The new shorter GRE edition and the new GMAT FOCUS have had a similar makeover recently: they cut the exam length, making it slimmer and agile to pass through. The contents tested, and the notions the students must learn to achieve a good/ great score are the same as before.

• See at a glance a full table of comparison between the two new versions of the exams - GMAT and GRE - thanks to this official New GRE General Test and the GMAT™ Focus Edition

However, the real purpose of this post is not to provide you with valuable links in one place, even though they are relevant. It is beyond that.

Generally speaking, a topic could be centered on providing the students with strategies (theory to learn concepts) or with practice (to apply those same concepts). Essentially, these are the two pillars of the preparation for the GMAT. Then, we add a good study plan for one/two/three months.

• GRE Study Plan

And a good time management guideline. That's it.

The cooking recipe is served. Of course, it is not that simple, particularly in the making or during the study process.
More common is also to have priceless insights on how to deal with anxiety during the exam. See for more details How to Deal with Test Anxiety on the GMAT; Mindfulness Meditation Techniques to Counter Exam Anxiety. We will back on this crucial aspect later in the topic, in a moment.

Less common is to pay attention during the study process for the GMAT to the so-called burnout. In other words,

How may we deal with the always incumbent burnout?
How can we have an effective stress management strategy?
How can we empower our minds and stay laser-focused throughout our journey?
Considering also that most of us have a hectic schedule: family, job - even more than one, parents and relatives to take care of, friends, commuting, traffic jams, the list could be endless........................

Therefore, let's jump into this.


NO BURNING OUT

We live in a frantic society for the good or the bad. More often than not, studying for the GMAT is way bigger than a challenge. It could bring us to the brick. However, looking for a school or University should bring us up and not sink ourselves or our morale.

• Energy Management - This simple concept is not so far from the same applied in any field. It includes more simple and elaborate actions to proactively and systematically control and optimize energy consumption to minimize usage and decrease energy costs. This is also expressed in a fundamental economic principle studied by the Italian Economist Vilfredo Pareto: According to the 80-20 rule, a mere 20% of the inputs contribute to a whopping 80% of the outcomes for any given event. This rule is particularly relevant in business, as it enables professionals to identify the most productive inputs and prioritize them accordingly. By doing so, individuals can effectively maximize their output and achieve their desired results. This is a way to conserve energy and not waste them.
  
  How does it apply to the GMAT study? The answer is obvious but effective: study the core concepts and make your fundamental notions rock solid. No matter the question, you must know every possible idea related to it and manipulate it accordingly. Again, make your fundamentals as strong as steel.
  
  Turns out, when we are burned out, our energy level tanks. Even if we dedicate 24 hours to studying for the GMAT, practicing like no one on earth and the best study technique money can buy will not save us from reaching that point and not being as effective as we could IF our level of energy is not properly managed and it is near to zero. Therefore, you must set up effective scheduling that would permit you NOt to draw your energy level and simultaneously give space to those activities that will reenergize you and be more productive. It is a complete waste of time to study for three hours when you are sleepy and tired instead of one hour long when you are full of energy, proactive, and volitive.
  
  Burnout also happens when we force ourselves to go through activities that we, in the end, do not like. I am not saying that studying for the GMAT is fun but at least you must try to make it enjoyable. Otherwise, your mind will go in safety mode, protecting itself from learning. Also, this is backed up by science. If you take a negative association or, at the very most, neutral with what you are doing, it is strongly advised to reconsider before taking action.
  
  Mark Twain said: “Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day.”
  
  Another important aspect is your study environment: a messy, chaotic study place is not the best way to study. It should be not only quiet but also clean and minimal. Plenty of scientific studies point out a cluttered study corner is detrimental to your activities, especially when you study or try to learn something.
  
  Find a community to work with or a study partner. You can have and find both here at GMATClub. Where else
  
  Have a variation of topics, balancing them: not only should you study variating your study topics, I.E. do not study algebra and practice accordingly for three hours straight, but have a variation: both quant and verbal in the same session. Moreover, balance this with other activities such as reading a book or having a nice and relaxing conversation with your grandfather or relatives. Remember, do not put yourself in a limbo during the GMAT journey: having a vibrant and joyful network of relationships is also very important.

