![\"Manhattan](\"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2019\/02\/8-essential-gmat-study-tips.png\")
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It\u2019s easy to feel lost when you start to study for the GMAT. It doesn\u2019t help that everybody wants to share their own GMAT study tips\u2014and half of those tips contradict each other! Should you always study in the same spot, or should you change it up? Do you get a 700 on the GMAT by solving every official problem, or by reading every study guide? <\/span><\/p>\n Based on a combination of learning science and GMAT experience, here are our favorite GMAT study tips. We\u2019ve broken them up into three categories: <\/span><\/p>\n In order to hit your GMAT goal score, you\u2019ll need all three! <\/span><\/p>\n 1. Choose a source of official problems.<\/b><\/p>\n In order to ace the GMAT, you need to do GMAT problems. That\u2019s not one of our GMAT study tips\u2014it\u2019s just common sense! The real tip is that not all GMAT problems are created equal. <\/span>The GMAC spends thousands of dollars developing each problem that appears on the GMAT<\/span><\/a>. Every new problem is tested as an experimental problem with real test-takers before it gets used officially. Think of it as GMAT quality control.<\/span><\/p>\n There are lots of great unofficial problems out there\u2014we\u2019ve written a lot of them for our GMAT practice tests! But the official problems, which are actual retired GMAT questions, are the gold standard. Everybody should have a good source of official problems to work with. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Right now, there are four places to find official GMAT problems. Here they are:<\/span><\/p>\n 2. Choose a way to learn the content.<\/b><\/p>\n To ace the GMAT, you need a strong foundation in math and grammar, and you need to know what the GMAT expects of you on each type of problem. Here\u2019s a list of the skills that are tested on GMAT Quant<\/a>, and a similar list for GMAT Verbal<\/a>. You can\u2019t learn these things quickly and completely by just doing problems: you need to internalize the GMAT content in an organized way. <\/span><\/p>\n One option is to take a <\/span>9-week GMAT Complete Course<\/span><\/a>! You\u2019ll see all of the material that shows up on the GMAT, and you\u2019ll also be provided with all of our GMAT Strategy Guides and a lot of good advice on how to study. If that isn\u2019t for you, <\/span>GMAT Interact<\/span><\/a> also goes over everything that the GMAT tests, or you can purchase the <\/span>GMAT Strategy Guides<\/span><\/a> separately. Check out our article on studying for the GMAT<\/a> for more ideas and some useful GMAT study tips.<\/span><\/p>\n 3. Choose your practice tests (but don\u2019t take too many practice tests.)<\/b><\/p>\n Practice tests might not be as helpful as you think, at least when it comes to improving your GMAT weaknesses. <\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s an example. Suppose that you\u2019re really having a hard time with <\/span>Data Sufficiency Testing Cases problems<\/span><\/a>. On a 3-hour practice GMAT, you can expect to see about 13 Data Sufficiency questions. Of those, a third of them might involve testing cases\u2014so, that\u2019s about four problems. Of those four, one might be a throwaway easy problem, and one more might be way too hard. If testing cases is your biggest weakness right now, you just spent three hours of your time practicing two problems! Plus, because you\u2019re under stress while taking a practice test, you won\u2019t remember the material as well as normal.<\/span><\/p>\n If you need to work on a certain content area or skill (like testing cases), it\u2019s way more efficient to spend those three hours focusing solely on that area. Practice tests are also mentally taxing, meaning that they\u2019ll leave you tired (and inefficient) for a day or two afterwards. Plus, the number of great GMAT practice tests is limited. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n That said, <\/span>practice tests are still valuable<\/b>. You should take one every couple of weeks to evaluate how your studying is going and to decide what to focus on next. And if you have a weakness that specifically relates to taking a full test, such as anxiety or timing issues, a practice test can help. <\/span><\/p>\n Choosing a great practice test is a balancing act. The GMAC has published <\/span>six official practice tests that use retired GMAT problems<\/span><\/a>. However, these practice tests don\u2019t come with a lot of tools and data to analyze your performance. On the other hand, the <\/span>Manhattan Prep practice tests<\/span><\/a> are developed by instructors with tons of GMAT experience\u2014and also include a detailed analysis. If you choose to do both, you may want to use the Manhattan Prep tests earlier in your studies and switch to the GMATPrep ones when you\u2019re closer to your official test date. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Our first three GMAT study tips told you <\/span>what<\/span><\/i> to study, and that\u2019s a good start. But we aren\u2019t born knowing <\/span>how<\/span><\/i> to study. In fact, a lot of us have misconceptions about the best ways to learn. Here are some GMAT tips that will help you study the right way.<\/span><\/p>\n 1. Study like a musician.<\/b><\/p>\n Music, chess, and sports have been around for much longer than the GMAT, and experts in these fields have spent countless hours deliberating on the best way to practice. <\/span>This 1993 paper sums it all up<\/span><\/a> as <\/span>deliberate practice<\/b>. If you want to improve, mindlessly playing a song over and over or throwing a ball against the wall isn\u2019t enough. Neither is mindlessly doing GMAT problems: <\/span><\/p>\n Mere repetition of an activity will not automatically lead to improvement in, especially, accuracy of performance. <\/span><\/p>\n Instead, practice should be <\/span>targeted<\/i><\/b>.