{"id":7956,"date":"2014-11-12T17:24:14","date_gmt":"2014-11-12T17:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/?p=7956"},"modified":"2019-09-05T16:03:25","modified_gmt":"2019-09-05T16:03:25","slug":"last-14-days-gmat-part-2-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/blog\/last-14-days-gmat-part-2-review\/","title":{"rendered":"The Last 14 Days before your GMAT, Part 2: Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ManhattanDid 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<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

This is the original version of a piece that has since been updated. See Stacey’s latest tips on maximizing the last two weeks before your GMAT.<\/a><\/h2>\n
\n

As we discussed in the first half of this series, Building Your Game Plan<\/a>, during the last 7 to 14 days before you take the real test, your entire study focus changes. In this article, we\u2019re going to discuss the second half of this process: how to review. (If you haven\u2019t already read the first half, do so before you continue with this part.)<\/p>\n

What to Review<\/strong><\/p>\n

Part of the game planning process is determining your strengths and weaknesses. Map these against the frequency with which various topics or question types tend to be tested on the real exam. You want to spend the bulk of your time reviewing the material that is most likely to appear on the test.<\/p>\n

If an infrequently-tested area is also a weakness (I\u2019m looking at you, combinatorics), drop it entirely. If you get an easier one on the test, try it for up to 2 minutes. If you get a hard one, call that one of your freebies: guess quickly and use that time elsewhere.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not sure how frequently a particular type of content or question appears on the exam, ask on the forums. I\u2019m not going to provide a list in this article because these frequencies can change over time; I don\u2019t want people reading this in future to be misled when things do change. The General GMAT Strategy folder in our own forums has a bookmarked thread\u2014it always sits at the top\u2014that discusses this very issue. If I\u2019ve commented on the topic or question type mix within (at least) the past 6 months, then you\u2019re up to date.<\/p>\n

How to Review<\/strong><\/p>\n

How you review is going to vary somewhat depending upon whether you\u2019re reviewing a strength or a weakness. You do NOT want to do the same kind of review for everything, but you DO want to review both strengths and weaknesses. I\u2019m going to make a distinction between the following categories:<\/p>\n

Easier-for-you:<\/em> you find the question fairly straightforward and you expect to answer it correctly without needing extra time, though you may sometimes make a careless mistake.<\/p>\n

Harder-for-you:<\/em> this question is more of a struggle, though you still will answer some of these correctly.<\/p>\n

TOO-hard-for-you<\/em>: you will spend way too much time to get this right or you will get it wrong no matter what. \u201cWay too much time\u201d is 1+ minute over the average for that type of question.<\/p>\n

Overall, your review will include several consistent components:<\/p>\n

– For RC<\/a> and CR<\/a>: review the major question sub-types, including how to recognize them, what kind of reasoning to use to get to a correct answer for that type, and how to avoid the common traps for each type.<\/p>\n

– For SC: review the major strategies for answering any SC question<\/a>, as well as the major content areas. At the time of this publication, the four most important areas are Structure, Modifiers, Meaning, and Parallelism. The next \u201ctier\u201d of topics includes Subject-Verb Agreement (a subset of Structure), Verbs, and Comparisons.<\/p>\n

– For PS: review and practice the major math skills (formulas to memorize, how to manipulate equations, how to translate from words to math, etc.) and the major standardized test solving techniques<\/a> (choosing smart numbers, working backwards, testing cases, estimating, etc.).<\/p>\n

– For DS: review the overall solving strategies<\/a> for this question type (rephrasing, using the answer grid, and so on) and common traps (for example, the C trap), in addition to a general review of the major math skills and standardized test solving techniques (similar to PS).<\/p>\n

Weaknesses<\/strong><\/p>\n

For weaknesses, your goals are (1) to answer easier-for-you questions correctly in roughly* the expected time; (2) to make a reasonable educated guess on harder-for-you questions in no more than the expected time; and (3) to identify too-hard-for-you questions quickly so that you can guess, move on, and use that time elsewhere. Review all of the basic content and techniques for answering questions of that type; don\u2019t worry about more advanced material. (Remember, these are your weaknesses.)<\/p>\n

Know what you can do and what you cannot do; know how to tell within about 45 seconds whether you need to make an educated guess right now. Then, review how to make educated guesses on problems of that type. (Note: an educated guess is just a fancy way of saying \u201cidentify and cross off any identifiable wrong answers before you guess.\u201d It doesn\u2019t always work, but it\u2019s worth 30 seconds of thought\u2014as long as you\u2019ve actually studied how to do this in advance of the test.)<\/p>\n

*Note: \u201cRoughly the expected time\u201d means within 20 to 30 seconds of the average time you are supposed to spend on questions of that type. Don\u2019t rush so much that you \u201csave\u201d 45 seconds on the problem and then make a careless mistake. Also don\u2019t take 30+ seconds extra<\/em> on any \u201cweakness\u201d problem. If it\u2019s going to take you that long just to have a chance on something that\u2019s already a weakness, it\u2019s better to make a guess now and use that time elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Give yourself permission to dump any of these questions when necessary, especially if you are already behind on time (the Game Plan part of the article talks more about this). Most important of all, do not lose time on questions that are in an area of weakness for you. You can still spend the normal time, but do not spend extra time on these questions.<\/p>\n

