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GMAT students applying to business school ask me all the time: “Do I need a GMAT error log for my GMAT prep?”, and my answer is, invariably, YES!
However, I also always make sure that my students understand that there is a right way and a wrong way to use GMAT error logs. If you use a GMAT error log the right way, it can help make your GMAT studying incredibly focused, efficient, and effective. If you use an error log the wrong way, it can have the opposite effect, adding time, hassle, and even confusion to your studying.
There is a right way and a wrong way to use GMAT error logs.
In this article, we’ll look at why error logs are an important part of GMAT prep, what an error log should include, how to properly use your GMAT error log, and some pitfalls to avoid so that your error log works for you, not against you.
Here are the topics we’ll cover in this blog:
- The Importance of a GMAT Error Log
- A Common Reason People Don’t See Their GMAT Scores Improve
- Why Do Folks Make the Same Mistakes Again and Again in Their GMAT Prep?
- What Exactly Is a GMAT Error Log?
- The Goal of a GMAT Error Log is Positive Behavioral Change
- What Gets Measured Gets Managed
- The Four Key Steps to Creating a GMAT Error Log
- Creating an “Old-Fashioned” GMAT Error Log
- Using an Error Log Built Into a GMAT Prep Course
- Incorporating an Error Log Into GMAT Prep
- Key Takeaways: Creating a GMAT Error Log
- What’s Next?
First, let’s discuss the importance of a GMAT error log.
The Importance of a GMAT Error Log
Given all of the data that a good GMAT error log can contain, an error log can certainly be a powerful weapon in your GMAT arsenal. If used correctly, your error log can:
- help you pinpoint weak areas you need to focus on
- show you your most common errors
- reveal patterns in the way you answer questions
- provide valuable information about faulty strategies you may be using
All of this data can help you be more strategic in your GMAT prep and save you a substantial amount of time in the long run. After all, if you know exactly what your mistakes are and when you tend to make them, you can more easily correct them and avoid making them again in the future.
Every error you eliminate will bring you one step closer to your score goal and shave time off your GMAT studying — studying that can spiral into a never-ending, circular process if you keep making the same mistakes over and over. Error logs help you maintain steady, focused progress throughout your GMAT prep, so you’re not left spinning your wheels, wondering why you can’t seem to conquer a certain question type or push past a score plateau.
Every error you eliminate will bring you one step closer to your score goal and shave time off your GMAT studying.
Just as importantly, an error log can help identify a mistake you’re making early on in your prep, so that you can nip that mistake in the bud before it becomes ingrained. The notion of catching and correcting errors early on is particularly important when considering what I call “macro errors.”
Error Logs Help You Spot and Fix Macro Errors
Macro errors are the bad habits, behavioral tendencies, and misguided strategies that lead you to choose wrong answers. Macro errors can be difficult to identify because they’re not related to gaps in your content knowledge.
So, if a macro error is at play, you can’t simply go back to your study materials and review “strengthen the argument” rules or memorize a quant formula in order to get that question type correct in the future. Macro errors are insidious, so if you don’t catch them early, they have the potential to plague you throughout your GMAT prep and pop up on test day, doing serious damage to your score.
KEY FACT:
An error log is an important tool for catching and correcting mistakes before they become ingrained. It identifies macro errors that would otherwise plague you throughout your GMAT prep.
A Common Reason People Don’t See Their GMAT Scores Improve
Sometimes, even though people have been conscientiously studying for the GMAT, they don’t see their scores increase. How can this happen?
One reason is that people continue to make the same mistakes over and over. In other words, they don’t change their behavior in ways such that they see better results.
What’s the definition of insanity? One definition is this: doing the same thing over and over yet expecting to see different results.
If you’ve been preparing for the GMAT and haven’t seen the score improvements you’d like, perhaps you’re making the same mistakes again and again. Maybe you’re not learning from your mistakes.
If you’ve been preparing for the GMAT and haven’t seen the score improvements you’d like, perhaps you’re making the same mistakes again and again.
Unfortunately, when folks continue with the same unhelpful patterns and tendencies, they often fail to reach their goal on the GMAT. As we’ll see, maintaining a GMAT error log can be an easy solution to this problem.
