Feedback needed on the Man. challenge problem archive

[gs.abhinav]

Hi,

I plan to purchase the Manhattan challenge problem archive. Some of the instructors have mentioned that these problems are of a difficulty level higher than GMAT.

I would like to know whether it would be helpful to practice these problems from the perspective of understanding new concepts and getting a hang of solving 700+ level questions?

Many thanks

[StaceyKoprince]

Not in my opinion, no.

Generally speaking, if you are trying to get better at 700-level questions, most of the learning that will lift you there will come from 650-720 level questions - that is, a bit below and a tiny bit above whatever level you want to improve.

The challenge problem archives are mostly in one of two categories: (1) 730 to 800, and (2) 800+ (that is, harder than you'd ever see on the real test). I recommend them only for people who are already scoring 50 or 51 consistently on quant, are bored with all other (credible) quant materials, and just need a little bit more to practice occasionally while getting their verbal score where they want it to be. (If the person is scoring 50-51 on quant and the verbal score is also where they want it to be, then that person should stop practicing and take the test already!)

Trying to do 800+ questions in order to get better at 700-level questions is not that effective. :)

[gs.abhinav]

Stacey, thank you for the feedback.

However, I am extremely confused where to find the 650-720 range questions that you have referred to in your post! I have searched several forums but have not found a conclusive answer to this question.

My concepts are in place so I need a lot of practice now to understand all types of 700 level questions and get rid of silly mistakes I commit sometimes. I have exhausted the OG, Kaplan 800 and am almost through with some 800score tests I have. I was planning to buy the Manhattan archive but I am not sure what to do now..

I will be buying the Manhattan CATs, do you think that should be enough?

Thanks again for your help

[StaceyKoprince]

If you are not yet at the scoring level that you want, then you are not done with the OG problems, even if you have already done them. You have not exhausted those problems until you are hitting the score that you want to get.

You don't learn a ton simply from doing new problems. You do learn a ton from reviewing those problems thoughtfully and extensively. You can learn about the kind of review to do in these articles:

http://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/10/09 ... ce-problem
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/04/ ... our-errors

http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/01/ ... g-question
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/03/ ... y-question

I would start by going back to higher-numbered OG problems that you've already done and doing extensive analyses. THEN, you can start to test yourself on new problems to see whether you've learned what you were trying to learn.

First, learn by analyzing past problems. Then, test yourself by doing new problems. The new problems then become past problems, and you analyze them exhaustively before you try to test yourself on other new problems.

The MGMAT CATs will be a good test, yes, as will the question banks (if you have access to those). You can also use GMAT Focus for quant (www.gmatfocus.com). You can also buy older OG books (some questions will overlap with later books but some will be new).