• A Sustainable Plan - You should avoid as much as possible to stuff your daily schedule with as full as physically possible GMAT study hours, including. There is no way you can reach your goal this way. Why ? Because we do know from science that your brain is fried after three hours of study. And this if we consider we do not have any other activity our forces are dedicated to, such as work, family, problems, unforeseen, and all the rest of them daily.
  You must find if not the perfect, but at least a good balance between study and rest. Follow your natural path throughout the day when you are more profitable and squeeze that full potential to study for the GMAT. For example, to me, it was at 5 AM. Wake up, a good breakfast with oatmeal + milk + peanuts crunchy butter + milk + protein powder (a scoop) + a touch of coffee. Then, 10 minutes of serious stretching and breathing. Move on.........at full potential. The rest of the day was a frolic through the park in comparison. Two hours of study. No more.

• Wellbeing Practicing - Self-care should be an absolute priority during your journey. Not only because it is pivotal to helping you achieve your GMAT score and, in a more general way, to foster your health and live a better, painless life. For many people, this means chilling out and drinking beer with some friend or hitting the mall and having a crazy shopping afternoon BUT.........
  
  
  • Sleep - having plenty of good quality sleep. Researchers tell us to have from 8 to 10 hours of sleep. During this phase, our brain organizes and incorporates the notions you learn during your study time AND cleans itself from the waste.
    When I started to work out as a teenager as a small but functional gym in my area, one of the first lessons I learned was that during your workout, you destroy your muscles. When you eat and, mainly, when you rest, the same muscles will grow, becoming bigger and stronger. The same principle can be applied to the GMAT study routine. However, sleep is subjective: some people sleep 4 hours, are fine, always focused on their job, and have no issues. Find your sweet spot.
    
  • Daily Motion - Incorporate a consistent fitness regime into your daily scheduling: gym, running, surfing, karate...whatever. This helps you stay fit and healthy, improving your brain to work faster and better, but also, your entire body and soul will be reinvigorated.
    
  • Meditation - there are over 6k studies from all over the place that suggest that meditating improves your brain and makes it stronger. As I mentioned, there is an amazing video on our youtube channel with Dr. Jenny Forman, Meditation coach interviewed by GMATNinja, highlighting all the benefits we have following this practice. It is amazing: in this beautiful article, Meditation Can Change Your Brain for Better and Longer…Compiled by Kevin W Chen, Ph.D. You can see the changes in our brain after ten minutes of meditation.
    Specifically, what we have and improve is our focus. I.E we gain the momentum. What is the momentum? It means we are fully concentrated in that specific moment: every distraction, our anxiety, our way of thinking, and the way we create and see new or different paths to solve problems will be improved. We will have laser-focused attention. Meditation Boosts Your Focus, Resilience, and Brain. I read of a guy who has three Guinness Book of World records swimming the English Channel, and he meditated the entire time, totally in the momentum. Meditation is a powerful tool to incorporate into your arsenal.
    
  • Diet and Supplements - Avoid junk food. Incorporate in your regime a healthy diet that will give you all the necessary macro and micronutrients. Of course, this should be the norm throughout our entire life. Our brain as we know it today evolved from our ancestors when McDonald's did not exist. They have protein, vegetables, and tons of fruits to eat. Coupled your diet with supplements such as multivitamins, or if your meals already provide you with all the necessary elements, add Omega-3 fatty acids in pillars. Ingestion of omega-3 fatty acids increases learning, memory, cognitive well-being, and blood flow in the brain.

FREE resources for a great score

Caveat: my suggestions are not endorsed by any means by the board of directors of this website nor by third parties. They reflect only and solely my experience over the years. Bear in mind. You can follow them or skip them altogether. You can also see my advice: " How to achieve your target GRE score on a budget".


