{"id":11482,"date":"2016-05-26T15:32:05","date_gmt":"2016-05-26T15:32:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/?p=11482"},"modified":"2019-09-05T15:59:52","modified_gmt":"2019-09-05T15:59:52","slug":"develop-a-business-mindset-to-maximize-your-roi-on-the-gmat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/blog\/develop-a-business-mindset-to-maximize-your-roi-on-the-gmat\/","title":{"rendered":"Develop a Business Mindset to Maximize your ROI on the GMAT"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-11483\" src=\"\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2016\/05\/blog-roi.png\" alt=\"Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - Here's How to Maximize Your ROI on the GMAT by Stacey Koprince\" width=\"676\" height=\"264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2016\/05\/blog-roi.png 676w, https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2016\/05\/blog-roi-300x117.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><strong><em>Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We\u2019re not kidding! <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/classes\/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgmat%2Fblog&#038;utm_medium=blog&#038;utm_content=GMAT%20Complete%20Courses%20Plug&#038;utm_campaign=GMAT%20Blog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Check out our upcoming courses here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Maximizing Your ROI on the GMAT - Stacey Koprince from Manhattan Prep\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ziyp_Xon-UE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h4><strong>What is the GMAT Really Testing?<\/strong><!--more--><\/h4>\n<p>The GMAT is not an academic test. I know it feels like it, but you don\u2019t take the GMAT to get into a math Ph.D. program (or even a literature or writing program).<\/p>\n<p>Business schools want to know how good you are at analyzing data, asking questions, thinking flexibly, and making decisions about potential opportunities. In other words, the GMAT is really testing your business skills (what learning scientists call <em>executive reasoning<\/em> skills).<\/p>\n<p>That time pressure the test writers put you under? They\u2019re doing that on purpose. You literally cannot do it all, no matter how much you study; they\u2019ll just keep making the test harder and harder. They want to see how you react to a situation that is forcing you to make hard decisions. Try to do it all, and you\u2019ll fail\u2014as a business person would in real life.<\/p>\n<p>Just as you have limited time and mental energy on the GMAT, an investor has only so much money. How do you decide which opportunities to fund and which ones to kill off?<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Scenario:\u00a0The Bad Investor<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Imagine an investor who will give money to anyone who asks. This investor never says no to a request for money.<\/p>\n<p>He invests <em>more<\/em> money upon hearing that the company has spent all of the previously-invested money and its prototype doesn\u2019t work (or similarly disastrous: the product is obsolete; a competitor produces a better product for half the price; etc.).<\/p>\n<p>Do you want this guy running your portfolio?<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Old School vs. No School<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Of course not. It\u2019s obvious, right?<\/p>\n<p>But that may be how you\u2019re approaching the GMAT. On an academic test (Old School), you start the test assuming that you are going to try everything <em>and<\/em> you are going to try to answer as much as possible correctly. (And, at least at first, this is how almost everyone approaches the GMAT.)<\/p>\n<p>But you\u2019d never go into an investment situation assuming that you are going to hand over your money\u00a0<em>unless<\/em> you discover a good reason not to invest. Quite the opposite! You assume that you\u2019ll give the opportunity a good, hard look but that the company in question has to <em>earn<\/em> your investment. Unless you give me a really good reason, I am not opening up my checkbook. (No School! Just common sense.)<\/p>\n<p>When a new question pops up on the screen on the GMAT, assume the same thing: you\u2019re on the fence. You\u2019re willing to listen to the pitch but you haven\u2019t already decided to move forward; instead, you\u2019re looking for clues to help you decide which way to jump off of that fence.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>How Do I Know Which Way to Jump?<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>For the first 30-60 seconds (roughly), you\u2019re evaluating the pitch. Do I understand what this guy is talking about? Is there a good plan to move forward? If so\u2014in other words, if I think there\u2019s a good chance I can do this problem with a reasonable expenditure of time and mental energy\u2014then I\u2019m in. Here\u2019s my investment of another minute or so (depending on problem type, of course).<\/p>\n<p>If, on the other hand, I discover that it\u2019s something I hate (combinatorics, ugh) or something that is too annoying (a roman numeral inference question on the hardest paragraph of the RC passage), I\u2019m not about to waste my precious time and energy on that investment. It has terrible potential.