Gmat exam sucess 8 pot

The actor and comedian Jim Carrey is reported to have written himself a check for a million dollars when he

was still struggling and broke. He carried that check in his wallet for years. Whenever he felt discouraged, he

would take out the check and look at it. He visualized receiving a million-dollar check for his work one day. Car￾rey made that million-dollar paycheck part of his reality, and reality added a few extra zeros for him.

A Reality Check

23

I Need a Plan

You already know a great deal about studying. You could not have gotten this far, to the doorstep of business

school, without effective study skills. The following pages will help you fine-tune your study methods so that

you can make the most efficient use of your time.

The key to success in this endeavor, as in so many, is to take things one step at a time. Break this giant

task down into manageable pieces. Your first step in successful studying is to create a study plan.

What Should I Study?

First, you must decide what you need to study. You may want to start with the pretests at the beginning of

Parts II, III, and IV to help you assess your strengths and weaknesses. Make a list of each type of question and

how well you scored on it, and analyze your list. What kinds of questions did you miss? What patterns do you

see? Do you need to work on sentence correction questions? Word problems or data sufficiency? Do critical

reasoning questions throw you for a loop? In your practice analytical essays, did you organize your thoughts

well and convey them clearly? Did you take a clear position on the issue and effectively analyze the argument?

It can be difficult to judge your own writing accurately so get feedback from someone whose opinions you

trust and respect so you can better identify your writing strengths and weaknesses. Most importantly, do not

forget to give yourself credit for the questions you answered correctly.

Once you are aware of what you know and what you still need to work on, you can effectively priori￾tize whatever study time you have available. Remember, no matter how you scored on the pretests and no mat￾ter what your weaknesses are, you will get better with practice. The more you study and the more effectively

you work, the higher you will score on the actual exam.

How Do I Find the Time to Study?

Now is the time to create a realistic study schedule. You might be thinking that your life is too full without

cramming in study time, too. But maybe you have more time available than you think. Think about your typ￾ical daily and weekly activities and determine when you have free time to devote to studying. Do not forget

the short stretches—the 10 minutes here, the 15 minutes there. Sometimes you can do your best studying in

short bursts. If you cannot seem to find the time, ask yourself what is more important to you in the long run

than achieving your goals. Your life may seem quite full, but you are bound to spend some time at less pro￾ductive activities, such as watching television. You could use this time to help make your dreams a reality.