Don’t swim against the tide of GMAT

Today, I listened to a series of recorded lectures on GMAT by some GMAT instructor. The
lectures pertained to Sentence Correction. On listening to the lectures, one thing became clear to
me: the aim was to somehow solve the questions correctly as fast as possible.

The aim makes sense? Isn’t it?

Well, not really.

The instructor asked the student to scan through the option statements and look for the
differences, and then try to understand the sentence to figure out which options can be eliminated
on the basis of the differences. The sessions were laden with tricks and tips that can help one
solve some questions in as few as 10 seconds! Of course, there were exceptions to those tricks.
Fortunately, those exceptions were also discussed to some extent, but then the student was left to
figure out whether question he is going to see on the actual test will follow the trick or be an
exception.

All these sessions pertained to Sentence Correction. I am not sure how people teach CR (Critical
Reasoning) or RC (Reading Comprehension). Probably, they have tips and tricks for these
sections too.

Now, why am I writing this article?

Probably, because I felt a bit (or more accurately, quite) sad while watching the videos. All the
focus was on solving the questions as fast as possible without any on student learning. There was
no focus on building the concepts of the students. It was if the success could be achieved directly
without a pursuit of excellence, without mastery of the subject.

Of course, success is our aim. A good score on GMAT is our aim. And for a good score, we need
to solve the questions within a limited time frame. However, how do we achieve it? Through tips
and tricks? By learning shortcuts for every conceivable question type?

This approach is something I call “swimming against the tide”. Why do I call it so? The answer
lies in simple logic.

What is the objective of GMAT?

The answer to the above question will be easier to understand if we look at an even more
fundamental question first.

Why does GMAT exist?

It exists as an entrance test for MBA programs worldwide. Right? And it is accepted by the likes
of HBS, Stanford, and Wharton.
What will these B-schools be looking for in the candidates?

A mastery of shortcuts?

Or A mastery of skills that will contribute to success during MBA and, after that, in business.

The second one. Right?

And wouldn’t that be the objective of GMAT?

To provide these B-schools with a reliable indicator of these skills in the candidates.

Now, what are the skills that are required to succeed in MBA or business or that GMAT tests us
on?

I think the most fundamental skill, if it can be called a skill, is the ability to reason deeply.
Basically, what is your depth of reasoning? When you understand anything, do you understand it
in depth? or do your understand it just superficially?

And this is what GMAT is testing you on. It tests your depth of reasoning by asking you to apply
very fundamental concepts of Math and English in difficult situations. Your ability to apply the
concepts on difficult problems is directly proportional to your concept clarity. The clearer your
concepts are, the more successfully you’ll be able to apply them on GMAT problems.

So, logically, our focus while preparing for GMAT should be on building our concept clarity.

However, we’re struck in shortcuts and tricks. And why are we stuck in shortcuts and tricks?

Because when we look at a GMAT paper, we don’t see it as a test of reasoning; we see it as a test
of English and Math questions because, as we reason, every question on GMAT is indeed either
an English or a Math question. Such superficial is our understanding that we cannot see past the
surface of the questions to understand their crux! Quite comically, this superficiality of our
understanding prevents us to even see that the test is a test of depth of reasoning. And we
continue to prepare in ways that don’t build our reasoning skills. We just want to clear the test
through shortcuts and tricks, and this way is rather enforced by many test prep institutes, many of
whom have faculty who haven’t taken GMAT themselves and even don’t have the reasoning
calibre to teach higher order reasoning skills tested on GMAT.

Now, this approach of shortcuts and tricks is what I call “swimming against the tide”. Why?
Because you want to score high on the GMAT through these shortcuts and tricks without
building your concepts, and GMAC (the council that conducts GMAT) is up against you and
wants to make sure that a student’s score reflects his or her ability, not his recollection of
shortcuts and tricks.

Essentially, you are swimming against the tide and purpose of GMAT.
Who wins?

If GMAT is indeed worth its salt, it will.

Now, you don’t really need to swim against the tide. There is another way to prepare for GMAT.
The way is to build your concepts that are tested on the GMAT. And once you master those
concepts, your confidence will soar, and you’ll deserve and eventually get a high score on the
GMAT. And trust me, this building of concepts is going to be useful not only for the GMAT but
for your entire life. The learning that you gain during your GMAT prep will help you in your
business school and beyond.

And in this way, you’ll swim with the tide of GMAT, not against it.

This article has also been posted at Linkedin (Link) and GMAT Club (Link)

Chiranjeev Singh

An Alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad and with scores of 780 (2017) and 770 (2013) on GMAT and
99.98%ile on CAT, Chiranjeev is one of the most qualified GMAT tutors in India. Chiranjeev
has earlier served as Director of Curriculum at e-GMAT. Chiranjeev has been helping students
ace GMAT since 2012. He follows a concept-based methodology to teaching GMAT and is very
committed to student success. You may contact him for any private GMAT tutoring needs at
CJ@GMATwithCJ.com. He conducts online sessions for students across the