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s say that I do understand the question and that I do have what I think is a decent plan to get to the answer. I execute my plan.<\/p>\n<p>Things don\u2019t pan out, unfortunately: the plan doesn\u2019t work the way that I thought it would. It doesn\u2019t matter why. It doesn\u2019t matter that I just studied another problem like this last week, if I could just <em>remember<\/em>\u2026I should be able to figure this out! All that matters is that my plan isn\u2019t panning out right now, while the clock is ticking.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>The Takeaway<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Okay, so I should invest more money in this dying company, right? I mean, I know their first product totally failed, but they\u2019re telling me that they think they should be able to figure it out if I\u2019ll just give them another million\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Yeah, I didn\u2019t think you\u2019d fall for that. ?\u00a0So don\u2019t fall for it on the GMAT, either.<\/p>\n<p>If you don\u2019t understand the problem or don\u2019t have a good plan, stop.<\/p>\n<p>If you do understand and you\u2019ve tried your plan but it didn\u2019t work, stop. Don\u2019t try to come up with a second plan. Apple has already moved in and taken over this market. Cut your losses and get out now.<\/p>\n<p>If there\u2019s a way to make an educated guess (a way that won\u2019t take all that long), feel free. But make your guess and move on before very much longer.<\/p>\n<p>Make this mindset switch from Old School to No School. Don\u2019t do a question just because the GMAT tosses it in front of you. You\u2019re in charge: you decide what is and is not worth your precious time. Maximize your ROI on the GMAT by taking advantage of the good opportunities and dropping the bad ones.<\/p>\n<p>Want to read more about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/blog\/what-the-gmat-really-tests\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">executive reasoning<\/a> and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/blog\/this-mindset-will-make-you-feel-good-about-skipping-problems-on-the-gmat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">how to master the business mindset<\/a>? There you go.<\/p>\n<p>Good luck and happy studying!\u00a0<em>?<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em><strong>Can\u2019t get enough of Stacey\u2019s GMAT mastery? Attend the first session of one of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/classes\/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgmat%2Fblog&#038;utm_medium=blog&#038;utm_content=KoprinceCoursesLinkGMATBlog&#038;utm_campaign=GMAT%20Blog#instructor\/86\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">her upcoming GMAT courses<\/a> absolutely free, no strings attached. Seriously.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/instructors\/stacey-koprince\/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgmat%2Fblog&#038;utm_medium=blog&#038;utm_content=KoprinceBioLinkGMATBlog&#038;utm_campaign=GMAT%20Blog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-9719 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn2.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2015\/06\/stacey-koprince-150x150.png\" alt=\"stacey-koprince\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/instructors\/stacey-koprince\/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgmat%2Fblog&#038;utm_medium=blog&#038;utm_content=KoprinceBioLinkGMATBlog&#038;utm_campaign=GMAT%20Blog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stacey Koprince<\/a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Montreal, Canada and Los Angeles, California.<\/strong> Stacey has been teaching the GMAT, GRE, and LSAT \u00a0for more than 15 years and is one of the most well-known instructors in the industry. Stacey loves to teach and is absolutely fascinated by standardized tests. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/classes\/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgmat%2Fblog&#038;utm_medium=blog&#038;utm_content=KoprinceCoursesLinkGMATBlog&#038;utm_campaign=GMAT%20Blog#instructor\/86\">Check out Stacey\u2019s upcoming GMAT courses here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We\u2019re not kidding! Check out our upcoming courses here. What is the GMAT Really Testing?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[928,52900,873,929,9],"tags":[52860,52861,53082],"yst_prominent_words":[53875,53870,53868,53779,53871,53877,53635,53781,53775,53879,53878,53798,53874,53873,53856,53872,53876,53869,53784,53867],"class_list":["post-11482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-mindset","category-business-school","category-for-current-studiers","category-gmat-prep","category-taking-the-gmat","tag-executive-reasoning-skills","tag-gmat-roi","tag-maximize-your-roi-on-the-gmat"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11482"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16778,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11482\/revisions\/16778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11482"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=11482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}