Some of you prefer self-study. I know I do. It’s great to feel that you’re achieving on your own, using your initiative and seeking out targeted help as appropriate.

With that in mind, I’ve put together a free introductory course that breaks down the steps you’ll need to follow to succeed on the GMAT. I take you through the following elements:

• why you should or shouldn’t do the GMAT
• what the GMAT consists of
• the resources that can help you
• how to put together a study plan
• good practice in study sessions
• how to remain organised
• how to learn creatively and have fun doing it

That’s it really. The link is here:

https://chuck-dreyers-gmat-preparation.teachable.com/p/gmat-prep-for-absolute-beginners

Any questions? Just ask.

Preparing for the GMAT probably won’t be the most fun you’ve ever had. If you take your preparation seriously, you’ll need to dedicate a fair amount of time to your preparation ~ there go your evenings and weekends. And you won’t see nearly as much of your family and friends: even when you’re not working or studying, you’ll be exhausted. But enough with the negativity. GMAT prep needn’t be six months of torture.

Once you’ve worked out what skills you need to develop or improve, there’s no reason why you should just bash through question after question, with the odd practice test to keep things interesting. Much more interesting ~ and effective in the long term ~ is to think of non-GMAT ways to make those improvements.

Learning objectives

So what do you need to do? Here are some attributes you may want to work on:

• Sight
• Memory
• Stamina
• Organisation
• Logic
• Focus
• Positivity
• Change management
• Reflection
• Flexibility of thought
• Attention to detail
• Reasoning
• Analysis

How do you improve your understanding or application of logic? Well, you could try Sudoku. What about attention to detail? Why not do a Spot the Difference cartoon?

There are plenty of word puzzles and number games out there. Many include logic, or organisation; many more require focus or flexibility of thought. And guess what: some can even be fun.

Here’s a short list of resources I recently compiled ~ feel free to add your own as you go:

Websites

Lumosity is a brain training website with five main areas: Speed, Memory, Attention, Flexibility and Problem Solving. There are a load of different games, so find the ones you enjoy, or that you find most useful, and go for it. Warning: some of them are mildly addictive.

Brilliant has some useful questions on Maths (including probability and some really tough geometry questions) and may also help you with your use of logic. The questions are also multiple choice, so similar to the GMAT in that respect.

The Riddler on FiveThirtyEight has some really tough problems. If, like me, you can’t do most of them, it’s still worthwhile to read and think about them. Use your common sense and your mathematical knowledge; try to come up with an approximate answer even if you can’t find an exact answer.

Saylor.org is a wonderful resource that offers free university courses. The Saylor Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning course has some useful strategies, but you probably want to pick and choose which bits you read in depth, otherwise you’ll know more about solving the most fiendish Sudokus than you ever wanted to.

Books

Alex Bellos writes about numbers and number puzzles. His book Can you solve my problems? is definitely worth a look, but I’ve heard his other work recommended too. Check him out.

GCHQ have now put out two puzzle books, just called I and II, which you can find here if you know where to look. I’ve got the first one. It’s infuriating at times but immensely satisfying when ~ often at a more relaxed, sleepy time of the afternoon or evening, my creative brain finds its flow.

Newspapers

I don’t often buy newspapers any more. When I do, I get the Saturday Times ~ not because it reflects my politics, or even for its reporting or features (although it does have some good writers), but because the Review section has a treasure trove of word and number puzzles.

If you can’t wait till Saturday, you can get the weekday edition: the daily Times 2 section also has a large selection of puzzles. I can’t remember which ones are in which edition, but you’ll find:

• Sudoku (logic, maths)
• Killer Sudoku (logic, maths)
• Brain Trainer (maths)
• Cell Blocks (logic, maths)
• Futoshiki (logic)
• Kakuro (logic, maths)
• Lexica (logic, English)
• Polygon (English)
• Set Square (logic)
• Suko (maths, logic)
• Square Routes (logic)
• Codeword (English, logic)

along with various crosswords.

Please bear in mind that other newspapers are available. All the broadsheets have some good puzzles, and there are plenty more online if you want to google the names above.

Last but not least, if you want to get used to paying attention to detail ~ so that you’ll notice when one verb has an ‘s’ on the end and another doesn’t ~ try playing Spot the Difference.

