Why Positive Self Talk on the GRE Pays Off

The power of positive thinking might sound like a bad sound bite from a self-help book, but the fact of the matter is that how you think about your test day experience and how you think about your own abilities affects how you do on test day. Let’s talk a little bit about mindset and how you think about your brain can influence your score.

Mindset

The term “growth mindset” has probably been a little overplayed over the last few years and has stretched beyond its original meaning and power. Let’s go back to the original research and definition by Stanford researcher Carol Dweck. Her definition is all about the theory of self – how you see yourself. A person with a fixed mindset thinks that their abilities are largely fixed and that it is difficult (if not impossible) to change your overall outcome via hard work. That’s not a very good mindset to have if you are trying to improve your GRE score! In contrast, a person with a growth mindset believes that abilities aren’t fixed and that you have the power to change via hard work and dedication – an idea that gels much better with trying to improve yourself and your chances of success.

What does this have to do with test day success? 

To put it simply, it all has to do with attitude. In a study cited in her book Mindset, Dweck examined students doing math problems, some of whom had described their abilities using language indicative of a fixed mindset and others who had used language indicative of a growth mindset. The students with a fixed mindset did well on problems that they already knew how to do, but shied away from problems that were unfamiliar to them or presented as difficult and performed less well on harder problems – even if they had previously described themselves as good at math. The students who used growth mindset language were both more likely to try the problems in the first place and more likely to persevere and figure out those problems. 

That isn’t to say that you should throw your timing strategy out the window and make sure to try every single problem until you know you’ve gotten it right. What it does suggest is that if you have a growth mindset orientation towards a subject then you are going to tend to perform better when presented with new and difficult tasks. Take some time to read about growth mindsets and the neuroplasticity of the brain – those same studies suggest that merely understanding the science behind how brains change and adapt can also help!

When you do get to a question that you don’t know how to approach on the GRE, remember that it isn’t a reflection of how smart you are – or even how good at taking the GRE you are. You have done your best to study and sometimes the tastemakers are going to throw you a curve ball. That isn’t your fault!

So instead of beating yourself up about not knowing how to solve it, just smile. View the problematic problem as an opportunity to guess (for now), flag the problem, and move on. If you get to come back to it again, great! You can then view that problem as a way to stretch your problem solving skills (and as icing on the cake knowing that you’ve done your best on the problems you know how to do). If you don’t make it back, then remember that is okay too! You needed that time on other topics, and it’s a good thing you had it. 

Self talk

In the same way that our overall mindset can affect our performance, where we choose to focus our self talk can have a big impact too. The big picture? Don’t dwell on the bad, and do focus on the good. 

If you get to a question and you aren’t sure whether you approached it correctly, the best thing you can do is to flag it and come back later if you think you’ll have time or to just let it go. Letting it go feels difficult – after all, you want to get as many questions right as possible! But you want to let go because you don’t want that question taking up mental space and you want a clear mind going into the next problem.

Do focus on the good, however! Every time you get a question that you know you can get right, that’s cause for celebration. Use that good question to calm yourself down and remind yourself that your hard work is paying off.

In conclusion

It’s really tempting to focus on what’s going wrong on test day. However, doing that is going to (in all likelihood) actually backfire if you are trying to get a good score. Instead, focus on what’s going well and the things you can control and you’ll be off to a good start.