There’s so much to do as you prep for the GMAT…review math formulas, remind yourself of grammar rules from way back when, take practice tests, learn this whole new world of data sufficiency…there are endless tips on how to improve your score, and most people find the need to spend 2-3 months or so preparing.  In addition to the study-prep tips that are already top of mind, such as working through all of the practice problems in your test-prep books, there are other things that you can do during your preparation period that can indirectly help you improve your GMAT score, outside of your study time.  One of these is to READ as much as possible between now and Test Day.

So what exactly is meant by reading more — are we talking reading GMAT material, or just reading in general?  While it IS important to do a lot of GMAT reading (i.e. from your practice materials) as frequently as possible, ANY increased reading you do, of virtually any content, has the potential to improve your test-day mindset and performance.  So when you take your study breaks, while you ride the bus or subway if applicable, or while you walk that treadmill you got as part of your new year’s resolutions, fit in some reading whenever possible—choose reading over watching TV or playing video games when you can, for example; it may just help you get an extra edge.

How exactly can reading more help your GMAT score?  Reading more can:

Improve your reading SPEED

We all know how time-pressured the GMAT experience is, so wouldn’t you give anything to have a bit more time on test day?  Improving your overall reading speed can help with ALL types of test questions, verbal and math, saving you time on Test Day.

Improve your reading COMPREHENSION

While many people focus less on the reading comprehension portion of the exam, because they feel it is straightforward, reading comp can actually become many test-takers’ downfall if they are not careful.  The more you read, the more you improve your comprehension skills, helping you with Reading Comp questions, along with most other GMAT question types.

Improve your GRAMMAR skills

The more you read, the more you will naturally improve your familiarity with commonly accepted grammar usage and style, helping you with some of the nuances on GMAT sentence correction questions.

So what should you read then?  First of all, let me remind any non-native English speakers out there—whatever reading you are doing, make sure it is in ENGLISH!  That might sound like common sense, but I have tutored many international students who, when I ask them what they are reading during their down times, are doing all of their reading in their native language.   Reading more in English is crucial if English isn’t your native language.  Also, if you aren’t as used to reading on the computer, you may want to try to do that as much as possible too, in preparation for your GMAT experience which will be all on the computer.

As far as exact content, besides your GMAT practice materials, if you’d like to stick closer to GMAT-style tone and content, you might read scholarly journals or news publications.  Articles in publications such as The Economist, and Scientific American come close to the GMAT style, for example.   But ANYTHING you read, compared with not reading, can still help you in some way, so as a supplement to your test prep plan, be sure you increase your time spent reading for an extra boost in test-taking ability.

You’ve been studying religiously for the GMAT, learning all of the content and formulas you need, practicing under timed conditions…and suddenly, your practice test scores went down!  How is that possible, you wonder?  Is all the work that you’re doing pointless?  Are you doomed to stay at this low score level no matter what?

Relax, and know that it is NORMAL for your practice test scores to fluctuate.  There are many reasons for this, including:

• Learning new approaches can slow you down initially

Any good test prep material will provide you with strategic, methodical approaches to each type of GMAT question.  Having a step-by-step approach that you take for every question type ensures that you are never just sitting there on test day, staring blankly at the screen.  Learning these methods, though, takes time and practice, and you may even SLOW DOWN for a period as you master the strategic approach.  Think about learning how to type properly—at first you may type slower than your own practiced method, but eventually, typing appropriately by touch will be faster than any method you had used.

As part of Kaplan’s GMAT team, I’ve seen first-hand how test prep companies and publishers invest in extensive research and development to ensure that the approach they teach for each question type is the most effective and efficient.  And the companies update their materials regularly with the latest research, which Kaplan is doing this month with our new GMAT course.  These approaches advocated by test prep companies are PROVEN to be effective, while your own “just-wing-it” approach is not.  Keep practicing the proven methods– just know that it will take some time until you see results.

• It’s not test day yet—you’re still learning and improving

Unless your test is tomorrow, you have not completed your course of study yet, and hence there are pieces of the GMAT puzzle that you invariably have not devoted as much time to at this point.  Maybe it is work formula questions, drilling on parallelism, learning how to attack permutations …but your practice tests will help you identify those pieces that you still need to work on, ensuring that by test day you’ve done all that you can in practicing each topic and question type of the test.

• You can have an “off” day

Did you take the practice test at home?  Was the TV on, the phone ringing, dinner cooking?  Were you tired, or hungry, or just not focused?  Some test-takers find that when they know a test is just practice, they can’t always take it as seriously, and might find their minds wandering during reading passages for example.  They will often see an increase between their last practice test score and their real exam, since they are focused and ready on test-day.  Other test-takers might find that some days they are less determined and focused due to personal or environmental factors, which might bring down a given day’s practice test score.  This also underscores the importance of being well-rested and eating a good breakfast on test day!

Staying positive after practice test score fluctuations

There are always going to be fluctuations in your performance on any given day.  Even the real GMAT has a margin of error.  And along the way, if you take 6-10 practice tests, which Kaplan and other test prep companies recommend, you are more than likely to see variability as well. The most important thing to do is to remember than no one practice test score is necessarily indicative of your exact score on test day—use the practice tests as a crucial learning tool instead of thinking of them solely as score indicators.  After each practice test, set up another study session where you review the exam in its entirety, including all of the explanations.  Learning to improve from mistakes that you made under timed, test-like conditions is one of the best things you can do for your real GMAT score.

Stay positive, and keep up the studying!

Using my finely honed investigative skills, I’ve been able to obtain the results from Kaplan’s most recent survey of 260 business school admissions officers, including many from the most selective schools.  Of course by “investigative skills” I mean I simply asked for them.

Here’s some of the juicier tidbits:

51% of admissions officers stated that the number of applicants reporting they are unemployed has increased. In the past, being unemployed was commonly considered a blot on an application, but today’s economic reality seems to be changing that.

Among the 76% of schools that currently don’t accept the GRE as a substitute for the GMAT, almost 9 out of 10 reported that they most likely will not consider changing their policy.  So much for the GRE’s plans for world domination.

Slightly more than one quarter of officers surveyed reported an increase in applicants directly from college. That suggests that the outreach efforts of some schools to expand the number of direct from college students is having some impact, but at this point it’s not particularly widespread.

And finally, when asked what one factor would most be considered an application killer, 44% of the officers said a low GMAT score, by far the most common response. By contrast 27% said a low GPA,  and 10% said a lack of work experience.  For all the discussion from admissions officers that they take a holistic approach to every application and that no single factor is more important than any other, it remains wise to approach the GMAT very seriously.  Because evidently, that’s what admissions officers do.

Keep in mind that when reviewing an application, admissions officers first assess whether they believe a candidate can succeed academically.  And while the overall quality of the application can help bolster the board’s confidence in a candidate’s capabilities, the GMAT sticks out like no other data point.  Even your grades can be considered somewhat subjective because admissions officers factor in the reputations of schools, the rigor of coursework, and the possibility of grade inflation.  The GMAT, whatever your feeling about it, remains the purest objective measure in the application.

So there you have the survey feedback from admissions officers.  In my next post, I’ll share what I heard directly from them at the World MBA events I participated in recently around the country.