TTP PRO TIP:
Maintaining a GMAT error log can be an easy way to prevent you from repeating the same mistakes in your GMAT preparation.
Why Do Folks Make the Same Mistakes Again and Again in Their GMAT Prep?
The most common reasons why people preparing for the GMAT make the same mistakes again and again are:
- They don’t realize that they’re making the same mistakes over and over.
- It’s easier to stick to practicing the types of questions they get correct.
- It’s easier to avoid problem areas than to fix them.
- They don’t realize how much of an impact these mistakes have on their GMAT scores.
- They believe that at some point the mistakes will stop without active intervention.
- They don’t spend time actually analyzing the reasons for their mistakes.
- They engage in random practice rather than “topical” practice.
- They “set it and forget it.” In other words, after learning a topic, they never go back to review it.
- They are not putting in enough study time.
- They jump right into practice questions without first learning the topics on which those questions are based.
- They focus on learning tricks and hacks over actually learning content.
As we’ll soon see, using a GMAT error log can help most people avoid most, if not all, of these common reasons for repeated mistakes.
TTP PRO TIP:
People make the same mistakes over and over in their GMAT prep for predictable but solvable reasons.
Now that we know why an error log is important, let’s look at what exactly an error log is.
What Exactly is a GMAT Error Log?
At the most basic level, an error log is a record of the following:
- all of the practice questions you answer incorrectly
- the specific mistakes you made that led you to those wrong answers
- the reasons why you made those mistakes
- what you can do in the future to avoid making those mistakes again
KEY FACT:
A GMAT error log is a place to record all of the practice questions you answer incorrectly, the specific mistakes you made that led you to those wrong answers, the reasons why you made those mistakes, and what you can do in the future to not make those mistakes again.
For example, say you’ve finished learning about the topic of Number Properties in GMAT Quant, and you’re moving on to practicing questions on that topic. After doing a problem set of, say, 15 practice problems on Number Properties, you would evaluate the questions you answered incorrectly and add information about those errors to your log.
Let’s say you answered four questions incorrectly. Ideally, your error log would contain a record of what each question was, the topic covered in the question (in this case, Number Properties), how long you took to answer the question, the wrong answer you chose, and the reason why you chose that answer.
If, for example, you got a Statistics question wrong, you’d record whether you did so because you made a careless mistake, didn’t properly apply the technique for finding the median, didn’t understand a concept in the question, etc. A really robust error log would also organize your data in an easy-to-read format and contain key stats, such as how often you make each type of error.
We’ll talk more about the details of the error log soon. First, let’s discuss what the goal of recording this information is.
The Goal of a GMAT Error Log is Positive Behavioral Change
It’s important to understand that the real goal of your GMAT error log is to provide you with actionable intelligence that brings about positive behavioral change and ultimately leads to a higher GMAT score.
Each time you review your error log, act as if you are your own personal tutor and coach. Ask yourself, What should you change in order to perform better? What can you do differently that will help lead you to a higher score?
For example, let’s say you continue to get GMAT quant questions wrong because you’re making careless mistakes. Upon a closer look at your error log, you see that you’re making many of these mistakes because your writing is messy, disorganized, and hard to follow.
Your tutor would tell you, “Listen, if you want to see your GMAT score go up, you need to stop making these careless mistakes. To stop making these careless mistakes, you need to begin writing neatly and legibly, and take the time to better organize your work.”
Then, it’s up to you to make those changes, which will lead to a higher GMAT score.
I can’t tell you how often I see folks using GMAT error logs without ever realizing the real reason for the error log: to lead to positive behavior changes that bring about a higher GMAT score.
TTP PRO TIP:
The real goal of your GMAT error log is to provide you with actionable intelligence that brings about positive behavioral change and ultimately leads to a higher GMAT score.
What Gets Measured Gets Managed
There’s an old saying in management: What gets measured gets managed. In other words, people pay attention to improving the things that get measured. It’s human nature to not focus on the things that are not measured.
People pay attention to improving the things that get measured.
For example, if your manager regularly measures the number of hours employees spend in the office each week, you’ll probably find that employees make it a point to spend time in the office. On the other hand, even if your manager says she’s interested in how many Zoom meetings employees have with clients each week, if that number is not measured, it’s unlikely that most employees will pay much attention to increasing the number of Zoom meetings they hold with clients.
