Prep strategy a disaster - please please help me... Exam 3wk

[rkafc81]

Hi everyone,

I'm completely stumped on a good strategy to take for studying. I only have 3 weeks to study for my exam (I

can extend this to 6 at the maximum).

Currently I'm sitting on practice CAT scores of around 620 - Q38-42 and V38-42.

I have around 3 hours each week day of study time and 8 hours each day on weekends to spare.

I really need a 700+ score to offset an average GPA at university and get into a top school.

I've used the MGMAT books for studying and have completed around 1/2 of the OG quant PS questions, 1/4 of the

DS questions all of the OG SC and CR questions and none of the OG RC questions, as well as some MGMAT CAt

exams, 1 GMATPrep exam and a few GMATCLUB exams (which are absolutely brutal).
My BIGGEST problem now is that I'm not sure how to most effectively make use of my study time.

I know the main areas I'm weak in which I know will pull up my quant score if I can master them. Question is,

how do I master these topic areas in such a brief amount of time?

I have the MGMAT Advanced Quant book - should I start using that to focus on my weak areas (particularly DS)?

I really need to know the best ways to focus my studies to improve my quant score.

* DS (particularly absolute value & inequalities questions)
* probability & combinations
* overlapping sets
* ratios/work/rates/distance problems.

When I make a focused attempt to master one of these areas, I just can't seem to do it. This involves reading

up on the area, watching a few Ron Purewal videos, doing some practice questions and analysing them using

GMATClub and MGMAT forums as well as the MGMAT OG Archer and making flash cards of little snippets of

information if I don't understand things and know I need to learn it. The trouble with this is that it is

very time-consuming to analyse each practice question and I dont have much time left before my exam.

My strategy each day now is this:

1 hour -->

2 RC questions
2 SC questions
2 CR questions

2 hours-->
Quant focus


I am aking a few silly errors and reading errors where I miss a key word or key point in the quant question.

I'm working on addressing those issues.

I'm keeping an error log which tracks the following for each question I attempt:
1. The question source
2. Question difficulty
3. Topic & subtopic
4. Result (correct/incorrect)
5. Time
6. Question mastery - 0 = not mastered, 1 = mastered. Mastered means I'm absolutely sure I can do that

question again and nail it.
7. Alternative approach list
8. Alternative approach confidence.
9. Notes on each question
10. Last attempted date

I'm finding myself bogged down in nailing all the alternative approaches to each question... Should I bother

with this or just focus on the methods I know I can do well?

I really need a focused & good strategy going forward so that I can maintain motivation and not get

frustrated and burn out. I'm feeling that's starting to happen already.

I've been studying for this exam for 18 months now due to various reasons (not knowing how to study for it

and then getting frustrated and therefore losing motivation etc.), and I am at my wit's end with it. But I'm

not going to give up.
Previously I'd completed all the quant questions but I didn't analyse them well and therefore didn't learn

much from doing them.

I've only recently realised that I should have been focusing on mastering each practice problem as a way to

improve.

Does anyone have any advice?! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[rkafc81]

also, I've been following Stacey Koprince's error log advice, but I'm confused - when she says to analyse a question and then do a few more similar ones to master the question type, I am doing a few from the OG of a similar type - but if I get those wrong, then I have to mark those as wrong too... and then return to those again, do some more questions, and so on.

This will obviously take a ridiculous amount of time to work through the OG because I'm not going to get every question right of that quetsion type so I'll be spending forever to work through the OG...

Hope this makes sense.

[rkafc81]

I've been reading up on exactly what the error log should be for. It seems that it is purely for reviewing problem questions AFTER you've completed quite a lot of questions. NOT to painstakingly analyse every single one incrementally as you go along...

I'm thinking I should just go ahead and complete all the OG questions now for PS and DS, entering the results of each into the log.

Then, I'll go back and review all of the ones I have gotten wrong, and focus on mastering them by choosing one I have a problem with, analysing why I got it wrong, making flash cards if necessary, going back to my MGMAT book(s) to revise that content area if necessary and then go and do all the other ones in the OG for that question type. That will be a review session. I'll do that for all my problem areas...