Strengths<\/strong><\/p>\n

For your strengths, your goals are (1) to answer easier-for-you questions correctly and somewhat faster than the expected time (but don\u2019t rush and make mistakes!); and (2) to have a good shot at harder-for-you questions in roughly the expected time. (Again, recall that \u201croughly the expected time\u201d does allow you to take up to 30 seconds longer on some problems.)<\/p>\n

For the easier-for-you problems, review how to be more efficient with the questions you can already do without much trouble. How can you shave 10, 20, 25 seconds without affecting your accuracy? How will you be able to spot the same shortcuts in future; what are the clues that should make a shortcut or an obvious wrong answer jump out at you? Also, review both the basic and advanced material for questions on the \u201ceasier-for-you\u201d side, with more emphasis on the advanced material.<\/p>\n

For the harder-for-you problems, depending upon your scoring level, you may need to review only the basic material or a combination of the basic and advanced material. Most people will need to do some combination of the two. Again, know what you can and cannot do; you may receive something that\u2019s too hard for you even in an area of strength. How will you recognize that this one isn\u2019t going to happen in the expected timeframe? How will you make an educated guess?<\/p>\n

You may have some too-hard problems even in your areas of strength! If you find yourself approaching the average-time mark for this type and you\u2019re still thinking, \u201cBut I\u2019m good at this! I should<\/em> be able to figure this out!<\/a>\u201d let it go. Even though it\u2019s a strength, it\u2019s still a bad opportunity at this moment in time.<\/p>\n

Pacing Plan<\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u2019ll also need to review your pacing plan<\/a>. How are you going to check yourself periodically to make sure that you\u2019re on track?<\/p>\n

Some people like to check the clock every 10 or 15 minutes; they know what question they should be on at certain time intervals. Others like to check based upon the problem number; at problem 10, for example, they know how much time they should have left, and at problem 20 and so on. You can use whichever method works best for you, but do have some way of checking to make sure that you\u2019re on time; you need some method to check periodically and keep track on your scratch paper<\/a>. Practice your pacing plan during whatever practice tests or practice sets of questions you do during your final two weeks.<\/p>\n

What are you going to do if you discover that you\u2019re ahead of time or behind?<\/p>\n

In general, if I\u2019m within about 2-3 minutes of my pacing plank, I just keep going as usual. If I discover that I\u2019m 3+ minutes behind (that is, I\u2019m too slow), I guess immediately on the next \u201cugh!\u201d question that I see. (You know what an \u201cugh!\u201d question is, right? They\u2019re those ones that cause you to say \u201cugh!\u201d when you first read them. J). If I need to guess quickly a second time, I do so\u2014whatever it takes to get back on track. I don\u2019t even worry about whether I do this twice in a row. I might\u2019ve guessed right on one (I have a 20% chance!) or one might have been experimental.<\/p>\n

If I discover that I\u2019m 3+ minutes ahead (that is, I\u2019m too fast), I make sure that I\u2019m writing down all<\/em> of my work on quant\u2014I don\u2019t want to do anything in my head! I also check that I\u2019m taking adequate notes on CR and RC, that I\u2019m going back into the passage to check for proof on RC, and that I am systematically crossing off answers on my scrap paper for all of verbal.<\/p>\n

Take Aways<\/strong><\/p>\n

1) Change your focus during the final two weeks of study: away from learning new stuff and toward reviewing material and developing your Game Plan.<\/p>\n

2) Set your goals. For your weaknesses, aim to get the easier-for-you questions right in normal time, but make educated guesses on the harder-for-you ones and move on. For your strengths, get the easier-for-you questions right in less time than normal (whenever possible and without artificially rushing), and try your best within the expected timeframe to get the harder-for-you ones right\u2014but still let go and guess when you need to do so.<\/p>\n

3) Have a pacing plan and stick to it. Know exactly how you\u2019re going to fix the situation if you find yourself ahead or behind on pacing.\u00a0?<\/p>\n

\n

Can\u2019t get enough of Stacey\u2019s GMAT expertise? Attend the first session of one of her upcoming GMAT courses<\/a> absolutely free, no strings attached. Seriously.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\"stacey-koprince\"<\/a>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. Check out Stacey\u2019s upcoming GMAT courses here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. This is the original version of a piece that has since been updated. See Stacey’s latest tips on maximizing the last two weeks before your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52871,2,8,9,10],"tags":[428,713,52891],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-7956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gmat-strategies","category-how-to-study","category-quant-on-gmat","category-taking-the-gmat","category-verbal-on-gmat","tag-how-to-study-2","tag-study-tips","tag-the-last-14-days-before-your-gmat"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7956","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=7956"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12986,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7956\/revisions\/12986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7956"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=7956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}