Last time I wrote I criticized our reading habits and as tough as I may have seemed, I am quite sure most of you agreed and even identified yourselves with such habits. Needless to say, we are not entirely responsible for that, our education system seems as good as medieval teachings, in which divine providence and memory are all you need to have.

When you take the GMAT, or any international standardized exam, you pay the price of having such poor reading habits or for being born in a country whose education system lacks analytical thinking. Exams such as the GMAT do not only consider your academic knowledge but they also test your intellectual stamina, your emotional intelligence, and your knack when it comes to taking exams. I believe that if we could take our time, even without the answers, we would all ace the exam. I have always been told that the Quantitative section of the GMAT is high school math and supposedly easy. However, doing everything in less than two minutes can really become a challenge. That’s right, you have two minutes per question and I bet you’re starting to doubt if you could do it. I have only seen 2 students who had a so called perfect score in this test, both Peruvian by the way. One had a natural skill and was simply gifted. The other one worked hard, really hard, and managed to obtain the same result. In spite of their differences, they both share a trait that is scarce in students nowadays: they were, are, humble. You don’t need to have an incredible IQ to ace the test, what you need is discipline and guidance, and that’s where we come in.

Timing is essential as I already said, if you are too slow, others are too fast: having someone to guide you through the entire process of the exam and adapting to it are essential steps one needs to take if you are to achieve a certain score. Even Anakin Skywalker needed guidance, his ability with the Force was superior to that of Obi-Wan Kenobi but the master knew how to use it better: having a GMAT trainer is exactly the same. An apprentice or padawan needs a master, not because the padawan is not gifted, no, you can have potential, yet only with a master’s guidance can we reach our full potential. Just as the master knows when the padawan is ready to take the Jedi trials, only the trainer will know when you are ready to take the GMAT. Feeling ready is not enough, you need someone who has seen this process before and can tell you when the time is right. How to do it, when to stop, what to look for, why skip this one and not that one, all of these instructions require experience and make your learning experience a more structured one. Having someone who knows what they are doing saves you a lot of time and helps you deal with the obstacles that only experience teaches you.

Some make it on their own, but it is like working from home: sounds splendid and managing your time is what we all yearn for. What you need to ask yourself is very simple, when you were at school: were you the one who came home and immediately did his or her homework or were you the one who did it just before class? The latter person is the one who needs a trainer. May the Force be with you!

Dennys Velasquez