Five-year-olds often learn best through play, so why shouldn’t adults?

Some students start with the Official Guide and then look for something to supplement it. A lot of students look for a course that’s affordable, online and well-organised. For that reason, quite a few end up with Magoosh.

Student feedback on Magoosh is generally good: several of my students have been very happy with the videos, and they are nicely organised by topic so you know which bits of the GMAT curriculum you’re tackling. Magoosh also have flashcards, practice questions and tests, and some useful blog posts. One of their senior guys, Mike McGarry, clearly knows his way around the GMAT and has written some good stuff.

What I like about Magoosh is that everything is clearly laid out, but they’re not trying to dazzle you or sell you false promises. They’re also confident enough in their own materials to recommend other people’s, which to me is always a very good sign. Agencies or tutors that imply that everyone else is useless or inferior are usually trying to make up for a substandard product with an aggressive sales technique. Magoosh offer a 7-day free trial so you can see whether they can help.

Some caveats: their materials aren’t perfect, and although as mentioned the Quant material is ordered by topic, there are varying levels of difficulty within each topic, so you may find yourself jumping from easy to hard and back again, which isn’t ideal. Their 3-month study plan requires a ridiculously long list of resources and recommends that you do the Diagnostic Test from the Official Guide on Day 1 ~ terrible advice if you ask me. Some of their questions aren’t great (i.e. realistic or well-constructed), and some of their explanations miss things or say things that are just plain wrong. But these faults are relatively rare and usually unimportant.

You won’t go too far wrong with Magoosh. You can pick and choose from a wide array of GMAT materials, and you’ll certainly make progress. So it’s a thumbs up from me. Of course you could always try Chuck Dreyer’s GMAT Preparation; I hear he’s pretty good too…

Many people study for a few weeks and make decent progress. But they then reach a plateau. Their score gets stuck around a certain point ~ sometimes a little higher, sometimes a little lower, but not as high as they want it to be.

Learning the content of the GMAT is just part of the battle. You also need to prepare your mind. What do I mean by that? You need to train yourself to know when you’ve sent two minutes on a question, so that you can develop that instinct that says it’s time to move on. You need to be able to put a question out of your mind as soon as you’ve clicked Confirm and moved on to the next one. And you need to know how to deal with those moments when you’re tired, or frustrated, or confused, or angry, or just generally fed up of the GMAT, when you’re in the middle of a test and you don’t want to quit but you’re really not having much fun.

Don’t underestimate the psychological aspects of the GMAT. You need to be physically and mentally ready on test day. If you need help, ask. There are plenty of coaches out there (I can recommend one if you like). But either way, make sure that you know how to get your mind in the zone so that you can get the best out of yourself.

Here are some ideas to start with:

• Do your practice tests at the same time of day as your real test
• Get out of the house to do a practice test – go somewhere new, with no distractions, so it feels as though you’re going to the test centre
• Do 65-minute study sessions to replicate the Quant & Verbal sessions
• Take a cheat sheet, or some old questions with working, to read through in the waiting room
• Take your time on the first question; if you feel you’ve started well, you’ll approach the whole test in a more positive frame of mind
• Go slower at the beginning: you may be nervous and want to double-check everything, and that’s ok – you’ll speed up later
• Plan what you’ll eat and drink in your breaks
• Be prepared for difficult questions – know how you’ll calm yourself down when you see them (breathing deeply, tapping etc.)
• Be prepared to see that you’re slightly behind time, and know how you’ll deal with it
• Prepare for worst case scenarios – what would you do? – it probably won’t be that bad so anything else will feel better
• Remind yourself of the things that are more important to you than the GMAT

I’m sure you can add your own as you go. Just be aware that the GMAT is about so much more than content. It’s about process, attitude, practice, consistency and decision-making under pressure. Develop your mental strength and you may see your score improve significantly.

For more strategic advice on conquering the GMAT, sign up below:

It’s September of 2017 and I’m still in London and tutoring (despite the lack of recent posts in the Archives), but I can only promise to offer my services until the summer of 2018 when I will be moving to Montréal. I am however keen to put aside a few quid to ease the transition, so I’ll be taking on new clients until around Easter if possible.

Do drop me a line if business school is on your radar, and we can meet for a coffee and see whether I can help you.

