GMAT advice from the EMPOWERgmat team
222 articles on GMAT strategy, study plans, pacing and the MBA application.
Explain the Discrepancy: Both Facts Are TRUE
Discrepancy questions hand you two facts that seem to clash. Stop picking a side: treat both as TRUE and most wrong answers fall apart.
Your Application Doesn't Need a Perfect Score. It Needs a COMPLETE Story.
Round 1 is close, your essays are half done, and you're eyeing one more GMAT. Do the math first. The retake may be costing you the admit.
Sequences: Write Out Five Terms Before You Look for a Formula
Sequence questions tempt you to dig for a half-remembered formula. Write five terms on paper instead, spot the pattern and take the point.
Your Notepad Is a WEAPON. Train How You Use It.
A messy notepad costs you minutes and points. Build one layout per GMAT question type and stop rereading every prompt.
TRIAGE: Let One Question Go So You Can Get Three Right
Fighting one monster GMAT question for five minutes isn't courage. Learn to spot it in 30 seconds, guess on purpose and bank the points you CAN get.
Science Passages Are EASIER Than They Look
Science passages on the GMAT look scary, but you never need the science. Learn to find the author's claim and the structure, then test yourself on a fresh passage.
Overlapping Sets: Draw the GRID
Overlapping sets questions turn 'both' and 'neither' into a mess in your head. One simple grid turns them into fill in the blanks. Here's how.
Comparing Your Score to Strangers Online Is KILLING Your Prep
That stranger's 705 post has no story behind it. Here's why scrolling score posts wrecks your GMAT plan, and the three numbers you should track instead.
Graphics Interpretation: The Dropdown Tells You What Math to Do
Stop studying every graph. In Graphics Interpretation, the dropdown choices tell you what math to do, and sometimes that you need almost none.
Test-Day Score Below Your Practice Tests? Check THESE Before You Blame the Test
Your official GMAT score came in below your practice tests? It probably wasn't bad luck. Here's how to find the real cause and fix it.
Ratios: Use the MULTIPLIER and Stop Guessing
A ratio of 3:5 does not mean 3 and 5. Add one unknown multiplier and GMAT ratio questions shrink to one short line of math.
Burnout Is a Training Error, Not a Character Flaw
Dreading every GMAT session isn't laziness. It's a broken plan. Here's how to build rest into your training on purpose, starting tonight.
Median, Range and Spread: Skip the Formulas, Picture the Numbers
Median, range and spread questions get easy the moment you line the numbers up on paper. Two worked examples show you how to see the answer, not grind it.
You Don't Need MORE Questions. You Need to REDO the Ones You've Done.
Racing through new GMAT questions feels like progress, but your old misses hold the points. Here's how to redo them so the same mistakes stop.
Rates and Distance: Build the TABLE Before You Touch an Equation
Rate questions aren't hard, they're messy. Build one simple table on your notepad and the equation writes itself. Two worked examples inside.
Remainders: Small Numbers Reveal the Pattern
Remainder questions look like number theory. They aren't. List a few small numbers, spot the pattern, and grab the points in seconds.
Reading Comp: Answer From the Passage, NOT From What You Know
Know a lot about the topic? That can cost you Reading Comp points. Here is why the GMAT punishes outside knowledge, and a habit that stops it.
Your Score Scale Changed to 205 to 805. Your Goal Should Too.
Still chasing a 700? That number belongs to a test that no longer exists. Here is how to set a real 205 to 805 goal and train for it today.
Evaluate the Argument: Find the Question That Would SETTLE It
Most people pick the Evaluate answer that sounds related, and they miss it. Learn the both-ways test that finds the question that would SETTLE the argument.
Table Analysis: SORT First, Think Second
Table Analysis hands you a sort button and most people never press it. Learn to read the statement first, sort one column and make each call in seconds.
Verbal Without Sentence Correction: Your Reading Has to Get SHARPER
Sentence Correction is gone from GMAT Verbal, so grammar rules can't carry you. Here's how to train the careful reading that now decides your score.
Multi-Source Reasoning: Don't Read Every Tab Like a Novel
Reading every Multi-Source Reasoning tab word by word drains your Data Insights clock. Skim, build a map, then hunt for exactly what each question needs.
The 10-Minute Break: PLAN It, Don't Just Take It
You get exactly one 10-minute break on the GMAT. Here's how to decide where it goes, what to do with it, and how to rehearse it before Test Day.
Quant Is ALL Problem Solving Now. Good. TEST THE ANSWERS.
Every GMAT Focus Quant question gives you five answers. Here's why plugging them in beats your algebra, and how to build the habit this week.