GMAT Strategy

mbsingh wrote:I am not trying to sound overconfident but i am aiming for a really high score and have made the mindset that i know nothing and have to start from scratch.

That's positive and at the same time not exactly the right perspective.

The GMAT is not a math test that tests your knowledge of math or a language test the purpose of which is to test you grammar skills. The GMAT is a test of vision and decision making skills. So the vision and decision making skills that you already have are key to scoring high.

In fact, had you taken a different attitude and truly sought to get right answers when you took that practice test, likely you would have scored much higher. Attitude is a huge component of GMAT performance. With a certain attitude you would have used the vision and the math, language and decision making skills that you already have to hack your way to right answers to the questions, and really, that certain attitude is, more than any strategies or tactics, what you need in order to score "really high" as you say you want to.

Whatever resources and whatever program you decide to use, remember that what you are doing is training to play a reasoning game. So while you can and will get insights and ideas from the resources, what's even more important is training yourself to see what's going on and make good decisions on the fly.

Hi Marty,

Thanks for your encouraging words. I took the CAT because everyone was recommending it. I would've preferred to study a month or two then take a practice test (IMHO). Yes i completely understand , had i used all the time allocated i could've scored a lot higher and i apologize for coming off as arrogant. I excel in a classroom or scheduled setting but unfortunately with work responsibilities i cannot take in person or online classes. So i am looking for a systematic self paced study course with 2-3 hour commitment on daily basis and a certain set of topics to cover.
So i can learn and practice on a routine basis.

Thanks

mbsingh wrote:I excel in a classroom or scheduled setting but unfortunately with work responsibilities i cannot take in person or online classes. So i am looking for a systematic self paced study course with 2-3 hour commitment on daily basis and a certain set of topics to cover.
So i can learn and practice on a routine basis.

The 60 Day Study Plan is one option.

Another, for quant, is Target Test Prep. TTP would get you going, and would be a way to familiarize yourself with quant topics in an organized and self paced way. While I don't agree with all of their approaches all of the time, and find some of them a bit math heavy, you could get pretty far using their program. Then you could go on with some more training, if that were necessary for hitting your target score.

You would have to use something else for verbal.

Just to be clear, optimally preparing for the GMAT tends to require a fair amount of self assessment and of tailoring what you do to what you have to do in order to hit your score goal. As I indicated before, the test is not really a test of knowledge. It's more a test of how well you play the game. So don't overemphasize in your mind the power of some "program."

What you experience will likely go something like this. You go through some organized program, and yes your score increases some, but maybe not to your goal. If you hit your goal at that point, then you are done. If you don't, then at that point you are familiar with various aspects of the test, and yet not playing the game well enough to hit your goal. So the next step is to dig in and figure out exactly what has to change in order for you to hit your goal and work on making that change happen, aspect by aspect.

Also, to save your some time and trouble, I'll tell you right now that many recommendations made for GMAT preparation are geared toward getting someone to a score in the 600's rather than the 700's. For instance, many commonly used sentence correction strategies are almost useless or worse than useless for getting the right answers to higher level questions, and some quant approaches are too formulaic to be used for answering more complex questions. So go into this with open eyes and ready to use some judgement to decide whether something you are finding out about is really going to serve your purposes. On multiple levels scoring high on the GMAT is a matter of using good judgement.