Wishing you the best of luck on your GMAT journey – although as one of my teaching colleagues always used to say, “It’s not about luck, it’s about good hard work”.

The Two Levels of GMAT Quant Questions

In GMAT, as in life, you won’t get very far with only one skill. You can be a creative, who has brilliant ideas, but if you can’t bring those ideas to fruition, you won’t get very far. You can be a footsoldier, who’s great at implementation but needs to be given an action plan. Or you can combine the two skills and be successful.

When faced with a Quant question, there are two operations you need to perform:

1. Work out what needs to be done

2. Do it

or, if you prefer business jargon,

1. Brainstorm

2. Execute

Part 2

As is often the case on GMAT questions, it’s easier to start at the end. Work out what mathematical processes the GMAT involves ~ my site contains plenty of clues ~ and make sure you’ve got them down pat. Practise, practise, practise. Go through the theory until you understand it back to front.

These processes will involve numbers. You need to know what you’re allowed to do with them; you need to be familiar with their properties; you need to be able to combine them using different operations. The numbers from 1-100 are especially important.

Part 1

Here’s where the words come in. Some words and phrases have mathematical meanings – there’s a lot more on that subject in The Ultimate GMAT Quant Guide. Certain modes of verbal expression allude to certain mathematical topics and/or processes. I made that last sentence a little more complex, in terms of its vocabulary, because for many people this is the most complex part of GMAT Quant. Have you ever said, if only to yourself,

I understand the words. I understand the sentences. But I have NO FREAKIN IDEA how any of it relates to that stuff I learnt in Part 2

You’re not alone. You can learn. Use The Ultimate GMAT Quant Guide. Use the explanations in the Official Guide if you must. Ask me. Always make a note of how words relate to numbers. Never make the same mistake twice.

There is a limited number of ways in which mathematical problems are expressed on the GMAT. There’s even a limited (although very large) number of possible questions. Keep going. Eventually words, phrases and concepts will repeat. You’ll recognise them. And you will improve.

I once had a student who’d been using another tutor. She said she’d spend tuition sessions watching him working out the answer to various questions. Sometimes she could barely see what he was doing because his arm was in the way. Most of the time she couldn’t keep up. And she was paying £80/hour for the privilege.

Why didn’t she stop him? Why didn’t she walk away and stop throwing money at him? I think it’s because we like to trust teachers and others in respected positions in society ~ policewomen, doctors, judges. We like to think that they will do everything they can to help us. Most teachers, especially in schools, are committed to taking the time to help us understand, often for a meagre wage. Sadly, the only qualification for being a GMAT tutor seems to be having a high GMAT score. And I’m not sure there’s any qualification for being a GMAT prep agency.

Unfortunately, people with big brains think quickly and intuitively. Often they just get things, and if you don’t get things, they don’t get why you don’t get what they get, so they don’t get that you need help to get it. Get it? It’s easy to become lost.

So before you spend somewhere in the region of £85/hour (the going rate for tutors of various standards) or £100+/hour (the going rate for agencies, which often use those same tutors), ask for a free trial. Have the tutor talk you through a question you find difficult. Ask him about the different approaches for that question, or what you need to look out for in order to solve a similar question successfully next time, or what revision exercises you might pursue to improve your speed and accuracy. And if you’re not satisfied with the answers, walk away.

Just as there are many ways of solving a GMAT question, there are many tutors out there. Find the one that’s right for you. Try not to waste your time and money. And if you’re really stuck, ask me. I’ve had many students come to me from other tutors or agencies: you won’t be the first and you won’t be the last. There’s a lot of free stuff on my website. I won’t charge you a penny if I don’t help. But hopefully I will. Thanks for reading: you’ve just taken a very important precaution!

Poker and the GMAT

I like to connect disparate topics. The other day I was reading about the importance of position in poker. For those of you not familiar with the game, a number of players take it in turn to bet on the cards that they have in their hands and the combination those cards can make with any cards on the table. So far so simple. And we’ve already covered the key part of the process: players take it in turn to bet.

The first player to speak is at a disadvantage. He (sadly, it’s almost always he) doesn’t know what anyone else has. If he has a weak hand, he’s almost certainly going to lose. But if he has a good hand, he faces a dilemma. Should he make a strong bet, and risk scaring off all the other players and winning only pennies? Or should he make a weaker bet, and risk other players staying in the game and getting cards that improve their hands? Because he has no idea what anyone else has, he’s in a very difficult situation. Sometimes he just has to guess.