IS this a good idea or am I wasting my time?

I was going through each and every OG question one by one and analysing them thoroughly... but this was taking forever. Now I'm tthinking I should just do all the questions in the OG, recording the results for each one, and revisit the error log after that. IS this how the error log is supposed to be used?

[StaceyKoprince]

Yes, the error log is specifically for dealing with patterns that you notice after having done a set of questions (but not ALL questions). Note that there is some amount of analysis you do want to do after every problem, but of course you also have to balance that with your desire to move forward. After any particular problem, you do want to analyze / review to the point that you've learned something significant that will make you better next time - the whole point is to learn something from what you do so that you're better in future, right? But what that thing is might be different from Q to Q. It's more important, for example, to come up with an alternative approach if you (a) took too long, or (b) made a careless error that might have been caused by a too-complex approach.

Of course, if you make an error because there's something you just don't know / haven't studied, then you'd want to go and study that right away / soon - you wouldn't want to wait till after you've done a bunch of other questions.

In terms of doing more (similar) Qs later to test yourself, you don't necessarily do them right afterwards, and you don't necessarily do them by themselves. So, for example, at the end of a week or so, you might do a mixed set of Qs that includes all of the types you studied that week. That's more of a real test. And then - are you still struggling with any? Which ones? Why? Maybe you got something wrong again but maybe it was for a different reason. Maybe the first time, you didn't know something you needed to know, but the second time, you just made a careless mistake. There's a different remedy for that second situation compared to the first.

go and do all the other ones in the OG for that question type

No - when you're first starting out, it's okay to do Qs by topic area because you're learning how to handle these in the first place. After that, though, you want to start doing mixed sets that require you to identify what each question is about - because that's how the real test is. You'll never know you're going to get some certain type of question next, right?

To address some of your other questions from earlier posts:
(1) The Advanced Quant book is designed for people who are scoring around the 75th percentile or so and looking to push to 90+. It assumes that you already know the material in the 5 strategy guides. If you don't, then you're going to struggle with that book.
(2) Forget about probability, combinatorics (maybe 1 Q total on the real test), sets (maybe 1 Q total); these are not frequent enough to be a major focus for you, given your limited time. You need to spend your time on things that are more likely to pay off (because they are more frequently tested). See below for more.
(3) You mention feeling burned out and, from some of what you wrote, it sounds like you are trying to do two things: analyze the questions more (which is good) while still doing EVERYthing (this is bad). Quality is more important than quantity - you don't need to do every single last problem. If you are learning from the Qs you do, then you'll progress. If you aren't learning much from the Qs you do, then it doesn't matter how many Qs you do.

Most commonly tested quant areas:
Number Properties: exponents and roots, divis and primes
Algebra: all types of equations and inequalities
Word Translations: stats, translation problems in general
FDP: fractions, percents (in both word problem format and non-word format)
Geom: (in general less common that the other 4) triangles, polygons, circles

Have you seen the below article? Use it to analyze your most recent MGMAT test; that will tell you your strengths and weaknesses across both content and timing, which will help you set priorities.
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/

Are you having any timing problems? (Answer that after you do the analysis described in the previous article.) If so, read the below and start doing what it says:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... anagement/

And come back here and let us know how things are going!

[rkafc81]

Hi Stacey - thanks heaps for your reply.

Yours posts on analysing questions etc. have been extremely helpful (e.g. "how to analyse a practice question" etc.) and I've been approaching problem questions in that way...

I've been only writing down questions I have trouble with and have got wrong for reasons of bad technique, too slow (I count that as wrong), or lacking knowledge of the underlying concepts. I'm logging all silly mistakes into a different tab on my error log spreadsheet as I'm not going to revisit those questions, I'm just keeping a record of them and exactly where I've made the silly mistake so I can start to see patterns in the mistakes I make.

So after doing this for 1 week I've noticed my biggest weakness by a mile is word translations - I just seem to mess them up almost everytime. I went through the explanations in the MGMAT OG ARcher for these word translations and also looked at the explanations in the OG Quant Review 2nd edition for the ones I got wrong in that book, and I'm methodically approaching these questions now and I think I'm getting the hang of them.

