The Most Common Serious Mistakes GMAT Test-Takers Make!

I hope every GMAT test-taker sees this. Many students make these mistakes repeatedly, and often, after a poor test performance, Dustin finds out through questioning that they fell into the same traps as previous students. This is truly disheartening…

Therefore, Dustin has decided to compile the most common study mistakes and offer his personal advice.

1. You can only take the GMAT 5 times a year, so save your attempts! Don’t try your first attempt if you’re not confident.

Wrong! You should take your first attempt within 2 months of starting your preparation, at the latest. Then, take another attempt 0.5-1.5 months later (depending on your ESR analysis). Your total study period should not exceed 6 months.

Reason:

• No matter how long you prepare before your first attempt, you won’t know where your actual weaknesses lie in the real test. You might think certain areas are fine, but they turn out to be problematic in the exam, while areas you thought were major issues turn out to be manageable.
• It’s better to try once to understand where to focus your subsequent preparation and effectively allocate time to your weaknesses.
• If the interval between two attempts is too long, your well-adjusted state can easily decline again. If the overall study period extends beyond six months, it’s easy to lose motivation.
• Current GMAT policies are different from ten years ago. Detailed score reports after the exam, the ability to retake the test every 16 days… these policies tell us that GMAC wants you to adapt flexibly, learn from mistakes, and not be afraid to face the actual exam or fear failure.
• Over the past four years, among the nearly one thousand test-takers Dustin has seen, only 10-20% achieved their target score on the first attempt. Most self-corrected between their second and third attempts by analyzing score reports, categorizing incorrect practice questions, readjusting study plans, and committing to thorough reviews.

2. Only seek help if you still have obstacles a week before the exam!

Wrong! If you have problems, seek help immediately from experienced high-scorers or tutors, because your issues may not be solvable overnight.

 Reason:

• Many people have issues with their foundational reading ability/speed, but this requires at least 4-8 weeks of training. If they come to Dustin only a week or two before the exam, I often can only offer a wry smile, unable to help.
• Re-adjusting your problem-solving process takes about 2 weeks, by practicing questions, analyzing weak points, and gradually deconstructing problems to find your blind spots and areas lacking efficiency.
• Even for the most basic concepts or test points, it takes at least three to four days of practicing related question types to develop sensitivity to those points.
• The GMAT doesn’t just test knowledge or problem-solving techniques; it’s more about logical thinking and academic English reading comprehension. These latter two are related to developing intuitive human thought and cannot be improved in just a few days, but require continuous adjustment over several weeks.

3. For your review, just reiterate the concepts you used to solve the problems.

Wrong! Don’t keep playing in your familiar sandbox, okay?

 Reason:

• The reason it’s called a ‘review’ (總結) and not just a ‘check’ (檢討) is because a review means thoroughly examining and breaking down all questions, all options, and all test points.
• Even if you can solve a question using a simple approach, there are certainly points in that question that you don’t know or are afraid to tackle. If you don’t understand these points during your review, what will you do when they appear alone in the actual exam?
• The parallelism, subject-verb agreement, idioms, etc., that you originally used are known by everyone, so you’ll just be stuck in the low-score range with others. If test points that others avoid or are afraid to solve appear alone in the actual exam, and others don’t know them, that question becomes a high-score question. If you thoroughly review all test points daily and face them bravely, you can overcome these high-score questions.

4. It’s okay to skip studying for a day or two while preparing for the GMAT!

Wrong! Interrupting for one day leaves you with 70% of your skill; interrupting for three days means starting over!

Reason:

• Besides testing logical thinking and English reading comprehension, the GMAT also requires familiarity with problem-solving and thinking (commonly known as ‘feel’), which is an indispensable part of the process.
• Dustin’s personal experience: Interrupting for one day makes questions feel hazy and slow; interrupting for three days means almost forgetting the feeling of solving problems.
• If you’re preparing for the exam, it’s best to plan ahead to avoid busy seasons/business trips at work and cut off all non-essential entertainment (in fact, there’s hardly any essential entertainment that should take precedence over the GMAT).
• Even if you genuinely have very little time on a given day, force yourself to do 2-5 questions for each section. Maintain your thinking and ‘feel’.

5. Focus on RC today, CR the day after tomorrow, and Quant the day after that. Just focus on one section per day!

Wrong! It’s okay to do a small amount, but it’s recommended to practice all three sections every day.