When we talk about GRE resources, we have a wide spectrum, ranging from those who study alone, use a private tutor, have a study buddy, use an entire course provided by a prep company, and so on. There is no one-size-fits-all-all strategy. However, in my opinion, spending money, or at least a few bucks, is unnecessary.

As you know, the new GRE does not change much in the concepts tested. They are always the same as before. Then and now. For the new version, we do have

4 sections (54 questions), completed in the order of your choosing: Quant+Verbal+Quant+Verbal. No interruption and no experimental section.


QUANT

For quant, the only resources you need for the GRE, from the very basic concepts to the most advanced ones, are the

• GRE Math Essentials - A most comprehensive handout!! [COMPLETED]
• GRE - Math Book

That's it. Nothing else. It contains ALL, and I underline ALL, you need for a GRE score well above 320.



VERBAL

• RC - The only strategy to follow for the RC passages is simple and straight, and you do not need anything else: read and understand the passage. Stop. Let's be honest: we must say an inconvenient truth. I know that this could bring in a lot of criticism BUT the students do not know what they read in Standard English. They pretend with strategies, tips, and tricks to solve passages at an academic level when they have hard time understanding more simple essays.
  
  
  Quote:
  Reading Comprehension Strategy by Ron Purewal (I hope you know who he is...)
  
  An excerpt by Ron Purewal about RC passage strategy
  
  The two official guides (twelfth edition and verbal supplement), taken together, provide more than enough practice.
  
  If the student has gone through those materials and is still having considerable trouble, then one of the following three things (or more than one of them) is true:
  
  (1) the student hasn't taken the time to learn how the problems work and is just randomly trying to memorize things;
  (2) the student doesn't understand how to read and process the passages and is reading as though the passages were just factfactfactfact;
  (3) the student isn't yet good enough at reading and understanding professionally written English.
  
  Notice that NONE of these three things will be fixable by a greater volume of practice problems. if any of these three things is going on, additional practice problems won't fix the problem; additional practice will cement the problem.
  as an analogy, think of someone with a totally wrong golf swing. Now, think of what will happen if this person goes out and takes 10,000 practice swings at golf balls -- the person will still have exactly the same problems, but those problems will now be so thoroughly reinforced that they will be practically impossible to fix.
  The same is true for rc. in fact, i will just come out and say that no student should spend more than 15-20 hours of his or her entire life practicing specifically for GMAT RC. (note that this is a lifetime total -- not monthly, not weekly, but actual lifetime.) that is plenty of time to learn how GMAC writes the wording of its questions, what terms such as “primary purpose” and “inference” mean, etc. beyond this point, GMAT-specific studying is simply not going to help, and, in all probability, will make bad habits even worse and more permanent.
  
  if someone is going to spend many hours, then those hours should be spent before the person starts taking on GMAT-type problems. for instance, if the student can't read English fast enough, then that's a problem that must be addressed before he/she begins to look at GMAT-style problems. if the student doesn't understand how to read passages for the main point, then that's a problem that must be addressed before he/she begins to look at GMAT-style problems. etc
  
  
  This is the ONLY thing you must remember when approaching the RC section. Period.
  
  Essentially, the passages ask you to find two things for the material to use: the main idea and the inference questions. The only material you need is the following file I uploaded years ago RC Tips and Tricks.rar. Also, refer to this stellar youtube video on our channel How to Hit 100% Accuracy on #GMAT Reading Comprehension or RC - GMAT Reading Comprehension by GMATNinja
  
  
• CR - Critical reasoning is not that different from RC: you must understand what the stem conveys. However, you need a clear strategy to attack the stem because it has variations such as assumption, weakening the argument, etc. Refer to the PDfg I uploaded years ago. It is a conceptual map with only what you need. And as always, the key is to UNDERSTAND the stem. read, read, and read..........CR_Quick_Reference_Rev0.pdf
  
  
• TC & SE - The following strategies is what you should follow alongside a robust GRE Vocabulary - All you NEED Words/Study Lists/Resources
  
  
  • Eliminating options systematically
  • Provide a rationale for the correct response
  • Restate the inquiry in different words

Have a Great Study.
Best Regards

Carcass