Whoa! It’s been a tough year - climatically, socially, geo-politically, economically. And what’s with silicon? Sandy Hook, Hurricane Sandy, Sandusky – to hell with not going back in the water – makes me want to stay off the beach. Gratuitous flippancy aside, these are tropes are for the many ways our society seems to be in trouble. The Mayans probably didn’t get it right, the world won’t end today, but sometimes it sure feels like that’s the trend. 

In counterpoint to all this gloom is a guy I met this year – call him Jeff. Jeff’s been out of work for a good while, surprising in itself since he’s a Swiss Army knife of marketing talents. One of his former co-workers sent Jeff a check to help him through the rough times. Jeff was overwhelmed by this unsolicited kindness and decided to pay it forward. The method he came upon was to help one other person find a job. Following a screening process, Jeff selected a young woman who was not the easiest placement and certainly could use assistance. For nine months, Jeff helped his beneficiary with her search. Just last month, she landed a plum job. And while Jeff still hasn’t found the job of his dreams, his life has been richer and happier for his deliberate act of kindness. And not only his life – certainly his protégé is profoundly changed for the better – and so am I and everyone who knows Jeff’s story – now including you. 

So here’s the bottom line. Even though we’re smack in the middle of the holiday season, I’m not going to extend the usual wishes of Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Season’s Greetings and all the other platitudes. Instead, I’m sending you an invitation … to act – find a way to make a specific, positive difference in just one other person’s life. Be a bright light in the gloom and in the process make all the good wishes come true.  

All the best, 
Doug

GMAT Prep, Step by Step (in 10 languages)

The psychometricians who write the GMAT know where you live.

As if data sufficiency, subjunctive mood and combinatorics weren’t sufficient challenges, the test makers make sport with your information processing habits. They understand how you interpret (and misinterpret) language. They know where you are likely to jump in response to certain words or phrases. They have data highlighting the assumptions you are likely to make and how a certain turn of phrase can induce you to pick a wrong answer.

So how do you counter this onslaught of insight? Be analytical. Think critically before you act. Proceed step-by-step.

Step-by-step? Like so many GMAT strategies, it sounds almost self evident – but in reality, most students don't get it initially, so I’ve learned how to reinforce the message in 9 other languages. Here are the phrases with specific steps you can take to boost your score.

Paso a paso (Spanish) - Locate the question within the test. Quant or verbal? Data sufficiency or problem solving? What’s the relevant content?

Schritt fur Schritt (German) - Paraphrase the question. Restate it in your own words to make sure you understand it precisely.

Ipbu ipbu (Mandarin) - Know the goal. Jot down the terms in which the answer should be expressed.

L’at l’at (Hebrew) - Look for patterns. Save time by recognizing opportunities for backdoor strategies, common error patterns, question types and trap answers.

Adim adim (Turkish) – Always engage the testmaker. Ask yourself: “Why did she use this word or express this phrase exactly so?” “ What is the purpose of this keyword?”

Pas a pas (French) – Learn process approaches for each question type and use them diligently. Jumping to an answer is like leaping into a pond without knowing how deep it is – a very bad idea.

Hepba hepba (Arabic) – Use tools such as charts, number lines, timelines or simple pictures to visually unpack the information in the question stem.

Shag za shagum (Russian) Be aware of your pace and know when it’s time to guess strategically so you don’t run out of time on the final few questions.

Vima pros vima or simply vima-vima (Greek) - Plan your test preparation, focusing on the topics/question types that will yield the greatest point benefit. Then nothing on the test will be Greek to you.

Thanks for stopping by.

You Can Conquer Test Day Anxiety!

Some years ago I met a performance psychologist who was working with the U.S. military. His project was to help special forces achieve "peak experiences" on demand, i.e. to get "in the zone" at will. As a long-time student of yoga and (at the time) serious meditator, I was fascinated by the application of mind-centering concentration to such high stress situations.

In my work with students preparing for the GMAT, I've seen that these same techniques often play a pivotal role in achieving the highest possible score. Indeed, for some students who become overwhelmed by Test Day stress, the lack of this discipline can be devastating.

Betsy Massar, founder and CEO of Master Admissions, has done a great job of synthesizing some of the key elements and most approachable literature on the subject in her article...

Train Your Brain for Test Success: Mastering Test Anxiety

A confluence of research in psychology, neuroscience, education and even genetics demonstrates that you can train to be very, very good at something—even taking standardized tests. Even if you think you are not naturally good at tests, you can improve dramatically. Here’s how.

The GMAT, or any graduate school admissions test, is a bear. No one needs to tell you how competitive it is, nor do they need to tell you how important it is to score within the target school’s range.

Some people are better at taking tests than others. They are natural test takers. We all know some of them, and those of us who fall apart at the thought of a standardized test have to work a lot harder. This article is designed for the grad school applicant who is not a good standardized test taker: someone who knows they are more intelligent than the computer thinks they are.

Many terrific test-prep companies specialize in test content: you should take advantage of the information they have to offer. Going through their material, and going through it well, is one of the best ways to boost confidence in taking standardized tests. Indeed, just knowing you are prepared is can boost your own confidence.

New Research Shows You Can Train Your Brain (click here to continue)


Thanks for stopping by,


Doug

Five Things Mastering The Mountain Can Teach You About Mastering The GMAT

I’ve taught skiing for decades; GMAT prep for just years. Skiing happens outdoors, in the cold, pitting the body against elemental forces of gravity and weather. In contrast, GMAT is indoors, warm (depending on the HVAC at the test center), and almost exclusively cerebral. So I was surprised to discover useful parallels in these contrasting challenges.

Indeed, as I began to think about it, I realized that the initial major obstacles in each even look alike – for skiers, it’s the fear of falling, while for GMAT takers, it’s their fear of failing. Okay, so the conceit is a little contrived, but in reality, both kinds of fear can turn into paralyzing impediments. Either way, you need to embrace the challenge. And once you do, you quickly realize that the anticipation is far more daunting than the reality. Of course, that doesn’t mean either activity is painless or even risk-free. As I tell my GMAT classes, in skiing we have saying: “If you’re not falling, you’re not learning.” Which brings us to the first parallel:

(click here for more)

You know you are an MBA when...

Monty Python once (actually many times) signaled an upcoming digression with the phrase: "And now for something completely different..."

You know you are an MBA when....

You ask the waiter what the restaurant's core competencies are.

You decide to re-org your family into a 'team- based organization.'

You refer to dating as test marketing.

You can spell 'paradigm.'

You actually know what a paradigm is.

(for more, click here)

Thanks for this to http://twitter.com/zashtonemoje who also has started a great MBA blog at http://zashtonemoje.wordpress.com/

GMAT Critical Reasoning: Find The “Cleat” In Inference Questions

Inference Questions are unique. Inference questions are the only question sub-type to show up in a major way in both Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension questions on the GMAT. Between the two, you can expect to encounter seven to eight inference questions on Test Day, comprising about 18% of the verbal section. So inference questions are important. However, inference questions are also outliers. On most critical reasoning and reading comprehension questions, GMAT takers can triangulate on the correct answer by systematically analyzing either the content or structure of the stimulus/passage. Not so on Inference Questions...(click here for more)


To add your questions and comments just click below on "_ Comments" or "Links to this Post" and then "Post a Comment".

Should you retake the GMAT?

Einstein said insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. So should you consider retaking the GMAT? Absolutely… if you have a reason to believe the next time around is going to be different... (click here for more)



To add your questions and comments just click below on "_ Comments" or "Links to this Post" and then "Post a Comment".