Second Time and the Last Time

[Jkashyap]

Hey all, (Long Post)

Took the GMAT in June last year..scored a miserable 560. As usual shock and disappointment followed. But i was happy that i had a 2nd chance to rectify my errors and boost my score to 700+ levels.

I had been scoring in the 650 - 680 range in the MGMAT practice tests and scored a 650 on the GMATprep during the last week before the test.

6 months later, i decided to give it a 2nd and final shot to get the score i have been wishing for. and so i have registered for the 24th of april, giving me exactly 80 odd days to prepare.

Instructors/experts, my queries are as follows:

1. I have the assessment reports generated via the mgmat prac test page, that details the error areas across the 5 tests that i had attempted. I have begun by choosing SC as my verbal score was terrible. Should i reread all the mgmat books (i have those too) or should i focus on the error areas alone?

2. Given the fact that i have only 80 days to prepare, i would be resetting my prac tests too. How frequently should i take a full practice test, so that i can review comfortably and build my score over the tests?

3. I have not completed the OG problems fully even once, hence the set problems marked in the mgmat books at the end of chapter is useful to choose problems that test specific concepts. Should i work out and review all of them? or should just choose 3 - 4 problems and apply the concepts and understand the errors thereon?

On a given day, i get the feeling i concentrate too much on an individual chapter. Yesterday, i was looking at various articles on BTG on Subject - Verb agreement to get a proper understanding of the tricks played by the gmat. Is it worth spending so much time given the fact that i have less than 3 months to prepare?

Im 23 now, and as far as i can remember, iv been talking about the GMAT for the last 4 years. I do not want to use my time inefficiently only to realise that i could have used a different study approach.

Hope im making sense, any help on this matter would be appreciated!

[StaceyKoprince]

When was the last time that you took a practice test? If that was 6 months ago, you need to take another now - the data from 6 months ago won't necessarily accurately reflect what you still remember and what you've forgotten in that time.

Also, did you take those tests under 100% official conditions, including essays and length of breaks? Skipping the essays, taking longer breaks than allowed, or other deviations from official protocol could result in artificial score inflation. Make sure you take any future practice tests under 100% official conditions.

Next, use this article to analyze all of the data in your assessment reports (for whatever *recent* tests you've taken:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/

That will give you a really good idea of your current strengths and weaknesses in detail.

Next, read this:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

And read the other articles that are linked within that article. Also come back here to tell us the results of your test analysis - we'll help you figure out what to do from there more specifically.

As a general rule, you're not going to re-read every page of the books. You're going to use your current results to determine which books and which chapters need review.

Re: practice tests, there isn't a strict guideline in terms of how often to take them - the rule is basically that you don't take another practice test until you have made substantial strides at correcting major issues uncovered during your last practice test. That can take anywhere from a week to a month (and it's usually 2-3 weeks). If you're taking a practice test before you've really tackled the things that showed up as problem areas in your last practice test, then you're just wasting a practice test!

For the OG problems, do some while you're reviewing specific chapters (to ensure that you're learning the material), but save some for random problem sets later. As you get back into things, you're periodically going to give yourself mixed sets of problems to do, and you want those to cover all topics randomly (because that's what the real test does too - it's an advantage if you know that, for example, you're about to get only geometry problems).

Make sure you time yourself on all OG problems. (See the time management article - linked in one of the above articles - for details.)

For one study session (a study session is 1 to 2 hours - closer to 2 when possible), it's fine to concentrate on just one topic. It's also fine to have more than one study session in a day, as long as you take a substantial break (at least 1 hour) between study sessions.