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DAY 21 TO DAY 25

DAY 21 TO DAY 25 (TIME MANAGEMENT, FULL SETS)​

Congratulations! You’ve finished two-thirds of the course and are now well equipped with the techniques required. We have roughly ten days from today until your test day. We can accomplish a lot in that time.

In the first half of Phase III, one cycle is defined as follows:

•       60% – Practice Test

•       40%– Test Review

In the first half of Phase III, your daily study cycle should look like this:

•       150 minutes – Practice Test (75 minutes Verbal, 75 minutes Math)

•       90+ minutes – Test Review

If you don’t have the time to do a full set every day, do half a set every day and alternate between the verbal and the math sections.

Do a full set during the Practice Test period, and then check the answers during Test Review. Also during Test Review, review the materials that you’ve learned. We are putting all of our efforts into getting ready for test day, and doing these full sets will help you get familiar with how the actual test will be. In Phase III, we will do only two things:

1.     Review what you learned.

2.     Get ready for test day.

If you couldn’t finish some materials from the previous ten days, don’t worry. We have some time for you to study them. However, try to finish all of the materials by day 26 or 27 (five to six days from today) if possible, and leave the last few days for just reviewing materials and getting ready for test day. You want to feel relaxed and prepared by then.

Time Management

The concepts tested on the GMAT do not go beyond high school Science, Math or English grammar.

So why are people finding the GMAT so hard to beat?

One explanation is the issue of time management. Blowing the timing is one of the most costly, and unfortunately common mistakes students make. The GMAT is as much of a test of time management as it is a test of content. If you have fantastic content knowledge but poor timing, you will be outperformed by those who have far from perfect content knowledge but excellent time management. This is the nature of standardized tests!

You need to be strategic with your timing. For example, for the quant section there are 37 questions to be answered in 75 minutes. So it makes sense to spend 2 minutes on each question, right? Well, what is really important to know is that 2 minutes is just an average, a rule of thumb. Some questions you might be able to figure out in 10 seconds, others might take three or four minutes.

One of the top skills of the GMAT is recognizing when those extra seconds are worth spending on the question, or recognizing that you should just guess and move on.

This is something that perfectionists and overachievers in particular have a hard time with – they cannot just leave a question without finishing it, and end up taking too long on it. No matter how tempting it might be to keep plugging away at a question if you feel like you are “really close!” - let go of your stubbornness and move on.

Do not let your ego jeopardize a fantastic score!

Thought for Days 21-25.

You're in phase III and three weeks closer to your goal. You’ve come a long way, baby!

Everyone feels stressed during the final days before the GMAT, so know that any anxiety you are feeling is entirely normal. You have a certain amount of control over that anxiety though. Take care of yourself and don’t let it spiral out of control. Recognize when you need a break, and when you can use the stress to study even better. Remember that not all stress is bad stress; we all need a bit of stress in our lives to get stuff done.

These last days are for making you feel more sure about yourself, and to solidify the facts you have already learned. You may not feel like it, but you’re ready already.

Brandon's Tip

Time management, huh? Managing your time during the test is one of the most important factors that will affect your score. No matter how prepared you are for the verbal or math sections, poor time management can prevent you from getting your desired score.

Spend no more than four to five minutes on each question early in the test, and no more than two minutes later on in the test for the same section. As discussed, the earlier part of the section will have a greater impact on your final score than the latter part of the same section, so focus and spend more time on the early parts.

*Don’t think too much about any one question when working on the latter part of the section. You will have less time for each question, so if you can’t figure out an answer during the latter part of the section, just guess. *Unlike other standardized tests such as the SAT, the GMAT will not penalize you for guessing wrongly.

Now go ahead and start the final push for test day. Remember to time yourself and try to simulate the actual test environment when you take the full sets. If you notice anything bothering you during the test-taking session, write that down in your notebook and try to find a way to avoid the annoyance on test day. You have 75 minutes for the verbal part of the test and 75 minutes for the math part of the test.

On Review days, spend the full three to four hours reviewing the questions you highlighted before and the review techniques in your notebook and in the textbook. Participate in the online forums during the Review days if you feel that they are useful to you. You should also rest properly during this period, as taking these full sets can be stressful. Keep your mind sharp by getting enough water, sleep and fresh air.