<\/span><\/i> You won\u2019t become a baseball expert solely by playing lots of baseball games, and you won\u2019t become a GMAT expert by taking lots of practice tests. Find a specific weakness and focus on it completely for a brief time. <\/span><\/p>\n During a 3-hr baseball game, a batter may get only 5-15 pitches (perhaps one or two relevant to a particular weakness), whereas during optimal practice of the same duration, a batter working with a dedicated pitcher has several hundred batting opportunities, where this weakness can be systematically explored (T. Williams, 1988).<\/span><\/p>\n Practice should also be <\/span>goal-oriented<\/i><\/b>. Don\u2019t go into a practice session without knowing what you\u2019re trying to achieve. Make sure that whatever you\u2019re doing, it\u2019s meant to help you improve something specific. <\/span><\/p>\n In contrast to play, deliberate practice is a highly structured activity, the explicit goal of which is to improve performance. Specific tasks are invented to overcome weaknesses, and performance is carefully monitored to provide cues for ways to improve it further. <\/span><\/p>\n Experts at music, chess, or baseball are also expert practicers. In order to become an expert at the GMAT, you should become an expert practicer too.<\/span><\/p>\n 2. Put your brain to work.<\/b><\/p>\n If you ever watched TV in the 90s, you probably saw commercials for those vibrating belts that would supposedly give you rock-hard abs. You just had to strap the belt around your waist, plug it in, and sit on the couch while it did all the work. To nobody\u2019s surprise, they <\/span>didn\u2019t work<\/span><\/a>. It turns out that if you want great abs, you have to do the hard work yourself.<\/span><\/p>\n Studying by passively reading, watching, or listening is a little bit like using one of those belts. When you just read the explanation of a GMAT problem\u2014even if it\u2019s a really good explanation, and even if you totally understand it\u2014you\u2019re letting somebody else do the hard work for you. Whoever wrote that explanation is doing most of the thinking, while you\u2019re sitting back and taking it easy. And nobody ever beat the GMAT by taking it easy! <\/span><\/p>\n The same is true when you just read a chapter out of our <\/span>Strategy Guides<\/span><\/a> without synthesizing the material yourself, or when you watch an <\/span>Interact lesson<\/span><\/a> without working through the problems. Instead of trying to learn passively, challenge yourself to do as much of the hard work as possible. Don\u2019t read the explanation until you\u2019re absolutely sure you\u2019ve figured out everything you possibly can on your own. And if you\u2019re <\/span>totally<\/span><\/i> baffled by a problem, the solution isn\u2019t to study the explanation step-by-step until you can solve it. The way to <\/span>\u201cwin\u201d that problem<\/span><\/a> might very well be to learn to recognize similar problems so you can guess on them next time. If it\u2019s an easier problem and you just got thrown off by it, focus on finding the clues in the text that would have told you which approach to take. Make sure you\u2019re rephrasing things in your own words in your error log. And if you aren\u2019t sure what to do with a problem, start a conversation about it on our GMAT forum!<\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s an article from GMAT instructor Stacey Koprince that goes into the active review process in depth<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n 3. Go beyond \u201cI get it.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n On the GMAT, you don\u2019t get to show your work. From the computer\u2019s perspective, you either got the problem right or you got it wrong. The test can\u2019t tell the difference between somebody who didn\u2019t understand the problem at all and somebody who got 99.9% of the way there, but made a single tiny error at the very end.<\/span><\/p>\n That can be really frustrating. You can study for the GMAT for weeks and learn a ton of material but only see a modest improvement on practice tests. The problem is, the test itself can\u2019t tell that you\u2019ve learned the material, until you\u2019ve learned it so well that you can reliably get problems right. That\u2019s a lot harder than just learning until you \u201cget it,\u201d or learning until you can follow along with a class or an Interact lesson.<\/span><\/p>\n Long story short, don\u2019t let yourself put down a topic once you feel as if you \u2018get it.\u2019 Continue studying even the material that you think you understand, until you\u2019re consistently performing well on that topic when you take practice tests. (By the way, <\/span>here\u2019s how to analyze a practice test<\/span><\/a>.) \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Should you study a little bit every day, or should you cram? Should you study Geometry now and leave Number Properties until later? These GMAT study tips will help you decide which study sessions to do when.<\/span><\/p>\n 1. Interleaving versus blocking.