However, for really wordy word problems I always seem to freak out - is there a technique for solving these? IS it true that these problems require you translate little pieces of the puzzle and assemble all those translations into a coherent whole? (i.e. a main equation)?

Also a huge weakness is DS especially involving scenario tables etc. - I'm working through the MGMAT Advanced Quant book for these and I'm learning a lot about DS strategies etc.

And finally, absolute value and inequalities especially in DS is a problem for me... Any ideas how I can improve in this area?

I extended my exam date to November 12 but this is the absolute latest I can take it... How can I best imprvoe in the next 5 weeks? Should I be taking a practice test every saturday and analysing the wrong answers etc. on the sunday, and just focus 100% on weak areas during the week?

I really feel now that with some focused study I can break the 700 barrier.

thanks again!

[StaceyKoprince]

Yes, WT is really about figuring out how to turn all the pieces of the story into math - and you're not the only one who's struggling with that. Most people do.

Try the techniques in this 2-part article series:

http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2011/05/ ... -into-math
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2011/05/ ... ath-part-2

By DS scenario tables, do you mean trying numbers for theory problems, that sort of thing? Yes, Advanced Quant should help with that.

For absolute value and inequalities - there aren't a ton of absolute value equations usually, and ditto with "true" inequalities problems, though inequalities are used all the time in DS to disguise information. (eg, if I tell you that xy < 0, what I'm really telling you is that one of those two variables is positive and the other is negative - so it's not really an inequalities problem, but a number properties problem.)

Do you feel you're struggling with actual manipulate-a-nasty-inequality (the way we do equations) problems? Or is it more that you're seeing inequality symbols a lot but sometimes miss the significance (as in my example above)? For the former, there aren't a ton of Qs like that on the test so given your short timeframe, that's a good place to say "who cares?"

For the latter, though, those show up a lot. Go back over the first 10 or 20 or 40 DS problems in OG - problems you've already done. Scan for absolute value symbols and then ask yourself: what are they really trying to tell me here? What's the significance of presenting that inequality to me - is it really about inequalities or is it disguising something else? (And then check the explanation to see.)

Re: practice tests, in general, you don't want to take a practice test until you have:
(a) thoroughly analyzed your previous practice test, and
(b) made significant strides in several major areas of weakness from the last test

If that happens every week, great - but most people take at least a couple of weeks to make significant strides. You are, though, working with a very short timeframe, so you may have to accelerate that a bit - but don't take a test just because it's on your calendar. If you feel like you still have any MAJOR weaknesses that have not yet been at least partially addressed since your last test, go fix that thing first - otherwise, the new test is (somewhat) a waste of your time.

[rkafc81]

Hi Stacey,

Thanks for your reply!

I had a look at those links for WT's - they made a lot of sense, thanks.

Basically, I'm hovering on around Q41-42 in the MGMAT practice exams and I'll be happy to pull that up to Q46 as I am consistently getting around a verbal 42 so that would enable me to get around 710-720 on the real exam.

I rescheduled my test to November 13. I go home to Australia after that for 2.5 weeks for a holiday. Do you feel I can improve much in the next 3 1/2 weeks? I have no idea what to do to improve in that time :(

MY R2 deadline is January 5. I'm really worried I'll miss it because I have no solid strategy for the GMAT and am just burning time.... With all the posts and resources out there I'm really confused as to how to study... And I don't know how to go about improving my weaknesses effectively and efficiently... Maybe I should pay for an MGMAT tutor for 2-3 sessions, but is that going to be useful to me at this stage?

I have 100 DS and 100 PS questions left to do in the OG (should I do them all or focus on weaknesses only?), and DS is a complete puzzle for me... I just can't 'get it'. The first 90 questions were easy for DS but after that I'm getting most of them wrong... I look at the OG archer explanations for them (I dont pay much attention to the OG explanations as they are often confusing) and I think "there's no way I would have thought to do the question in that way... maybe I'm just really bad at standardised tests..."

