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[DavidR893]

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[StaceyKoprince]

Hi! You want to do both (review all, re-do some, try some OG).

This is the basic process:
Take a test. Analyze it.
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... ts-part-1/

Use that analysis to come up with your Bucket 2 (discussed in that article): the low-hanging fruit that you want to work on over the next ~2 weeks until you take another CAT. As the article says, don't try to cover ALL weaknesses from that CAT. Cover the ones that you think are the easiest for you to improve—and see how far that pushes your score before you decide which weaknesses to tackle next. (You can get to your goal score without fixing every single weakness.)

When you get to the individual-question stage of analysis, use this:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -the-gmat/

As well as this:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -the-gmat/

I just gave you a lot to read, so just sit with that, take some notes, think about the process: How are you using the above to try to analyze and learn / get better?

Next, for the review log itself, this is what I do:

I have four different tabs in a spreadsheet for the following categories (you'll understand why I'm using the word "bucket" when you read the analyze-your-CATs article linked above). And I do keep separate files for Q and V but some people like to put them all in one big file.

(Bucket 1) Good. I'm good here. I knew what I was doing, my timing was fine, etc. I log my OG ones here but not anything else. Here, I just track which ones I think I may want to redo in future—even if I got it right, I can often tell, oh, this is the kind of thing I might start to forget in a month. But this other one—I've got that. I'm always going to know how to do that. So I put them all here but mark certain ones to redo. (And I put an actual date to redo. Then I can come back and just filter by date and I know what I'm going to try today to refresh my memory. Note: don't re-do something within about 72 hours. You'll still remember it too easily. It should be more of a stretch.)

(Bucket 2a) CM (Careless Mistakes). I include in here anything where I felt like, "Oh, I knew that! How did I miss that??" or obvious careless mistakes, eg, I should have subtracted 3 but I added 3. I note the specific type of mistake I made, why I think I made the mistake, and what I could do differently in future to minimize a repeat of that type of mistake. Write my work down differently (or write it down in the first place!), double-check certain things, whatever. This can also include things that I knew but forgot—and so "what could I do differently" involves "how am I going to review this thing so that it sticks next time?"

(Bucket 2b) ICLT (I can learn this). I didn't know it / I legit got it wrong, but it makes sense to me, I don't feel lost. OR I got it right but there's a better or faster way to do it than the way that I did it. I feel comfortable that I can learn how to do this and do it in a reasonable amount of time. (Note: reasonable is within about 30 to 60 seconds of the average time for that question type. So if I think I can learn to do this quant problem in 2.5 minutes, that's fine.) Here, I want to track two things:
(i) The major takeaways that will allow me to do something like this next time, in the form of flashcards; the front side fulfills the sentence "When I see _____" and the flip side fulfilles "I'll think / do _____." This could be at the level of a formula or math / grammar rule to memorize, or it could be at the level of a particular process or approach I should use when I see certain clues in a problem.
(ii) What I think I need to do to practice those things / make them a habit. This can include review of my flashcards, of course, but may also involve doing some drill work out of any of the strategy guides (including the Foundations books), doing some OG problems, re-doing this problem in future, etc. And then I go put those things on my study calendar.

Problems in bucket 2, in general, are good candidates for a re-do at a later date.

(Bucket 3) Bail. I looked at the solution and I still don't understand this. I hate it. It stresses me out. Now, I want to make another "When I see" flashcard that tells me what I should see to know that I want to bail (ie, guess quickly and move on). *NOTE* You aren't just doing this on the exam. You do *not* need to study everything. You can pick certain categories of things that you hate and only learn the basic / low-level stuff (and, for some areas, maybe not even that!) and then never learn the higher-level material.

I am *not* going to re-do stuff in bucket 3. At least, not right now—maybe later, see next paragraph.

Over time, I move stuff between buckets. Something in category 2a or 2b can move up to 1. And something in 3 can move up to 2, as I get better. It was a bail for me a month ago, but now I'm actually starting to get it. (And some things will stay in bucket 3 forever. I've been doing this for 20 years and 3D geometry is still in bucket 3 for me. A cube or box, fine. Cylinders—no!)

Okay that was a lot. As I said, just sort of sit with that, think about the process, try it for a few days. And let me know any questions / concerns.