RE: STUDYING TIPS, STUDY STRUCTURE, PRACTICE TESTS

[jmiceli0819]

My first two gmats didn’t go exactly as planned. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to study my next go around. I'm taking a week off right now as I'm fried from last week's test experience. I know I have to work on timing; it's just way off right now. I go in thinking in order to get a good score I need to get all of the first 10 questions correct, leaving me guessing on the the final 6-7 questions and even leaving some questions unanswered (1-2).
My concern is my study habits; I study during the week at my desk for an hour at lunch, have the guys coming by my desk and talk to me causing me to lose focus on what question i was working on and having to start over again. Does my studying on the train do more harm than good?
Same thing happens on my train ride home. People are snoring and are on top of me, i can't get comfortable, and now that I’m writing all this I see this may be a problem. When i get home during the week i'm tired from running around all day at work and from studying, but i put an extra hour or two in and call it quits.
On the weekend I spend my Saturdays in the library from 9-5 and Sunday I just relax.
Should I skip studying during my lunch break and on the train ride home and study when I’m in a more comfortable, quiet area where i can fully concentrate, like in the library on Sundays? Is studying in a loud, uncomfortable environment not similar to the gmat a good thing?
If anyone works full time and is also studying for the gmat, please share any study tips/ experiences you may have.
Thanks

[StaceyKoprince]

Several things. First, that thing about the early questions is a myth - they are not worth more and you are killing your score by running out of time at the end. Log into your student center and read the Scoring section of our e-book The GMAT Uncovered. If you keep doing what you've been doing with respect to the timing, your score is not going to get better!

This article talks about timing:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2009/12/ ... management

I think you would also benefit from a timing exercise: learning about how long one minute is without looking at a watch or stopwatch. If you don't have one already, buy yourself a stopwatch with lap timing capability. When you go to do a set of problems, start the stopwatch but turn it over so you can't see the time. Every time you think you're one minute into a new problem, push the lap button. When you're done with that problem, push the lap button again, then repeat the process for the next problem. When you're done with the set, see how good you were - and whether you tend to over or underestimate. Get yourself to the point where you're within 15 seconds either way on a regular basis (that is, you can generally predict between 45 sec and 1min 15 sec). Also check your timing for the entire question, of course.

Now, how do you use that when doing problems? If you're not on track by one minute*, make an educated guess** and move on. (The general idea is that if you're not on track by the halfway mark, you're unlikely to figure out what's holding you back AND have time to do the whole problem in the 1 min you have left.)

* For SC, 1min is well beyond the half-way mark (we're supposed to average about 1m15s here), but you can almost always eliminate at least some choices on SC in that timeframe. Once you've got that "I'm around the 1min mark and I'm struggling" feeling, go through any remaining choices ONCE more. Pick one. Move on.

** This also requires you to know HOW to make an educated guess depending upon the type of problem and the content being tested. So that's something else to add to your study: how to make educated guesses on different kinds of problems.

Here are a couple of articles on educated guessing:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/07/ ... s-on-quant
http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/e ... verbal.cfm

Re: where and how you're studying, it's actually good for your brain to study in different places / formats, and not always to study in the perfect, sterile, quiet environment. If you're literally getting interrupted / distracted every minute, that's not so good. At work, can you hang a sign on your door or cube that says, "Studying! Please don't interrupt me right now!"

Take a look at this article:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/09/ ... your-study

Can you go someplace else at lunch to study? Can you study in the morning before you go to work? Can you study while you're listening to music (so that you're not hearing others so much)? Do you have a smartphone? We've got flashcards and those sorts of things - they might be easier to do on the train.

I would also love to hear from others what they do!

Okay, now that we've covered everything that you asked (I think! hopefully I hit it all...), take a look at this article:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/02/ ... study-plan

It talks about how to set up a study plan. That article basically contains everything I would advise you to do to get started on your next round of studying. For the part that talks about analyzing your practice test(s), you can also come back here after doing that analysis and we'll help you figure out more specific things to do based upon your strengths and weaknesses.

[adrian.jank]

If you actually live in Manhattan, and you have a full-time job, the best option IMHO is the Mid-Manhattan Library. Its located at 40th and 5th avenue. The hours during the week are AMAZING! It stays open until 11 M-TH and till 8 on Fridays. I am able to put in a good 3-5 hours after work everyday. I haven't ventured past the 2nd floor yet, because the 2nd floor is the last "study" floor to close.

PROS:
Great hours (open till 6 on weekends)
Plenty of space
Mid City location
Its next to Bryant Park--> this is a huge plus for those marathon weekend study sessions.
For a library it has a decent selection of GMAT books (NO OG guides though)

CONS
No wifi access so taking a MGMAT CAT isn't possible

EDIT: 2 OG 12th editions were on the shelf last night

[StaceyKoprince]

Thanks for letting us know about that, Adrian. Local libraries in general are a great idea, regardless of where you live!

And Adrian makes a great point about checking the hours - most libraries close on the earlier side, but many also have one or two "late nights" a week, so if you know the schedule, you can take advantage of that.

[jmiceli0819]

Thanks everyone!!

[StaceyKoprince]

you're welcome!