Need guidance to beat the gmat

[shreerajp99]

Hi,
I have been preparing on and off since the last month;however,i am planning to go full throttle so that I can appear for GMAT by Mid August.
I recently gave the Kaplan free test(only verbal) and got 22/41 correct with a sentence correction accuracy of 11/13.
I have Manhattan guides for Quant and Verbal.The strategy i am using for Quant is,i will go through each chapter from Quant guide and then afterwards solve the corresponding topic problem from OG and note timing for each question.
I also have the GMATPREP document that i have got from my friend and it contains list of questions for sentence correction.Should i start solving those questions.I have gone through the chapters in Manhattan SC book.
Let me know if this strategy looks ok,please suggest.
Thanks,
Shreeraj

[StaceyKoprince]

I recently gave the Kaplan free test(only verbal) and got 22/41 correct with a sentence correction accuracy of 11/13.

# correct tells us very little on an adaptive test such as the GMAT. The first thing to do: learn more about how the scoring works. That will help you immensely in your approach to and study for the GMAT!

Start here:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... to-win-it/

Then read the Scoring section in our free e-book The GMAT Uncovered (it's already in your student center).

Then read and start implementing the strategies in this article:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... anagement/

Next, in terms of study strategy, what you describe is missing a crucial step: analysis of your work and of your practice problems.

Take a look at this article:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ould-i-do/

Pay particular attention to the How To Study section.

Okay, after doing the above, come back here and tell me how you're going to revamp your study plan. And I'll tell you whether I think you're on the right track! :)

p.s. you can go through the GMATPrep questions in that way if you wish... but then you won't be able to do the GMATPrep exams (well, you can do them, but you won't get an accurate score result because you'll already have seen a bunch of the questions). I'd recommend saving that doc until AFTER you've done both GMATPrep exams. Then you can look through that doc for extra practice.

[shreerajp99]

Thanks a lot for the links,they are indeed very helpful.
Since i am a working professional,i spend close to 2 hours daily on weekdays and majority of my time on weekends without overstretching myself.Usually on weekdays, i try solving 4 RC passages,do around 10 SC questions while travelling and try solving/studying some math from Manhattan.
On weekends,i spend time understanding concepts(both math n verbal) and once i am confident about my foundation,i will start appearing for tests.
SC:
I have finished majority of my preparation for SC,i've also solved OG 12 questions,yesterday got OG 13,i will solve the unique ones from OG13 soon.Also,does it make sense to solve OG 10/OG 11 SC questions and also purchase GMATPREP question pack for additional questions?
Where can i get to see the list of unique questions of OG 10/11/12?
CR:
I like solving CR questions,ron's videos for CR are very good,ive been studying from Powerscore CR.
RC:
I'm doing RC from RC99
Quant:
Have been studying quant from Manhattan books and after completing a particular chapter from the guide,solve the questions from OG and keep a track using OG tracker.Ideally,in how much time should i finish the set of Manhattan quant guides?
IR:Ive registered on GMAC website using the access code,is there any strategy that i need to follow for it?

Also,ideally when should i give my GMATPREP exam since i plan to take my GMAT late july/mid aug with a target score of anywhere between 710-740.

Thanks,
Shreeraj

[StaceyKoprince]

The sooner you take a practice test, the better. The point of a practice test is to figure out where you're weak and need work. You can figure out a number of your weaknesses without taking a practice test, but you'll never get a good global view without data from an actual practice test. And if you don't have that good global view, then you could be missing some major weaknesses that will derail your study plan and timeframe.

So take a practice test. Official conditions (including essay + IR), no pausing, two 8-minute breaks, etc. See where you stand and then you'll know how to set priorities and activities for your study sessions!

Next, stop doing all the OG questions. :) You're using up questions before you've taken a practice test to see where the good and bad points are collectively. My guess is that you probably also are not analyzing the questions as extensively as you need to do (discussed in the How To Study section that I referenced in my last post).

Most of what you learn comes from your review and analysis of a problem AFTER you have finished doing it.

You REALLY don't want to find yourself making the mistake that so many people have made - blowing through a ton of questions, discovering that you weren't really learning what you needed to learn along the way, and now not having new official questions to use to help with that study.

Go start analyzing questions deeply using the process discussed in the How To Study section of that article - use old / previously done problems first. And go take that practice test. :)

Ideally,in how much time should i finish the set of Manhattan quant guides?

There's no set timeframe. You take the time to learn what you need to learn given the score goal that you have - that varies widely for different people.

IR:Ive registered on GMAC website using the access code,is there any strategy that i need to follow for it?

You're referring to the 50 OG IR questions? The strategy is the same for anything you're studying: make sure not to use up the questions quickly. Get every last thing out of your post-question analysis before doing more of the same type - otherwise, you're wasting questions and that's really crucial for IR because there aren't many official Qs available.