You’ll likely see a similar phenomenon in your GMAT studying. When you take the time to measure your performance, you’ll have the motivation to make changes to the things that are not going well.
TTP PRO TIP:
When you take the time to measure your GMAT performance, you’ll have the motivation to make changes to the things that are not going well.
Of course, as you know well at this point, a GMAT error log will help you to do just that. So then, how exactly do you create a GMAT error log?
The Four Key Steps to Creating a GMAT Error Log
There are four key steps to creating a GMAT error log. You determine:
- What GMAT questions are you getting incorrect?
- What Exactly Happened That Led You to Get the GMAT Question Wrong?
- What Is the Precise Reason Why You Incorrectly Answered the Question?
- How can you prevent these mistakes in the future?
Let’s discuss each of these steps in detail.
What GMAT Questions Are You Getting Incorrect?
The first element of maintaining a GMAT error log is knowing and logging the specific questions that you incorrectly answered. Thus, whenever you get a question wrong, be sure to record that question in your error log.
Don’t skip recording any incorrect questions. One mistake that I see students commonly make is to log only some of their incorrect questions. For example, a person may get a question wrong, read and understand the solution, and then decide that they don’t need to add that question to their error log. Don’t make this mistake.
A GMAT student who doesn’t log every incorrect question is tantamount to a dieter who counts only the calories of his meals and not his snacks each day. Often, those extra calories are sufficient to prevent weight loss. Unaware that he’s eating too many calories, the dieter becomes confused about why his weight is not changing. Of course, if he had been accurately logging his food intake, the reason why his weight was not changing would be clear.
Similarly, when you don’t add all of your incorrect questions to your GMAT error log, you lose valuable intelligence that will help you to earn a higher GMAT score.
It’s important to be disciplined; log each question you get wrong.
TTP PRO TIP:
Whenever you get a question wrong, be sure to record that question in your error log. Don’t skip recording any incorrect questions.
What Exactly Happened That Led You to Get the GMAT Question Wrong?
The next element of maintaining your GMAT error log is documenting why you got a question wrong. The more specific you can be, the more valuable your GMAT error log will be.
As you build your error log, you’ll see that — if you’re like most folks — there will be a number of reasons why you get questions wrong. Some of these reasons will be fairly common, and some will be very unique to you.
The following are common issues that lead to incorrect answers on GMAT questions:
- I made a careless mistake on a quant question.
- I misread or misinterpreted the question.
- I fell for a trap answer choice.
- I attempted to prethink the answer to a Critical Reasoning question.
- I failed to carefully read the scale of a graph of a Data Insights question.
- I read the Reading Comprehension passage too quickly.
- I made an educated guess that was incorrect.
- I ran out of time.
For each GMAT question that you get incorrect, make sure that you record in your error log exactly why you got the question wrong.
TTP PRO TIP:
For each GMAT question that you get incorrect, make sure that you log in your error log exactly why you got the question wrong.
What Is the Precise Reason Why You Incorrectly Answered the Question?
So far, we’ve discussed logging the exact questions you get wrong and making note of what happened in those questions that led to your getting them wrong. Our next step in the creation of a GMAT error log is to carefully consider why you got a question wrong, and then accurately log that reason in your error log.
When you get a GMAT question wrong, take the proper time to do a careful analysis of why you got it wrong. For example, if on a GMAT quant question you made a careless math mistake, it will be important to understand why. Each of the following could explain why you made a careless math mistake:
- I was rushing.
- I was distracted.
- I was writing fast and sloppily.
- I was tired. My stamina was low.
- I forgot to eat a healthy meal before my practice.
- I was skipping steps in an attempt to save time.
- I was doing calculations in my head.
- The question made me nervous, and I was not thinking clearly.
- I didn’t sufficiently study the concept tested.
- I forgot a formula that was necessary to answer the question.
Many students skip the step of considering why they got a question wrong and recording the reason in their log. Don’t make that mistake.
TTP PRO TIP:
Carefully consider why you got a question wrong, and then accurately log that reason in your error log.
Let’s talk a bit more about why it’s important to think really carefully about why you got a question wrong.