Now consider the last player to speak. She’s seen how everyone else plays. If no one else has bet, her good or even average strength hand may suddenly look quite strong. She may be able to bet and win if everyone else folds. But if several others have bet before her, an average strength hand, and possibly a reasonably good hand too, probably isn’t going to hold up. She can however fold and lose nothing. She has watched the others and learnt by watching. She has information by virtue of her position.

The same is true in GMAT. Recently I covered the Reading Comprehension passage on “minimum efficient scale” (OG, p.382 – at least in my 13th edition copy) in a tuition session. My student was a little stuck when it came to identifying the primary purpose of the passage. The passage is fairly lengthy and contains some difficult words, as well as some easy concepts expressed in difficult language. Would she really be able to read this passage three times until everything made some kind of sense?

 

Three key areas

I pointed out the importance of position. There are only a few areas of an RC passage in which the primary purpose is likely to be hidden: the first two sentences, the beginning of each paragraph and the last sentence. Here’s why: the first sentence often sets out where the passage is going, but the second sentence often signals a contrast; the first sentence of a new paragraph is known as the topic sentence and should provide a signpost as to where that paragraph is heading; and the last sentence may contain a conclusion, especially if the passage is argumentative.

You might at this point care to watch Jeff Sackmann’s take on the importance of position.

 

Area 1: The first two sentences

In the passage in question [spoiler alert], these key areas provide us with sufficient information to be able to ascertain the primary purpose. The first sentence runs as follows:

Manufacturers have to do more than build large manufacturing plants to realize economies of scale.

We can reasonably expect that the passage will go on to tell us what more manufacturers have to do.

Now here’s the beginning of the second sentence:

It is true that…

That’s enough. We can begin to suspect that the second sentence will contain an obvious fact, something we might already be expected to know. By extension, the third sentence will contain something less obvious, quite possibly something central to the passage. After all, most authors writing for information aspire to tell us something we don’t already know. Here’s the beginning of that third sentence:

However,

And we have our contrast.

To sum up:

Sentence 1. Context

Sentence 2. What we already know

Sentence 3. What the author thinks we might not already know – quite possibly something close to the primary purpose of the passage

 

Area 2: The beginning of each paragraph

Now, look at the beginning of the second paragraph:

The importance of investing in intangible capital becomes obvious when …

We can tell from the wording that this sentence, like many good topic sentences, links back to the previous paragraph. That first paragraph therefore must have ended by talking about investing in intangible capital. We can go a step further and say that investing in intangible capital is what the first paragraph must have been leading up to. As a result, we have our second key area.

To sum up again:

Paragraph 1. You might not have thought about investing in intangible capital

Paragraph 2. It’s important

 

Area 3: The last sentence

Finally, let’s look at the beginning of the last sentence:

And challengers must …

Hmm. It seems as though we’ve stumbled upon the end of a list of requirements for challengers. Doesn’t look like much of a conclusion.

And that’s all we need. Some positions are more important than others.

 

Skim-reading

One final thing. At sentence level, as you might have gathered from my extracts above, position is also crucial. The beginning of each sentence is by far the most important position in the sentence. I’m sure you learnt at primary school that sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop. So you can scan a passage, picking out the capital letters that follow full stops and skimming the beginnings of the sentences to see where they’re going. You should be able to skim-read an entire RC passage in under 30 seconds in this way. Reading Comprehension will never take such a long time again.

The PowerPoint below was originally part of a webinar for Hult Business School. Unfortunately the webinar didn’t record properly, but the text should still prove useful in giving you some idea of what the GMAT involves. If anything isn’t clear, let me know:

An Introduction to the GMAT

1. Introduction

in which you become familiar with the format of the test

*

First, read the beginning of the Official Guide and the introductory pages to each of the five main sections.

Second, read the PowerPoint here: An Introduction to the GMAT.

Third, download the official practice software.

*       *       *

2. Have a go

in which you try a few questions to see what you’re up against

*

You might like to look at more of my webinars (with sound this time!), specifically the ones on Quant and Verbal. You can find them here.

You might also attempt some of the questions on the official practice software.

