2nd attempt, GMAT interact?

[WesleyW208]

I hope this message finds you well. I took the GMAT for the first time last week and did not score in my desired range (scored a 560, looking for 650). I was scoring between 590-640 on practice exams over the last month. I studied at least 2 hours a day for three months using the official guide, Kaplan Premier, Manhattan Sentence Correction and Manhattan Number Properties books. I worked a tremendous amount of problems and took several practice exams (2 GMATPrep, 5 Manhattan CAT’s, 1 Kaplan CAT). I found Manhattan’s materials and questions to be most similar to those on the test.

I had planned on purchasing the Manhattan GMAT prep plus course to guide me through my second attempt, however I see this is no longer an option. Would you recommend GMAT interact for a second attempt? I do not need to learn the basics again and am more interested in the homework assignments and a guided study plan. My time at this stage should not be spent learning the absolute basics again (like what data sufficiency is, breaking down questions AD BCE, etc).

I’m really struggling with formulating a game plan for round 2. I want to use Manhattan’s materials and realize I probably need to purchase additional books or GMAT interact. For what it’s worth, dealing with timing and mental exhaustion probably brought my score down. I had been scoring between 75-88% on verbal and scored 57% on the actual test (the last section). Any tips or insight would be much appreciated!

Thank you

[StaceyKoprince]

If you were going to do prep plus, then I would absolutely recommend using Interact - it's better than the old program. We killed the old program because GMAT Interact is actually our new, latest, greatest self-study program. :)

The program includes all of the relevant materials - so it does have a DS basics lesson, for exmaple, but if you already feel comfortable there, then you don't need to do that particular lesson. You can pick and choose the lessons that you think will be the most valuable given your own strengths and weaknesses.

Also, the current price represents a special "new launch" discount off of the full price, so if you do want to do Interact, jump on it quick. I'm not sure when it's going to jump to the full price - probably next week sometime.

Okay, now let's talk about that test. We need to figure out why your verbal dropped. The most common causes are timing problems and mental stamina issues.

Read this - do any of the symptoms sound familiar?
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... you-crazy/

When you took your practice tests, did you do the essay and IR sections? Did you hold yourself to just the two 8-minute breaks? If not, then you may have artificially inflated your practice scores - it's hard to keep your brain going at peak performance for 3.5 hours. If this applies to you, you'll need to start working on mental stamina.

First, all CATs from now on must be done under 100% official conditions, including essay and IR.

Also, for study sessions, plan out what you're going to do over a 2-hour period. Then GO for 1 hour, no stopping, no checking email, no getting up for something to eat, etc. Take a 10-15 minute break, then GO again for 1 hour. Then take a more substantial break.

(Note: I'm specifically NOT recommending that you do what I just described for 3-4 hours. It's actually *more* mentally taxing to study than to take a test, because when you're studying, you're trying to create new memories, not just access old ones.)

Did you have any timing issues? If so, please describe what happened.

Also, if you'd like to get more specific help on priorities, first, read these two articles:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... lly-tests/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

Then, use the below to analyze your most recent MGMAT CAT (this should take you a minimum of 1 hour):
http://tinyurl.com/analyzeyourcats

Figure out your strengths and weaknesses as well as what you think you should do based on that analysis. Then come back here and tell us; we'll tell you whether we agree and advise you further. (Note: do share an analysis with us, not just the raw data. Part of getting better is developing your ability to analyze your results - figure out what they mean and what you think you should do about them!)