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Top 5 misconceptions about the GMAT

November 30, 2012
Lucas Weingarten

The GMAT is a big topic.  One question or idea inevitably leads to countless more.  But in order to make more efficient progress in the discussion, let’s first frame the GMAT in terms of what it is and what it is not.

Outlined below are the top five misconceptions about the GMAT.  The intent is to foster productive discussion about the test and to help navigate around any common yet erroneous perceptions. 

  1. The GMAT tests intelligence.  Instead, frame the GMAT as a test of critical thinking.  While it is true that one must be sharp and educated to perform well on this test, a high GMAT score is the result of tenacity above all else; to beat the test, one must have a relentless drive to hone critical thinking skill using simultaneously broad-based and focused exposure and practice to how the GMAT tests this competency.  This is actually a much more meaningful attribute than mere IQ.  Merciless determination and hard work is the only thing that can produce a top score on this test, and that is exactly the mettle a graduate program ought to seek in their students.
  2. Content knowledge is the key to success.  To master the GMAT, content fluency is required.  However, if a test taker does not develop methodical and strategic approaches to the exam, content knowledge alone only imposes a ceiling.  In addition to building thorough and fluent ability to crack all areas of tested content, both mathematic and linguistic, a successful test taker will learn the fundamental competencies all GMAT questions leverage (there are four of them, by the way) and apply proven methods and strategies consistently throughout the exam.
  3. A month is more than enough time to prepare.  It cannot be overstated how wrong this notion is.  The GMAT is a skills test, and like any skills test one cannot cram for it.  Four weeks is cramming in GMAT-land.  At a minimum, the test demands 120-150 hours of total prep time spread over the course of 2-3 months.  Anecdotally, my 700+ scorers often devote closer to 200 hours of work rationed over 4-6 months.  The GMAT needs a sufficient runway and one who intends to earn a top score is better served to over-estimate how long that runway should be.
  4. The first ten questions are the only ones that matter.  This insidious idea has attained urban myth status.  Computer adaptive tests (CATs) like the GMAT are constructed to brutally punish individuals who are misinformed on this point.  Because a CAT adapts to performance at the question level, disproportionate attention and time paid to the first ten questions will, theoretically, place the test taker in a higher tier in terms of potential scoring range.  The GMAT always has more to throw at even the most skilled test taker and question difficulty will incessantly rise.  Thus, the middle portion of the test will devour time and likely result in strings of wrong answers.  Further, because time was not managed effectively the test taker in question is going to run out of it, thereby leaving questions unanswered.  An omitted question is much worse for a score than a wrong answer.  To beat the GMAT, one must be able to balance time, speed, execution, and strategic guessing throughout all sections of the test.  The finish must be as strong as the start.
  5. The GMAT is built to trick you.  In class, I talk to my students all the time about “trap answers” and we often treat the test writers as the enemy.  This generally breeds positive morale and solidarity among the group, but I am always careful to tamp down true animosity and feelings that the test is unethical.  All content, all questions, and all answers are written by human beings.  Each word and every sentence is deliberately constructed by human hands, and all answer choices are binary in nature: they are either correct or incorrect.

For success on the GMAT, a test taker has to be able to recognize the patterned way wrong answers are constructed (and why) as well as the patterned way right answers are constructed (and why).  The conversations about trap answers and raillery against the test makers just makes it all go down easier.  Yet, there is danger in developing the position that the GMAT is simply a game of riddles and pitfalls.  Instead, realize this: The GMAT is built to reward you.  Once that conviction truly sinks in, a savvy player can take advantage of the opportunities inherent in the exam and exploit the notable constraints test makers must operate within.

If the above misconceptions and their discussions give rise to any thoughts, questions, comments, etc. please do not hesitate to post them.  Have you identified any misconceptions about the GMAT in your experience?  How about specifically in regard to admissions?  Looking forward to hearing from you!

 



Lucas Weingarten


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