Strategy Guides

[digoazambuja]

Hi,

Ive done my first CAT without studying anything previously and scored 560.

Whats the next step?

What would be the best way to go through all the strategy guides? Should I really read every single page? Its kind a lot..

Tks

Rodrigo

[StaceyKoprince]

What is your goal score? Are you taking the class or working on your own? Do you have a deadline?

If you want a 650-700 score, then you need to read all of the "General" chapters, but only some of the advanced chapters (in your areas of strength). The higher above 700 you want to go, the more you have to do of the advanced chapters.

If you want a 550 or 600, do the general chapters but not the advanced chapters.

If you haven't studied before, then yes, just start working your way through each chapter and book. Once you're done with that, you will probably want to review and work more on whatever portions were harder for you.

Most people study for between 2 and 4 months for the test.

[RAHULZ400]

Hi Stacey,

So you mean that 3-4 months are sufficient to go through all the guides and the OG in parallel? If I am a targeting a score of 750 then do I need to do the advanced section of each and every guide i.e. Finish the entire guide from start to end? Also do I also need to do the entire advanced quant book of MGMAT for the same? If yes then kindly provide a rough estimate of the time to be spent for the preparation.

[StaceyKoprince]

My answer is still that most people spend about 3 to 4 months studying for the test - but you still need to adjust accordingly for your specific situation. You want an especially high score (a 750 is crazy high). That may take more time. How much time do you have to study? If you can only study 5-10 hours a week, you may need more time. What is your starting score? Someone starting at a 500 is going to need more time than someone starting at a 600. Etc.

I also have to mention that 750 is so high, you really have to become a master of taking this test. Some people take 6 months or a year. Some people never get there. Years ago, when a 750 score was still 99th percentile, we had a few people who wanted to teach for us who would keep getting 740. We thought they were great teachers and tried to help them break over to 750 - gave them some free resources and pointers, that kind of thing. But some people just kept getting 740...so they never taught for us.

(Also: unless you're trying to teach for us, too, I hope you will be very happy if you get a 730 instead of a 750 and just go with it. If you break a 700, the school is going to say, okay, he/she did very well on that requirement. Now let's scrutinize the rest of the application.)

Next, if you really do want to hit 750, then you are going to need most of the material in the Extra / advanced chapters, yes. You don't know which material will actually show up on the test, which means you do need to look at it all. And you will still have some weaknesses even at that level - you will still have to let some things go / you won't be good at everything. But you will need to be able to handle a lot of advanced material in order to hit that kind of score, even though you'll still get some wrong.