So, what I'm doing now (as in from this week onwards) is doing a thorough analysis for each one I get wrong , am slow on or unsure of, by using the write-up method (and physcially writing it up in a new word document for each question I mess up) you write about in the post "how to analyze a practice question". If I keep doing this, is it just a matter of practice until I start to see common patterns, traps and tricks in the questions and thus will become comfortable with DS?

In response to your question, "Do you feel you're struggling with actual manipulate-a-nasty-inequality (the way we do equations) problems" --> I'm fine with basic equation problems and questions such as |X + 3| > 5 -> for me they are fine. It's the tricky DS inequalities ones that I consistently get wrong.

thanks again

[StaceyKoprince]

there's no way I would have thought to do the question in that way

Think about it this way: that's what you're actually trying to learn. So when you think that, then ask yourself, okay, WHY does the problem work that way? What are the CLUES in the wording of the question that would tell me "this is this kind of problem, I can do it this way?"

Make a file or get some flashcards and make a bunch of entries in this format:
When I see _________, then I think / do ___________

Put actual wording that you see from problems, then also abstract it out. So, there's the quote, and then I might write "problem mentions integers, factors, and factors in between 1 and the main number" and when I see that combination of words, I should think "prime."

http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/09/ ... t-problems

Learning all of that takes time, of course. You're on the right track when you say that you're analyzing these questions - and, yes, that's how you explicitly teach yourself how to recognize these patterns. You ask whether you should work with a tutor, and one of the great benefits of a tutor is that it's more efficient than studying on your own - but tutors are also extremely expensive, and it's possible that only 1 or 2 sessions won't make a big difference when you're dealing with a systemic problem. If you were able to say "I just don't get coordinate plane, it drives me crazy, help!" then a tutor could help you with that in one session. An entire question type (DS) may take more work; with a tutor, that would mean more money.

I just want to make sure you think that through - I don't want you to have an unpleasant surprise.

Have you seen this article:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... questions/

That might give you a more solid starting point for a lot of the "twisty" things that go on with DS.

Save the new / undone OG questions until you get better at the things that are already giving you trouble - you know what a lot of your issues are, so you want to try to improve using questions you've already "used up" and then use the new questions as a test to see whether you really did improve.

Okay, and inequalities are back to the DS issue again - this is likely more about DS than anything else. DS is written in a way to disguise a lot of what's going on, and inequalities are great tools for disguising things. Did you take a course? Do you have access to the class videos and labs? If so, start by rewatching the DS lessons and labs. If not, then you may want to consider getting those lessons via some tutoring (we're all trained to teach everything, so your tutor can teach you just the specific lessons you need).

[rkafc81]

Hi Stacey

thanks for your reply,. I've been using the tips and advice in it, very helpful.

I took a GMAT prep on Saturday. Q42 V34 (640). I completely guessed a few questions, and intelligently guessed the others (which worked!)... The low verbal was due to the fact I was in a library where people were very noisy in the second half of the exam and I just couldnt concentrate. I normally get a V40-V44.

After analysing this exam, I realised that in Quant, I often either making silly mistakes or for some reason or another (probably due to time pressure) I mess something up. But then, when I go to redo the question again without looking at the answer, I can do the question quickly properly with no troubles. This happened a few times. I thikn I could get a Q45 if this wasn't happening...

Any ideas how to get around this? I guess I need to adopt a 'cool, calm and collected' approach in the exam and not stress out so much. No idea how to attain that mental state though!

Do you think it's just a matter of redoing those questions time and time again (in review cycles) until I'm a master of not screwing up under time pressure?

Anyways, I'm taking the exam in 6 days... If I get a 680 or above, I think I'll give up on this exam (deadlines are fast approaching) and hope my essays do it for me. I know a Q42-43 isn't the best but I have an unusual background so I might be ok. Alternatively if I mess up the exam I would have 4 weeks to reattempt it before the deadlines and try to pull up my quant score... How could I do that?

If I'm lucky, a Q44 V42 will be my G-Day score and I'll be quite happy!

[StaceyKoprince]

cool, calm, and collected helps but, as you said, easier said than done!

