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”

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

  7. First off I would like to say terrific blog! I had a quick question which I’d like to ask
    if you do not mind. I was interested to find out how you center yourself and clear your mind
    prior to writing. I’ve had a difficult time clearing my
    thoughts in getting my ideas out there. I do take pleasure
    in writing but it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are
    usually wasted just trying to figure out how
    to begin. Any suggestions or hints? Kudos!

  8. Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an really long comment but after I clicked submit my
    comment didn’t show up. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyways,
    just wanted to say wonderful blog!

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

  11. Hi are using WordPress for your site 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
    knowledge to make your own blog? Any help would be really appreciated!

  12. I’m truly enjoying the design and layout of your blog.
    It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more pleasant for me to come here and visit more
    often. Did you hire out a designer to create your theme?

    Outstanding work!

  15. I do agree with all the concepts you have offered
    to your post. They’re very convincing and can definitely work.
    Nonetheless, the posts are very brief for beginners.
    Could you please extend them a bit from subsequent time?
    Thanks for the post.

  16. Hello there, You’ve done a great job. I’ll definitely
    digg it and personally suggest to my friends. I am sure
    they’ll be benefited from this website.

  17. Greetings I am so happy I found your weblog, I really found you
    by mistake, while I was searching on Yahoo for something else, Anyways I am here now and would just like to
    say thanks for a fantastic post and a all round exciting blog
    (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have
    time to browse it all at the moment but I have bookmarked it and also added in your
    RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a great deal more, Please do keep up the superb b.

  19. Hi! 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 problems with hackers and
    I’m looking at alternatives for another platform.
    I would be great if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.

  20. Oh my goodness! Incredible article dude! Thank you so much, However I am going through issues with your RSS.
    I don’t understand the reason why I cannot join it.
    Is there anybody having identical RSS problems?

    Anyone who knows the solution can you kindly respond?
    Thanks!!

  22. When someone writes an piece of writing he/she maintains the thought of a user in his/her brain that how a user can be aware of it.
    Thus that’s why this piece of writing is amazing. Thanks!

  24. I do not even understand how I finished up here, but I thought this post was once good.
    I do not recognize who you are however definitely you are going to a famous blogger if
    you happen to are not already. Cheers!

  26. Just wish to say your article is as astounding. The clarity in your
    post is simply great and i could assume you’re an expert on this subject.
    Well with your permission let me to grab your RSS feed to
    keep updated with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please carry on the gratifying work.

  28. I know this web site presents quality depending content and
    other material, is there any other web site which offers these
    things in quality?

  30. you are actually a good webmaster. The site loading speed is incredible.
    It seems that you are doing any unique trick. Also, The contents are masterwork.
    you have done a excellent job in this matter!

  32. If some one needs to be updated with latest technologies after that he must be go to see this site
    and be up to date everyday.

  33. We are a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community.
    Your web site offered us with valuable information to work on. You’ve done a formidable job and our whole community will be grateful to you.

  35. I take pleasure in, cause I discovered just what I
    was taking a look for. You have ended my 4 day long hunt!
    God Bless you man. Have a great day. Bye

  36. Nice weblog right here! Also your website a lot up fast!
    What host are you the usage of? Can I get your associate link on your host?
    I desire my web site loaded up as fast as yours lol

  37. Does your blog have a contact page? I’m having a tough time locating it but, I’d like
    to send you an email. I’ve got some recommendations for your blog you might be interested in hearing.
    Either way, great website and I look forward to seeing it grow
    over time.

  38. Hello there, I discovered your site by means of Google
    while looking for a similar matter, your web
    site got here up, it seems to be great. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.

    Hello there, just was alert to your blog thru Google, and found that it is really informative.
    I’m gonna watch out for brussels. I will appreciate if you continue this in future.
    Lots of folks will be benefited out of your writing.
    Cheers!

  39. I’ve been surfing online more than three hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours.
    It’s pretty worth enough for me. In my opinion, if all site owners and bloggers made good content
    as you did, the internet will be much more useful than ever before.

  40. Hey there! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wondering which blog
    platform are you using for this website? I’m getting sick and tired of
    Wordpress because I’ve had problems with hackers and I’m looking at alternatives for
    another platform. I would be fantastic if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.

  41. Sweet blog! I found it while searching on Yahoo News.
    Do you have any suggestions on how to get listed in Yahoo News?
    I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem
    to get there! Cheers

  44. Nice post. I was checking continuously this weblog
    and I’m impressed! Very helpful info specifically the closing phase 🙂 I handle such info a lot.
    I was looking for this certain info for a long time.
    Thank you and good luck.

  45. Greetings from Carolina! I’m bored to death at work so
    I decided to browse your website on my iphone during lunch break.
    I love the information you provide here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home.
    I’m surprised at how fast your blog loaded on my cell phone ..
    I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, great
    site!

  47. Heya! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any issues with hackers?
    My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing a
    few months of hard work due to no back up. Do you have any solutions to protect against hackers?

  48. Thank you, I’ve recently been searching for information about this topic for ages and yours is the greatest I have came
    upon so far. But, what in regards to the bottom line? Are you sure about
    the source?

Comments are closed.