much written content do you ever run into any
    issues of plagorism or copyright infringement? My blog has
    a lot of completely unique content I’ve either authored
    myself or outsourced but it seems a lot of it is popping
    it up all over the web without my permission. Do you know any ways to help reduce content from being ripped off?
    I’d definitely appreciate it.

  38. After looking over a number of the blog posts on your blog, I
    honestly appreciate your technique of writing a blog. I book-marked it
    to my bookmark site list and will be checking back in the near future.
    Please visit my website as well and tell me what you
    think.

  39. I’m not that much of a online reader to be honest but
    your sites really nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your website to come back later on. All the
    best

  41. Hi there mates, how is the whole thing, and what you desire to say on the topic of
    this piece of writing, in my view its truly remarkable designed
    for me.

  43. Hi there! I’m at work browsing your blog from my
    new iphone 4! Just wanted to say I love reading
    through your blog and look forward to all your posts!
    Keep up the fantastic work!

  44. Hey There. I discovered your blog using msn. This is an extremely smartly written article.
    I’ll be sure to bookmark it and come back to learn extra of your helpful info.
    Thank you for the post. I will certainly comeback.

  45. Simply desire to say your article is as astounding. The clarity in your post is
    just nice and i can assume you are an expert on this subject.
    Well with your permission let me to grab your feed to keep up to date with forthcoming post.
    Thanks a million and please continue the rewarding work.

  46. Hi! I’ve been following your website for a while now and finally got the
    bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Houston Texas!
    Just wanted to mention keep up the fantastic job!

  47. Thanks for every other informative blog. Where else could I get that kind of info written in such an ideal means?
    I have a undertaking that I’m just now working on, and I’ve been at the glance out
    for such information.

  48. Hi! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site
    before but after browsing through some of the post I
    realized it’s new to me. Anyways, I’m definitely happy I found
    it and I’ll be bookmarking and checking back frequently!

  50. I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was great.
    I do not know who you are but certainly you’re going to a famous blogger if you are not
    already 😉 Cheers!

Comments are closed.