For countless numbers of graduate school applicants, preparing and sitting for the GRE, GMAT, LSAT or MCAT can be extremely stressful.  If you are considering working with a test prep organization, you will most definitely want to follow this blog series.  MyGuru offers excellent test prep services for grad school applicants. They offer GMAT tutoring, GRE tutoring, LSAT tutoring, and more. Perhaps more importantly, has the outcomes to prove that their strategies and individualized approach with students works.

 

We are delighted to offer this interview series, which will feature a new interview question every two to four weeks.

 

Below is our third question for MyGuru.

 

Grad School Road Map: Is it worthwhile to take advantage of the holidays for a test prep crash course?

 

Stefan Maisnier, Director of Online Tutoring: As we conclude 2021, I’m happy to help grad school applicants wrestling with this common end of the year question. The answer, of course, is a resounding…. Maybe? I don’t mean to be glib, but there are several variables to consider as you debate a possible test prep crash course.

 

1) Your schedule. This means in its entirety, not just professionally! If you’re taking two or more weeks off from school or work, but during that time are traveling to one, two, or possibly more destinations to spend time with (or without) family, preparing vigorously for a standardized test may simply be unreasonable. However, if you are able to set aside a reasonable amount of time for this endeavor, at least 20 hours per week for 2-4 weeks, you could see your crash course efforts bear fruit in a relatively short period of time. Generally, a good rule of thumb is to allocate two hours every morning when you are fresh to do new practice problems, preferably from official exam (GMAC, ETS, LSAC) resources, and two hours in the evening to either review those problems or read about content strategies using a proven resource. Simultaneously, you’ll need to set aside 3-4 hour blocks at least once a week for a fully timed practice exam. Prepping should not however be a full time job during your holiday season, so splitting your practice into reasonable two hour periods will make your crash course seem less like a cram session, and avoid the desire to just go for eight hours straight, every day, otherwise you’ll run the risk of burnout long before the New Year’s ball drops!

 

2) Your experience so far. Usually, the best holiday crash course candidates have begun their test prep already. Generally, I would recommend someone with no experience with any given grad school standardized exam plan for a 2-4 month prep period and the holidays simply aren’t that long. So, the best crash course candidates are those applicants with a bit of a break in their normal schedule and a good idea of where they need to specifically focus their attention, as well as how much of an improvement is needed to make their application sufficiently more competitive. However, if you are a current student with a 4-6 week winter break, and no other major commitments, you might be able to embark on a longer term boot camp to prepare for the GRE, GMAT, or LSAT, and remember that these exam scores remain valid for five years. This means that undergraduate juniors and seniors practicing a bit of foresight could take advantage of winter break to save themselves some future test prep stress!

 

3) Your deadlines and targets. Since most graduate school programs accept applications on a rolling basis, grad school deadlines are not nearly as strict as they are for high schoolers applying to undergraduate programs. That said, many deadlines do occur in January, especially for business schools, not to mention for grants, scholarships, and fellowships, so the holidays could be your last best chance for submitting a solid score before an application round. Furthermore, if you’re looking at the LSAT or MCAT, there are usually official exams offered in January that you can take to strike while the iron is hot coming off of a successful holiday crash course. So, if you had an official attempt earlier in the year that wasn’t quite at the level you hoped for, a holiday test prep crash course might be the ticket to put the standardized testing portion of your application in the rear view once and for all!

 

In a TLDR (Too Long; Didn’t Read for those of you unfamiliar with the Millennial acronyms) summary, if you need a bit of a boost on prior test scores and can allocate 20-30 hours of practice for a few weeks over the holidays, consider a quick crash course!

DISCOUNT ON DR. DON’S BOOK RIGHT HERE ON THE GSRM WEBSITE!!

Be sure to check out Dr. Don’s book, “Road Map for Graduate Study, A Guide for Prospective Graduate Students,” right here on the GSRM website. For a reduced price CLICK HERE, go to The Book page, scroll down, click on the Order Now box, and use discount code GSRM.