Strengths or Weaknesses: Which Is More Important When Studying for the GMAT?
Today’s post is brought to you by MBA House and is written by Meli Wells and Jarrod Stokes.
The author Don Clifton began research for his famous book Now, Discover Your Strengths after he found that individuals who read 90 words a minute improved to 150 wpm when given a tutorial but those who were strong readers at 350 wpm improved to an unbelievable 3,200 wpm when given the same instruction time. These results show that even in areas where someone has strong skills, there can be immense room for improvement.
Many GMAT students tend to ignore their strengths and focus only on their weaknesses, worried that a low score on either the math or verbal section will be a big red flag to admissions officers. While working to improve weak areas is important, this overly focused approach causes many candidates to miss out on the opportunity to maximize their overall GMAT score.
So think about this, if you’re stronger in math, ask yourself how many points could you have gained if you had spent a mere 10% to 20% of your total study time brushing up on your geometry or practicing a few 700+ math problems. It may be enough points to move you from a 670 to a 700. The same holds true if you are stronger at the verbal section, spending an extra hour a week honing your reading comprehension accuracy could raise your total score from the average range to the above average range. Try following these tips when forming a balanced study plan:
- If you have very limited time, spend the majority of your studying trying to improve your weaker section. However, continue to take complete practice exams to give you exposure to the all of the sections. It will help you strengthen all of your muscles.
- Try to spice things up! If you have more time to prepare try to layer in a few harder level problems of your stronger section each week to break-up the monotony. This will not only make studying more enjoyable but will help build your confidence as you see improvements in your total score.
- Don’t just study and do practice tests but review your answers, this includes your stronger area. By reviewing the problems you got correct you might find even faster ways to get an answer on test day.
Remember; don’t neglect your strengths in preparing for the GMAT. A little bit of effort can help maximize your total score, build your confidence and make the process of studying a bit more pleasurable.