Think Really Carefully About Why You Got a Question Wrong
Properly logging why you got a question wrong will take some discipline and self-awareness. It’s easy to log the simplest reason why you got a question wrong. Resist this urge. Try to look more deeply at why you got a question wrong.
It’s easy to log the simplest reason why you got that question wrong. Resist this urge.
For example, on many questions, most people could make the claim that they got the question wrong because they ran out of time. Running out of time is absolutely a valid reason for getting a question wrong, and if you truly ran out of time, then that’s a very valid thing to want to know.
However, if you look a bit deeper, you might see that the real reason that you ran out of time is that you didn’t properly study the concepts tested in the question. For example, perhaps you ran out of time on questions involving the mean, mode, and median. If you engaged in limited study of statistics, then it would make sense that you ran out of time on these questions.
So, although you’ll want to note in your GMAT error log that you ran out of time, you’d be wise to also note that you didn’t properly study the statistics concepts tested on the GMAT. If you were to note only that you ran out of time, you might continue to run out of time because you never take steps to address the underlying issue — lack of sufficient study in the area of statistics.
TTP PRO TIP:
Think carefully about why you got a question wrong.
How Can You Prevent These Mistakes in the Future?
After you’ve added your wrong answers to your GMAT error log and noted what happened that led you to incorrect answers and why, your next step is to consider what you can do so that you don’t continue to make these types of errors in the future.
This step is probably the most important component of your error log because the goal of your log is to facilitate behavior changes that lead you to get more GMAT questions correct.
TTP PRO TIP:
Considering what you can do so that you don’t continue to make a certain type of error is a powerful way to prevent future mistakes.
For example, let’s say that you got a GMAT quant question wrong because you made a careless math mistake that resulted from writing too fast and sloppily. What do you think would prevent this mistake from happening in the future? Of course, the solution is to write at a pace that allows you to produce clean, clear, organized writing.
To help yourself stop making the same mistakes in the future, create a list of “I will” statements in your error log.
Create a List of “I Will” Statements in Your GMAT Error Log
When tracking what you need to do to stop making your most common mistakes, it’s helpful to create a list of “I will” statements in your error log. For example:
- I will write at a pace that allows my writing to be neat, clear, and organized.
- I will eat a healthy breakfast before I solve GMAT questions.
- I will not do math calculations in my head.
- I will not skip steps when solving GMAT quant questions.
- I will work to increase my test-taking stamina.
- I will memorize all of the necessary GMAT quant formulas.
- I will not prethink answers to GMAT Critical Reasoning questions.
- I will read the entire Reading Comprehension passage.
Notice that each of those statements represents something tangible, practical, and actionable. In other words, if you begin to implement those changes in your GMAT study, you will begin to see that you stop making your most common mistakes. As a result, you will also begin to see your accuracy improve and your GMAT score increase.
TTP PRO TIP:
Using the data in your GMAT error log, create a list of “I will” statements that will serve as your GPS for desirable change.
Now, there are two ways to create your GMAT error log, but one is far superior to the other. Let’s discuss these ways now.
Creating an “Old-Fashioned” GMAT Error Log
If you don’t have access to an online GMAT course that provides you with a robust and easy-to-use GMAT error log, you do have the option of creating your error log using pen and paper or Excel or even using a pre-made GMAT error log template in Excel.
In fact, if you’ve searched around online for advice on how to create an error log, you’ve probably come across various GMAT error log examples using Excel or a similar spreadsheet program that requires you to manually enter and track your data. While using an “old-fashioned” or homemade error log is a route that many students take, I generally consider it a wrong turn.
Read on to learn why.
Old-Fashioned Error Logs Can Be More Problematic Than the Mistakes Themselves
Here’s the thing: Creating an error log, particularly based on a pre-made GMAT error log template, seems like a no-brainer at first. A few columns in a spreadsheet and you’re done, right?
It’s true that your data will be relatively easy to enter and manage at first. The problem is that, as you get further and further into your GMAT prep, and you answer more and more questions of more and more types, and the number and variety of errors you need to track increases … See where this is going? Your error log can very quickly balloon out of control and become a bigger headache than the errors themselves.
Error logs are so useful because they give you a way to organize and track a variety of key data points over time. However, manually entering and organizing that data so that you can analyze it in meaningful, productive ways can become a tedious, overwhelming, and incredibly time-consuming task.