*       *       *

3. Groundwork

in which you tackle any major weaknesses in Maths and English

*

If you’re weak at Maths, you should get a textbook or hire a tutor. I’ve recommended a textbook in the Resources section, but any GCSE textbook that you like is fine. By now you’ll know what topics you need to be familiar with, and you should have started to think about what theory you don’t fully understand.

If you struggle with the Verbal section, you may want to get a grammar book. Again, there are some ideas in the Resources section. Alternatively, if you have more specific Verbal weaknesses that aren’t covered by the webinars, feel free to ask me.

*       *       *

4. Diagnostic

in which you do a non-official test to get some idea of your level

*

I’d recommend that you try the test at Platinum GMAT. It’s reasonably good but you don’t want to use one of the official practice tests yet. Try to make sure you finish; don’t worry about skipping harder questions. You want to give yourself the best chance of answering the questions you’re capable of answering.

Think about how well prepared – or otherwise – you were. Bear these conclusions in mind as you tackle…

*       *       *

5. The OG

in which you take on the Official Guide a.k.a. The Bible

*

Problem Solving: Use UGQG1. Think in terms of doing each question three times: if you don’t know what I’m referring to, ask (or refer to the webinars).

Data Sufficiency: Try any of the first 50 questions that you think you can answer. Leave the ones you can’t do for later. Don’t worry about time.

Sentence Correction, Critical Reasoning, Reading Comprehension: Do the first few (20-30) questions in each section one page (or one double page) at a time. Do each question three times, as above.

Review what you’ve done carefully. Outline your strengths and weaknesses. Think about how many questions, and what level of question, you can realistically answer given the time constraints of the test.

Come up with some sort of timing strategy. Consider how you will guess if and when you don’t have enough time on a question. Look back at the previous sections on this page and try to fill in any gaps that will stop you from doing yourself justice on…

*       *       *

6. Your first practice test

in which, surprisingly, you do a practice test

*

This test is your first dress rehearsal. You should do one of the practice tests from the official practice software and take it seriously. You may not get a great score, but this is your chance to show that you know the basics and can answer easier questions under test conditions. An official practice test should also give you an accurate understanding of your current level as well as highlighting areas for improvement, and if you’ve prepared conscientiously so far, it should also provide a confidence boost. At this point, you should be able to come up with a realistic estimate of how long it will take you to reach your target score.

*       *       *

7. Analysis

in which you go over your practice test thoroughly and plan your next steps

*

Start with the easiest questions, the ones you feel you should have been able to get right. What went wrong? What kinds of mistakes did you make, and what were the causes? Find ways to avoid those mistakes. If you’re stuck, ask. I spend a lot of my time talking to students on exactly this point.

Next, think about timing. Is there anything that you think you could do faster with enough practice (and without compromising your accuracy)?

Would you benefit from a deeper understanding of any concepts? Do something about it (see the next section).

Make sure that you’ve done sufficient work that your next test can be expected to show a significant improvement – in individual areas if not in the overall score.

*       *       *

8. Step up

in which you take on some harder questions

*

Review the Easy Problem Solving questions that you did; do the Medium Problem Solving questions; do more Data Sufficiency questions and write notes on your strategy here – you need to be very organised and methodical with Data Sufficiency as one small slip can undo all your good work.

Do more Verbal questions. Review them. Look for patterns among your weaknesses. Address them.

*       *       *

9. The cycle

in which you consistently identify areas for improvement and then focus on them

*

Review the medium questions that you’ve done, both Quant and Verbal. Try to identify anything that might stop you getting 50th percentile or higher in each section or 600+ overall. Consider any discrete skills that might help you, such as speed reading or mind mapping in Reading Comprehension. Do number drills regularly. Think through all of the different strategies you’ve amassed up till now.

DO another practice test (Manhattan would be good at this point)

REVIEW your test (and possibly any recent OG questions)

IMPROVE by identifying areas for improvement or practice and tackling them

*       *       *

10. Do-Review-Improve

in which you consistently make small gains until you reach your desired level

*

Do another practice test (probably the second official one). Review it. Improve. Simple.

Remember that you can reset the official practice tests. You can also buy more; and if you like the Manhattan test you did, you can buy more of them too.

You may also want to finish the OG if you haven’t already, or consider buying extra online questions (and possibly extra books). But always bear in mind that, as in life, quality is better than quantity.