Need advice about the plan

[Mochad]

Hello Stacey and others,

I already started my preparation on November 15, 2011. But I would say that it wasn’t that successful due to a lot of stoppages (exams, family situations, etc.), procrastination, bad selection of study materials (Princeton Review 2012th edition), and an unrealistic plan. I ended up delaying my planned test day several times. Soon I realized that with the way things are going on, I won’t be able to take the GMAT ever. So I thought about changing the way I think towards the GMAT. And that's why I'm here :) To listen to your advice and opinions.

Some background information: I’m 22 years old, non native speaker of English. My goal is to pursue a PhD in MIS in the States or Canada. Based on that, my GMAT targeted score is 650+. Higher is better though I prefer to be realistic, scoring over 700 would be a hard task for me!

Planned Test day: This week I decided on a test day in an attempt to avoid additional procrastination (didn't actually register :) Just for psychological pressure). I’m planning to take the GMAT on November 8, 2012. So I have slightly less than 70 days.

What I have achieved until now:
(November 15, 2011 till December 25, 2011) I used the OG12 and The Princeton Review "Cracking the GMAT" 2012th edition. I finished the Qaunt section but didn’t practice much from the OG12. I did questions 1-147 of the PS! No DS! And my accuracy was catastrophic not mentioning that I was solving blindly!

(March 21, 2012 till May 7, 2012) I decided that I shouldn’t waste the OG12 questions before having a good grasp on the basic concepts. My plan was to start with the "theory", take a practice test, and then work on my weak areas through practicing from the OG. So I started by revising the Quant part of the Princeton Review then moved to the Verbal section, finally, did the practice questions that come with the GMAT PREP software. I was eager to know where I was standing so I took the OG diagnostic test (scored almost average on all sections) but I needed a more accurate result to gauge my actual level so I took the GMATPREP 1 and ended up getting 480 (32Q, 25V) I was disappointed as I was expecting something around 550!

At this point I noticed that the method I followed was wrong and that the Princeton Review isn’t going to guide me towards my desired 650+ score. This was a fact that I knew but always ignored. So I decided to buy the MGMAT study guides (fifth edition) in addition to the OG13 as I needed it to study for the IR!


(May 20, 2012 till July 5, 2012) I started focusing on the Quant, the first thing I noticed is how important was to practice from the OG concentrating on one topic at once and not solving randomly. I studied everyday but a lot of things happened starting from July 5 and till September 1 that prohibited me from studying at the same pace! There was a time that I didn’t study for 2 continuous weeks!

But in general here is what I have accomplished until this time from the MGMAT:
1. Guide 1 - Fractions, Decimals, & Percents: All except chapter 7 (Extra FDPs) including related OG13 Q
2. Guide 2 - Algebra: All (except Extas - 3 chapters) including related OG13 Q
3. Guide 3 - Word Problems: did chapter 1 (Algebraic Translations) with the related OG13 Q
4. Guide 5 - Number Properties: did chapters 1 & 2 (Divisibility & Primes + Odds, Evens, Positives, & Negatives) with the related OG13 Q
5. Guide 6 - Critical Reasoning: did first 3 chapters
6. Guide 7 - Reading Comprehension: did first 3 chapters

Plan: What I’m planning to do is the following:
1. Start with the RC (4 days)
2. Move to the SC (8 days)
3. Back to CR (8 days)
4. Quant (20 days) I strongly believe it’s my strength
5. I’m planning to take a test every week, I have access to 6 MGMAT CATs and the 2 GMATPREP CATs
6. I’m a perfectionist guy, this is the reason I was spending a lot of time on each chapter and on each exercise! I think it's time to get rid of it ;)


Looking forwards to hearing your advice, opinions, and ideas :)

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm glad that you feel like you finally have a plan. :)

the first thing I noticed is how important was to practice from the OG concentrating on one topic at once and not solving randomly.

There's value in both, actually. When you're first starting to learn something new, you do want to do a few OG questions just from that area in order to make sure that you're learning what you need to learn.

Later, though, as you learn more, you want to start doing sets of questions that include a mix of questions (maybe from 2 or 3 MGMAT books that you've already finished) so that you're learning how to decide what kind of question this new question is. The real test will never tell you, "Hey, I'm about to give you a divisibility question." The real test is random and you have to figure out what each problem is yourself.

This is why, still later, you need to start to do completely random sets of questions - once you've been through all of the MGMAT Strategy Guides, for example, you should do mostly random sets from then on because again you do need to practice the ability to figure out what each new question is.

Next, I would mix things up a little more. Don't do all SC and then all CR. Do SC for a study session or two, then some CR, then quant, then back to SC - that kind of thing. Your brain will get more fatigued if you try to plow through all of grammar in 8 days, and you won't make as good memories.

Read this to help you set up your study plan:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... an-part-1/

Also, this is very important:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... abilities/

Next, practice CATs are really good for (a) figuring out where you're scoring right now, (b) practicing stamina, and (c) analyzing your strengths and weaknesses. The actual act of just taking the exam is NOT so useful for improving. It's what you do with the test results / between tests that helps you to improve.

Once a week is the *minimum* amount of time to take between CATs and I would *never* recommend that someone automatically take a test every week. That's a bad idea, actually.

As the Develop Your Study Plan article discusses, take a CAT. Analyze it and use that to set up a study plan. Then, don't even THINK about taking another CAT until you have made significant progress on the weaknesses you identified from the previous CAT. For most people, that's at least 2 to 3 weeks.

Also, I'm glad that you picked a test date in order to motivate yourself / reduce the procrastination. Just don't lock into that specific date mentally. That's your goal right now, but you may need to change the goal as you see what kind of progress you make. That could mean taking it sooner or pushing it off until later - but base that on what you're seeing in the data as you do take practice tests and progress with your study.

Finally, if you know anyone else who is studying or can find a study partner, that will also really help to keep you motivated. If the two of you meet once or twice a week to study together, then you HAVE to do your homework or you're going to disappoint your study partner! :)