TTP PRO TIP:
If you’re creating a GMAT error log manually or with spreadsheets, your error log can very quickly balloon out of control and become a bigger headache than the errors themselves.
You Don’t Want Maintaining an Error Log to Be More Work Than Your GMAT Prep Itself
You don’t want maintaining an error log to become almost as much of a project as studying for the GMAT itself. After all, your error log is supposed to make your GMAT prep more efficient. So, if you’re spending a quarter or a fifth of your study time tracking errors and organizing data, the log isn’t really serving its purpose, right?
TTP PRO TIP:
Your GMAT error log should make your studying more, not less, efficient.
For example, let’s say that each time you do focused practice of 100 questions on a topic, 20 of those questions end up in your error log. In GMAT quant alone, there are about 25 major topics — that brings you to 500 questions in your log already, and then there’s Verbal.
Plus, you’re not just recording which questions you answered incorrectly; you’re recording time spent per question, specific mistakes made, etc. Then there is the task of figuring out how to organize that information so that you can easily detect patterns and trends, target your weakest areas and most destructive tendencies, focus on the errors you have yet to correct and not the ones you’ve already corrected — the list goes on.
So, an issue with old-fashioned error logs is that they can often end up being more work than the process of studying for the GMAT itself.
An issue with old-fashioned error logs is that they can often end up being more work than the process of studying for the GMAT itself.
Tracking Your Errors Is Only Half the Battle
Another reason not to use an old-fashioned log is that tracking your errors is only half the battle. You then need to be able to easily review what your errors are and understand to what extent different errors are still affecting your GMAT performance. In other words, you need to organize and update the information in your error log in a way that makes the data highly accessible and usable. Scrolling through an ever-growing list of hundreds of rows in a spreadsheet is not the most practical or efficient way to get the job done.
TTP PRO TIP:
Tracking your errors is only half the battle; you also need to be able to quickly and easily analyze and implement the data in your error log.
An error log is a tool to supplement — and ultimately speed up — your GMAT prep. If you’re spending hours maintaining it, you have to stop and ask yourself, could this time be better spent?
For all of these reasons, I generally recommend that GMAT test-takers forgo creating their own error logs if possible, and use an error tracker that is integrated into a GMAT course.
Let’s discuss this type of error log now.
Using an Error Log Built Into a GMAT Prep Course
The great thing about using an error log that is built into a GMAT self-study course is that, with the right course, all of the work of organizing your error data in an easy-to-read and highly usable format is done for you.
With the right course, all of the work of organizing your error data in an easy-to-read and highly usable format is done for you.
Let’s review some essential features that any digital GMAT error log should include. We’ll use some screenshots from the Target Test Prep GMAT course, because the error log found in TTP is a great example of a GMAT error log.
The Error Log Should Intuitively Know Your Common Mistakes
A smart error tracker knows all of the most common mistakes that test-takers make, so it knows what questions to ask when you get a question wrong.
For instance, in the TTP course, when you incorrectly answer a question, you can select a reason from a drop-down menu in the solution. So, the specific error is recorded in real-time with the click of a button.
The Error Log Should Track the Percentage of the Time You Make Each Mistake
The TTP error tracker not only logs all of the questions you answer incorrectly and why you answered them incorrectly, but it also tracks how often you make each type of error. So, if 25% of the time that you answer a question wrong, you do so because you fall for a trap, 18% of the time you run out of time to answer, 11% of the time you answer a question that is different from what is being asked, and so on, you have the data you need to proactively correct those tendencies and become a stronger, more accurate test-taker.
The Error Log Should Clearly Display Key Information
It’s important that your error log data be organized in a highly accessible and easily digestible format. For instance, say you want to close some knowledge gaps that were uncovered in a problem set you recently completed. A TTP user can simply go into the TTP error log and click on the category “I did not understand the concept tested” to see each question missed for that reason, the solution to each question, and the chapters covering the concepts in those questions. Thus, the student knows exactly what to revisit in the course for further study.
