{"id":5832,"date":"2013-07-22T09:48:08","date_gmt":"2013-07-22T13:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.manhattangmat.com\/blog\/?p=5832"},"modified":"2019-09-05T16:09:56","modified_gmt":"2019-09-05T16:09:56","slug":"the-second-level-of-learning-to-take-the-gmat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/blog\/the-second-level-of-learning-to-take-the-gmat\/","title":{"rendered":"The Second Level of Learning to Take the GMAT"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ManhattanYou already know how to learn\u2014you\u2019ve been learning all your life. The problem is that the way you learn best for school is often not the best way of learning to take the GMAT.<\/p>\n

At the first level, you\u2019re learning all of the \u201cbasics\u201d (note that I do not<\/em> mean \u201ceasy\u201d when I say \u201cbasics\u201d): the facts, the rules, the question types and how they work. That first level is necessary, but it will only get you so far. As you progress through this material, you\u2019ll need to start adding in a second level of learning to take the GMAT\u2014and most people don\u2019t make this leap.<\/p>\n

Before we start, if you haven\u2019t yet read What the GMAT Really Tests<\/a>, go do so.<\/p>\n

Why Do I Need a Second Level of Learning to Take the GMAT?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

When was the last time you read a GMAT problem and had no idea where to start? When was the last time you did a GMAT problem, checked the solution, and thought, \u201cWhat? I didn\u2019t even know they were talking about that<\/em>!\u201d<\/p>\n

Notice that I didn\u2019t ask whether<\/em> you\u2019ve experienced these things. We all have, even those of us who score in the 99th<\/sup> percentile. It\u2019s just a matter of time until we hit a question like this. Your goal is to maximize the amount of time until it happens again.\u00a0?<\/p>\n

Okay, So What IS the Second Level of Learning to Take the GMAT?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

This second level of learning to take the GMAT involves figuring out how the test writers put questions together, including the right and wrong answers. You can learn how to take the test by analyzing the way these questions are put together.<\/p>\n

When you do this, you learn to recognize<\/em> what the test writers are trying to obscure\u2014because you\u2019ve seen something similar in the past. You learn to speak their language, essentially. The more parts of new problems you can recognize, the better you\u2019ll do on this test. Those of us who score in the 99th<\/sup> percentile don\u2019t do so because we have some magic ability to figure everything out in three seconds. Rather, we\u2019ve taught ourselves to recognize various bits of GMAT language, so we have a huge advantage on most new questions.<\/p>\n

Think about the last time you were reading a new question and a \u201clightbulb\u201d went off in your head because you knew what to do. That was recognition!<\/p>\n

Your goal is to learn to recognize as much as you can, so that you have as many \u201clightbulb\u201d moments as possible on test day.<\/p>\n

How Do I Learn to Recognize?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

You already know how to do this to some extent; you\u2019re just not aware of it. You\u2019ve learned that when you see a plus sign (+), you should add. You\u2019ve learned that when you see a subject in a sentence, you should anticipate a verb. You\u2019re already recognizing common language and math patterns; you just need to take it to another level for the GMAT.<\/p>\n

Go pull out an OG problem that you\u2019ve done recently. Choose one that was neither super easy for you nor super hard. (Notice that I don\u2019t mention whether you should choose one that you got right or wrong\u2014you should do this exercise with every single problem, regardless of whether you got it right!)<\/p>\n

Next, ask yourself the questions listed in this How to Analyze a Practice Problem<\/a> article. It\u2019s often easier to find shortcuts or figure out how to make a guess on problems that you understood. If you answered it correctly, ask yourself where you can imagine someone falling into a trap. How was the problem set up to try to get people off track?<\/p>\n

On Verbal, every hard problem has at least one tempting wrong answer choice\u2014a choice that actually looks\/sounds\/feels better than the right answer! Learn how to distinguish these. How would someone justify choosing that tempting wrong answer and crossing off the right answer? You\u2019ll be teaching yourself how to spot\u2014and therefore avoid!\u2014the traps.<\/p>\n

Know The GMAT Code<\/strong><\/h4>\n

While you\u2019re analyzing, keep a stack of flashcards with you. On one side, write \u201cWhen I see\u2026\u201d and on the other, write \u201cI\u2019ll think\/do\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Whenever you see something that causes you to think, \u201cOh, that\u2019s<\/em> what they were saying?\u201d or \u201cThat\u2019s<\/em> what I should have done?\u201d or even just \u201cWow, I never would have thought of that,\u201d pull out a flashcard.<\/p>\n

Go back to the original problem text and ask yourself which pieces were the clues. How should<\/em> you have known that they were really asking for XYZ or that ABC would be a good approach? How can you know in the future? Then start making a flashcard.<\/p>\n

Do not write the entire problem on the flashcard<\/span>. You won\u2019t see that same problem on the test. You have to figure out what it is about the wording or construction of the problem that would still pop up on a different<\/em> (but similar) future problem.<\/p>\n

What we\u2019re doing here is decoding problems; you\u2019re learning how to translate GMAT-speak into normal language, or how to Know the Code. Here\u2019s an example of how to decode a Quant problem<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Applying Your Analysis<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Next, based on what you\u2019ve figured out by analyzing this one problem, ask yourself what activities will help you to get even better.<\/p>\n