Start keeping a log of those careless mistakes. For each one, ask yourself:

1) why, *exactly*, did I make this mistake?
2) how could I do things differently to avoid making that exact same mistake on some future problem?
--> this might involve changing the way you write something out, changing the solution path that you follow, double-checking certain things (not everything, just those things where you know you're more likely to make a mistake), etc.

For instance, I used to occasionally solve for the wrong thing on quant. So I developed a new habit: I write down what I'm looking for several lines *below* where I plan to do the work (eg, x = ____?) and I put a circle around it. Then I go back *up* to do the work. When I'm done, I run right into my circled note and that's a reminder that I'm solving for x and not y (or whatever).

Here's another example: a student recently complained to me that he often drops negative signs when he's manipulating equations. Not subtractions signs, just negative signs, eg:
-x + 13 - y = 42
and somewhere along the way, he would drop the negative in front of the x. So I told him to try putting a circle around the negative, just to emphasize it to himself - maybe that'll reinforce the negative and make him less likely to drop it. I don't know yet whether that particular remedy will work for him, but the idea is just to try things and find something that works for whatever the situation is.

As you keep your log, look for patterns. If you know you do a certain thing over and over, then start double-checking that thing. I had a student once who always mixed up the formulas for area and circumference of a circle, so she always double-checked that she had the right formula - she stopped and said to herself carefully, "Okay, I want area and area's the formula with the square and I've got the formula with the square here, so I'm okay." She didn't do that for every formula she had to use on the test - that'd take too long - but she took the time to do it with circle formulas because she knew that was where she tended to make mistakes.

You don't have a ton of time, but try to do what you can with this before your test in a few days. If you do need to take it again, then you should have more than enough time to work through the above exercises and minimize those errors. (And if you do need to take it again, come back here and tell us so that we can help!)

Good luck - I hope your next post will be all about how you don't need to take the test ever again. :)

[rkafc81]

thanks Stacey!

If by chance I do need to retake (I'm being prepared here for the worst, just in case), what should be my strategy for the 4-5 weeks before my deadlines? I would be able to put 2 hours a night in max and 4-5 hours a day max on weekends because I will be doing essays as well. I don't want to burn myself out again... already have done that now, badly.

I really only need to raise my quant score by a consistent 4-5 points. I'm thinking to work through the MGMAT advanced quant book as well as use the question analysis and error logging strategies that you've mentioned on this site.

Good plan? I just need a solid way of preparing that I know will work basically.

[rkafc81]

Just got back from the test centre... Bombed it. 580 (q37 v33).

btw my last GMATPrep was 640 (q42 v33) which I took one week ago, my verbal is normally at v40-42.

I think I know why:
* I'm really burnt out and exhausted from it all at the moment. In the past 2 weeks I've done zero prep, I just didn't have it in me.
* had a very early start - the exam was at 845am, 1 hour from my home. I'm not a morning person.
* Not much sleep last night.
* Became very tired during verbal and couldn't concentrate at all in the 2nd half of it.
* I just wasn't ready, and I knew it. I should have listened to my intuition more...

Anyways I am off back home to Australia tomorrow for a 2.5 week holiday, I may just do 1 hour a day max on weak areas whilst I'm away and then get back into it again when I get back... when I get back though I only have 4 weeks until R2 deadlines... Should I just postpone applying until next year? or am I close to that 700 (with a quant of 47-50 ideally)?

I really don't know what to do at this stage to improve and get "back on the GMAT horse".. I've used most of the MGMAT CAT's and have done most of OG12... Any advice?

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm sorry you had a rough time on the test.

If you took our course or one of our Guided Self-Study packages, then you're eligible for a free Post-Exam Assessment (if you haven't done it already). This is a phone call with an instructor to figure out what went wrong and come up with a plan to re-take the test. If this applies to you, please send an email right away to studentservices@manhattangmat.com and request the Post-Exam Assessment. That'll be the best debrief you can do.