Re: GMATPrep, generally save them for later in your study. When your other practice test scores are getting close to your goal score, take a GMATPrep score (under 100% official conditions) to see whether your score does hold up. If it does, keep studying but start to move more into review and refinement mode; then, about 1-2 weeks before, take your final GMATPrep.

If not, though, hit the books again and use non-GMATPrep practice CATs until you again get into your goal range, then test yourself again using the second GMATPrep.

[shreerajp99]

Thanks for the detailed reply.Will work on the things you've mentioned and hopefully will post a success story come August :-)

[StaceyKoprince]

good luck!

[shreerajp99]

Hi Stacey,
It has been quite some time since i last posted here :-)
Unfortunately,i couldnt take the gmat since it took me longer than estimated to be done with my preparation(well,im almost done).
I struggle mainly in quant(not that my verbal is great but ive got 35-36 in my gmatpreps). In quant i get anything between 44-48.
Ive read in ur posts that its important to review quant questions once we are done with it.I solved og 11(since i had its MGMAT OG tracker) last month and currently i am reviewing it(few questions i still get wrong).
I would like to know if this is the correct approach or should i practice with new questions?Also,i purchased OG13 and find its questions to be much tougher in quant compared to what ive seen in gmatprep and earlier og editions,does it make OG11 irrelevant?
I am not able to decide whether i should schedule my gmat test or not.I have attempted gmatprep twice and max ive got is 680(Q48,V35). My aim is to touch 700 atleast.
Also,i have now started doing gmatprep question pack1 and my hit rate is 70% in quant,is it good?
Can you please let me know how to optimize my quant score and get to Q50?

Thanks,
Shreeraj

[StaceyKoprince]

You always want to go over problems that you've already done - if you don't analyze them afterwards, then you're wasting your time doing them! But then you also need to test yourself on new problems. So the answer is: a mix of both.

Look at the How to Learn section of this article (it's in the second half). Are you doing this kind of analysis?
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... an-part-1/

Fluctuations in score are often due to timing issues. How's your timing coming alone? You might think it's fine, but check the data. Use this to anayze your most recent tests:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/

Come back and share that analysis with us. Then come back here and tell us the results of your analysis and what you think you should do based on that analysis. (Note: don't just give us 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!)

OG11 and OG13 have many of the same problems. :) But there are also new ones in OG13. You might think OG13 is harder because you're used to the old OG11 ones, or it might be the case that the newer ones happen to be more in your areas of weakness. And things do evolve over time in the books.

Your practice test scores aren't yet at the level you want for the real test, so you shouldn't book it yet. Re: Prep Pack 1 (from GMATPrep), it's good in general that you're getting a lot right, but there are too many variables involved (difficulty level, timing) for me to tell whether 70% correct is good or just okay.

Q48 to Q50 is a jump from 78th percentile to 90th percentile. At that level, you can't make many careless mistakes (though you'll still answer many questions incorrectly). When you take a test, how many careless mistakes do you make?

I've got an article on careless mistakes - it'll be published tomorrow, so check our blog tomorrow (24 Oct 2012, for others reading this in future).

[shreerajp99]

Thanks Stacey!
I had 2 questions for u:
1.If i schedule my exam for November end,is it possible to cross 700 mark considering that max ive got is 680(That too with repeats).Also,should i keep giving gmatprep exam for practice or try other tests?
2.Ive got Manhattan advanced quant guide from a friend but i'm not sure what would be the best strategy to use it.Considering that i will give exam next month end,is it advisable to go through it or should i do its workout sets?

Thanks,
Shreeraj

[StaceyKoprince]

It's impossible for me to predict how much time it will take a certain person to achieve a certain score. If I could do that, I'd start playing the lottery. :)

You've gotten to 680, but that was with repeats. What's your true current scoring level under 100% official conditions, no repeats, just like the real thing? If you're not that far from 700, then end of November (4 weeks) may be enough time. But remember that you should be hitting your desired scoring range 1 to 2 weeks BEFORE the test. Do you think you're going to be there in 2 weeks or so?

Ideally, you don't actually schedule the test until you know that you're getting into range. (We can't always do this - if you have a deadline, you may be forced to take it. But the ideal is to get the results in practice and THEN go take the real thing.)

Okay, so you should be trying other tests if you have already "used up" GMATPrep and you're seeing repeats. Is the same true of MGMAT CATs? Then you'll have to find a third source, like 800Score or Kaplan. See where you're at under true conditions, and then we can have a little bit better of a conversation about timeframe (though I still won't be able to tell you for sure!).

Re: Advanced Quant, that book is designed for someone who:
(a) has already learned everything from our 5 main quant strategy guides (including advanced chapters), and
(b) is scoring at minimum 70th percentile under official testing conditions (timed, no repeats, etc).

If that describes you, then yes, you may want to start working through the book. That book easily takes at least a month to really internalize the lessons (it's not just about doing all of the problems), so if you do want to work on that, then get started soon / now.