In other words, when you use a built-in error log instead of a manual one, it’s not just easier to record and view your data; it’s easier to actually use that data to improve your content knowledge and test-taking skills. If sifting through the information in your error log is burdensome, it’s going to be a lot harder for you to put that information to strategic use, and you may be confused about where to turn next. Preparing for the GMAT is hard enough as it is, so why not use whatever tools you have at your disposal to make the process easier? A built-in error log allows you to do just that.
TTP PRO TIP:
Tracking and making productive use of your error data is far easier and more efficient when you use an error log that is built into a GMAT course than when you manually maintain a log.
Now that we’ve covered the advantages of using a built-in error log, let’s talk a little more about how and when to use a GMAT error log.
Incorporating an Error Log Into GMAT Prep
An error log is no doubt a valuable tool for your GMAT prep, but you want to make sure that you don’t end up over-relying on an error log to create your GMAT study plan for you.
For instance, I know of many GMAT students who started their GMAT prep by doing a bunch of random practice problems from a GMAT prep book or from the Official Guide and tracking their mistakes. After seeing what those mistakes were, they figured that they could simply study the concepts in the questions they got incorrect and not worry about any of the topics covered in the questions they got right.
Unfortunately, even using this process with numerous practice questions isn’t going to provide nearly enough firepower for you to significantly improve your GMAT skills. Without a structured and linear study plan, it simply isn’t possible to uncover all of your knowledge gaps and truly master the large number of concepts and skills you need to earn an impressive GMAT score.
TTP PRO TIP:
Without a structured and linear study plan, it simply isn’t possible to uncover all of your knowledge gaps and truly master the large number of concepts and skills you need to earn a great GMAT score.
Use Your Error Log to Help Achieve Mastery of Topics Already Studied
Rather than use your error log to determine which GMAT topics you should study (or use it as an excuse to skip certain topics altogether), use your error log as a tool to help you achieve mastery of topics that you’ve already studied.
In other words, you can use the following process, in this order:
- learn a GMAT topic
- practice the heck out of that topic
- use your error log to direct your attention to concepts in that topic that need further study and habits that need correcting.
Once you have done the above, in addition to returning to your study materials to review your weak areas, you can also create flashcards to drill concepts and question types that your error log shows are tripping you up. With that methodical, topic-by-topic approach of learning, practicing, and then refining your skills, you will much more thoroughly and efficiently fill your knowledge gaps and master all of the topics you need to know for the GMAT.
TTP PRO TIP:
Rather than use your error log to determine which GMAT topics you should study, use your error log as a tool to help you achieve mastery of topics that you’ve already studied.
Remember, an error log is just one component of many that make up a sound and comprehensive GMAT study plan. For more expert strategies for making the most of your GMAT prep, check out this article on how to start studying for the GMAT and this article on the best way to study for the GMAT.
Key Takeaways: Creating a GMAT Error Log
A GMAT error log can be a great help to you in your studying. Use these tips to create an error log that will allow you to score a bunch of extra points on the GMAT:
- A GMAT error log is a place to record all of the practice questions you answer incorrectly, the specific mistakes you made that led you to those wrong answers, and the reasons why you made those mistakes.
- An error log can help you pinpoint weak areas you need to focus on, show you your most common errors, reveal patterns in the way you answer questions, and provide valuable information about faulty strategies you may be using.
- An error log can help you be more strategic in your GMAT prep and save you a substantial amount of time in the long run.
- Error logs help you to spot and fix macro errors.
- Maintaining a GMAT error log can be an easy way to prevent yourself from making the same mistakes again and again in your GMAT preparation.
- The real goal of your GMAT error log is to provide you with actionable intelligence that brings about behavioral change, and thus ultimately leads to a higher GMAT score.
- When you take the time to measure your GMAT performance, you’ll be able to make changes to the things that are not going well.
- There are four key steps to creating a GMAT error log. You determine:
- On what GMAT questions are you making mistakes or getting incorrect answers?
- What exactly happened that led you to get each GMAT question wrong?
- What is the precise reason why you incorrectly answered the GMAT question?
- How can you prevent these mistakes in the future?
- Create a list of “I will” statements in your GMAT error log.
- Old-fashioned GMAT error logs can be more problematic than the mistakes themselves.
- The far superior way to maintain a GMAT error log is to use one that is built into an online GMAT prep course.
What’s Next?
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