It's important to try to figure out what happened and it sounds like you have already thought about that - burn-out, early start, stamina problems in verbal, etc. The biggest one, though, is that you knew you weren't ready but didn't want to admit it. Remember that for next time. :)

If you're still feeling really burned-out, take a few days off. Take up to a week if you really need it. If you're burned out, pushing harder will just make it worse.

In terms of whether you should postpone your applications, I really can't tell you - that's a personal decision. It does sound, though, as though you aren't totally opposed to waiting till next year. (Otherwise, you wouldn't have mentioned it as a possibility!) If that's the case, leave your options open. Go for it - try to make it in time this year - but do pay attention to your burn-out levels and whether you feel really ready. If you can get there, great. If not, you can always apply next year.

I will say that it is going to be tough in that timeframe - 4 weeks - but if you do want to go for it this year, go for it. Otherwise, if you really don't have a problem at all waiting for next year and you're feeling totally burned out, then you might just decide now: okay, I'm going for next year, I'm going to give myself a solid length of time without having to stress about deadlines, I'm going to get the test out of the way this winter, and then next fall I can do apps without worrying about the GMAT at all.

In terms of gearing up to study again: we've got to deal with the burn-out and mental stamina issues, so that verbal doesn't drop. And then you still need to pull the quant back up too.

Can you give me some more detail on what happened in quant? Did you have timing issues? What was going on there? We need to figure out why it dropped, so that that doesn't happen again, and then we need to boost it to the desired level.

Note: Advanced Quant is most useful for people who are already at around the 70th to 75th percentile and looking to push higher from there - so have that on the list, but we have to get solidly up into that range first.

[rkafc81]

Hi Stacey

Not sure what happened on the quant section... I got a few seemingly basic questions that I would have been able to solve easily on a practice test but I felt a bit stressed etc so for some reason I screwed them up. And I think i had time management issue that I didn't gt on the practice tests, or at least an issue that I didn't identify correctly on the practice tests...

Re burnout: I'm going to follow a balanced study schedule from now on. I've had two weeks off completely now and feel almost ready to get back into it all again. Balanced for me equals not too many hours each night, have 'rewards' at thend of each study session such as watching tv after say two hours of studying each work night. It also means doing regular exercise etc... All things I was not doing the first time around.

I'm not sure where to go from here though because I feel I've already learnt th content from the mgmt books and i don't want to go over it all again as I fel I would just be wasting time doing that. I think I may be weak in math foundations and that may be holding me back a bit so I think i will buy the mgmat foundations of math book to go throug it and for the online practice drills.

All in all I'm a bit stuck as to what to do now... Should i take anotherpractice test to ID my weaknesses and then tailor a plan from that?

Thanks again

[StaceyKoprince]

If your last practice test was within the last month, you can use that to ID your weaknesses and make a plan from that. er - assuming that the test was taken under official conditions as much as possible so that it really is a good indicator of your strengths and weaknesses. :)

If not, then yes, go ahead and take another and analyze it to figure out where you need to go from here.

You mention careless mistakes, but you also mention a bunch of other things related to stress, lack of sleep, taking the test early in the morning, etc. If that was all that brought you down, you just need to work out those things and you'll be ready to take the test again soon. But be honest with yourself - if it's more than that then you need to know so you really can be ready next time.

Read the careless mistakes section of this article:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/error-log.cfm

You also mention wanting to do some work with the quant fundamentals - I think that's a good plan.

Next, when you were reviewing the problems and lessons, how deeply did you go? Were you doing things like this:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/a ... roblem.cfm

(I'm not going back to read all of our earlier posts, so apologies if I already asked you that / gave you that link.)

If you weren't going into that kind of depth on your study, though, then start doing so.

The last big thing in that article talks about being able to *recognize* what to do when you see new problems because you recognize something similar that you saw in some earlier practice problem. If you feel that one of your problems is that you really do have to figure most things out from scratch and you're not recognizing all that much, then really do what that article says. :)

Another good exercise that can help with developing that skill: make flash cards that have, on one side, "When I see _____" and on the other "Then I should think / do ______"

Try that out and see how that goes. And if you want to discuss the results of your practice test and what to do for the various weaknesses you uncover, just ask!