<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cInterleaving\u201d and \u201cblocking\u201d refer to two different study styles. In <\/span>blocked studying<\/b>, you pick a topic, then study that single topic until you\u2019ve exhausted your study materials and raised your confidence. In <\/span>interleaved studying<\/b>, you do short study sessions on each topic across a period of days or weeks, mixing in different topics in the meantime. You won\u2019t master the topic after the first session, but you\u2019ll increase your abilities a little bit each time you revisit it. <\/span><\/p>\n Blocked studying is like eating a whole batch of brownies. It feels great at the time. But later on, you\u2019ll feel sick and (even worse) you\u2019ll be all out of brownies. Interleaved studying is more like eating one brownie each night until the batch is gone. It\u2019s annoying to have to walk away from the remaining brownies when they\u2019re calling your name\u2014but in the long run, you\u2019ll feel way better.<\/span><\/p>\n That\u2019s because <\/span>your brain thrives on two things: forgetting and variety<\/b>. Forgetting is inevitable, no matter what you do. Even if you totally master a topic, you\u2019ll forget a lot of what you learned. But when you partially forget and then re-learn something, you end up with a stronger, more persistent memory. You might as well build that forgetting\/re-learning process into your studying right now. <\/span><\/p>\n Your brain loves variety nearly as much as it loves forgetting things. The more different inputs you give it, the stronger memories you\u2019ll form. For instance, did you know that \u201calways study in the same place\u201d is actually a myth? Just like switching up topics day-to-day, switching up your study location will give you stronger mental associations.<\/span><\/p>\n 2. Leverage the \u201cforgetting factor.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n Forgetting is annoying but inevitable. On the other hand, re-learning something you\u2019ve forgotten is great. You can use this to your advantage via something called <\/span>spaced repetition<\/b><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s the idea. You pick up a new (or old) topic and spend an hour or two studying it. Do the same thing the following day. You\u2019re not supposed to feel \u201cfinished\u201d with the topic at this point! Nonetheless, wait a few days before picking it back up. The idea is that you\u2019ll forget\u2014and need to re-learn\u2014some of what you studied. <\/span><\/p>\n Then, wait longer before you review the topic a third time\u2014maybe a week or so. After doing that, wait a couple of weeks, or even a month. Each time you partially forget, and re-learn, what you\u2019ve learned, you\u2019ll form a stronger memory. And stronger memories are the ones that stick with you on test day. <\/span><\/p>\n The two principles of spaced repetition are:<\/span><\/p>\n Can you find a way to incorporate those into your study plan? <\/span><\/p>\n You don\u2019t have to study perfectly, every single day. However, there are definitely some small improvements that you can make to how you\u2019re approaching the GMAT. Certain ways of studying\u2014like blocking, or trying to memorize a lot of content all at once\u2014can seem satisfying, and they may even work well in the short term. But mastering the GMAT isn\u2019t something that happens overnight, and great studying is about moving towards your long-term goals. If you want to make it to your goal score<\/a>, spend some time upfront on learning how to study. If you do, you\u2019ll get more out of every single hour you put in. ?<\/span><\/p>\n Want more guidance from our GMAT gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free! We\u2019re not kidding.\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Check out our upcoming courses here<\/i><\/b><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Chelsey Cooley<\/a> It\u2019s easy to feel lost when you start to study for the GMAT. It doesn\u2019t help that everybody wants to share their own GMAT study tips\u2014and half of those tips contradict each other! Should you always study in the same spot, or should you change it up? Do you get a 700 on the GMAT […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[873,880,929,874,52871,930,2],"tags":[353],"yst_prominent_words":[53635,54375,53706,53952,54156,54369,54370,54127,54158,54376,53636,53644,53630,53787,54373,54116,54371,54372,53638,54374],"class_list":["post-16906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-for-current-studiers","category-gmat-101","category-gmat-prep","category-gmat-resources","category-gmat-strategies","category-gmat-study-guide","category-how-to-study","tag-gmat-study-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16906","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\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16906"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16959,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16906\/revisions\/16959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16906"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=16906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
GMAT Study Tips: What to Study<\/b><\/h4>\n
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GMAT Study Tips: How to Study<\/b><\/h4>\n
GMAT Study Tips: When to Study <\/b><\/h4>\n
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GMAT Study Tips: Summary<\/b><\/h4>\n
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\n![\"Chelsey](\"https:\/\/cdn2.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2015\/11\/chelsey-cooley-150x150.jpg\" "\\"Chelsey")
<\/a>\u00a0is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Seattle, Washington.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/i><\/b>Chelsey always followed her heart when it came to her education. Luckily, her heart led her straight to the perfect background for GMAT and GRE teaching: she has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and history, a master\u2019s degree in linguistics, a 790 on the GMAT, and a perfect 170\/170 on the GRE.\u00a0<\/em><\/i>Check out Chelsey\u2019s upcoming GMAT prep offerings here<\/a>.<\/em><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"