 Reason:

• Dustin has tried it: by the time you return to practice the first day’s section on the fourth day, the feeling will be back to square one.
• As mentioned above, familiarity with problem-solving is a very important training indicator. So don’t overlook it.
• In the actual exam, the three question types are mixed. Isn’t it better to adapt early?

6. The first ten questions are very important, so it’s okay to spend a bit more time on them!

Wrong! You are making a decision with a negative expected value!

 Reason:

• Are you sure that spending more time guarantees you’ll choose the correct answer? Or will it be spent on unnecessary hesitation, leading to a wrong choice?
• Spending more time doesn’t necessarily lead to correctness. The extra time spent upfront is borrowed from the end, and the last ten questions will inevitably be rushed, leading to a significant drop in accuracy.
• In summary, the probability of a positive return upfront is unknown, but the losses at the end are almost certain. This is a decision with a negative expected value; absolutely do not make it.
• Dustin’s advice: For the first ten questions, do not spend more than 2.5 minutes per question. If you average over 2.5 minutes per question for the first ten, the rest of the section will surely collapse.

7. If time is running out, still focus your efforts on each question; don’t just guess through the remaining problems!

Wrong! The official guide tells you it’s better to guess all answers than to leave questions unanswered!

 Reason:

• GMAC officially states: if time runs out, ‘guessing’ is better than ‘not finishing’.
• The additional penalty for not finishing is very severe, and you cannot afford it.

8. Start timing yourself only when you take practice tests a week before the exam; don’t time yourself during practice before that.

Wrong! If you only start timing during practice tests, it’ll be too late.

Reason:

• Problem-solving time is related to your problem-solving process and familiarity with questions; it cannot be rushed in the week before the exam. Instead, it requires extended time to ‘habituate’.
• If you can’t control the time spent on individual questions for each section, it’s absolutely impossible to control the overall pace of a mixed-section practice test.
• At least three weeks before the exam, you should gradually tighten the time limit for individual questions during regular practice (e.g., 3 min per question -> 2.5 min… -> eventually shortening to your target time). Allow yourself to slowly get used to it.

9. I’ve practiced all the questions, what should I do?

Change your mindset and re-train!

Reason:

• Absolutely do not use unofficial questions for practice, and definitely not LSAT or external institution’s mock questions. Going off track with your practice will lead to more harm than good.
• Dustin himself practiced the OG four times and the PP twice. Every test-taker has the same amount of official questions available; it depends on how effectively you use them.
• For how to change your mindset and practice again, please refer to this article.

10. Can’t sleep before the exam? Quickly get up and review Verbal ‘ji jing’ (past exam questions/predictions).

Wrong! Absolutely no Verbal ‘ji jing’ 24 hours before the exam!

Reason:

• In past experiences, test-takers who were negatively affected by ‘ji jing’ during the exam (unable to comprehend passages in the test center) were those who couldn’t sleep before the exam and got up to cram ‘ji jing’, or even reviewed ‘ji jing’ on the morning of the exam. During the test, their minds were filled only with Chinese ‘ji jing’ impressions, which resisted the absorption of the English text in front of them.
• The solution is simple: refrain from reading Verbal ‘ji jing’ 24 hours before the exam. Go back and do 6-8 OG Reading Comprehension passages to regain the normal feeling of solving RC questions, diluting the ‘ji jing’ memory into passive memory to avoid interference.

11. Practice tests are a waste of time; don’t take them a week before the exam!

Wrong! Practice tests are essential tools to help you connect with the actual exam!

Reason:

• Many people who don’t take practice tests in the days leading up to the actual exam (regardless of whether it’s their first attempt) often start off unstable and underperform due to difficulty adapting, or even experience a complete breakdown in time management.
• Even if you have very little time before the exam, you should start consistently taking one V+Q practice test per day at least 3-7 days beforehand.
• The timing of your practice tests should ideally correspond to the actual exam time.
• What’s important about practice tests is not the score performance, but whether you can consistently complete all questions within 75 minutes. Absolutely do not be influenced by your score after checking answers.
• When reviewing practice tests, only review incorrect and uncertain options; there’s no need to review everything as you would in a comprehensive summary. Use the remaining time to redo OG questions and perform other necessary training (such as ‘ji jing’).

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