GMAT Strategy

Hello Everybody,

Thank you for taking the time to read my post.

I am taking the GMAT on 4/18/2014, and I my target score is a 600 (Yes, I know, it is low, but it is all I need).

I have the MGMAT books (all 9) and the OG13. I am studying from every resource possible (GMAT.com, MGMAT, OG13, Veritas, etc...). With less than a month of studying, I feel as if I am making little headway and I wanted to get some advice.

I took two practice exams:

MGMAT CAT 1 (Q37:V29) 550

MGMAT CAT 2 (Q34:V18) 440


I am taking a practice test every weekend. I am studying the problems I get write/wrong to understand how to do the problem more efficiently.

I am having trouble seeing a new problem and associating it with an old, previously computed, problem.

What advice can you guys give me?

Thanks

I have to meet an admissions deadline. If I did not have the deadline, I would not be in this predicament.

The verbal portion is interesting. I do well in RC, but CR and SC are my vice. I am currently working to get better at solving the latter two. I am getting much better at CR, but I need to work on SC.

Second exam, I got many more SC and CR questions than RC questions. It was the opposite on the first test.

I will let you know how I do on my test this weekend. Like I said, the goal is a 600 (not impossible in 3 weeks).

Can you PM me examples of the type of notes you are referring to? Thanks!

Ok... finished the third practice test.

(Q36:V29)540, worse than the first one, better than the second one.

My target score is approximately (Q40:V32)

I think I am getting there. With three full weeks to study and consider MGMAT quant is much harder than the real thing, I believe I will be just fine. I will keep you posted. Thanks for the advice.

I'm curious as to HOW you are approaching your Verbal questions -- how are you strategically using your scratch paper (i.e. "Step 1, I do X. Step 2, I do Y.")?

I agree that you don't seem to know the Sentence Correction concepts all that well, otherwise your Verbal score would be higher. For example, can you answer the following questions:

- how does the GMAT test "which" versus "that"?
- what is the proper use of the past perfect tense?
- what are the most common countable/uncountable words on the GMAT?

If you can't, you probably haven't reviewed as well as you might think. You've GOT to be able to NAME the concept every GMAT Verbal question is testing, otherwise you're in serious trouble.

I'd suggest you make an Error Log for your last two CATs, logging each incorrect question in the following columns:

Column 1 - Question Type
Column 2 - Primary Concept Tested (EX: Inference, Parallelism, Assumption, etc.)
Column 3 - Secondary Concept Tested
Column 4 - Why Incorrect (EX: didn't know concept, missed idiom, didn't see the extreme language in 2nd choice, etc.)
Column 5 - Action Steps (write down what you need to do NEXT time to get a similar question correct)

The more strategic content review you do and the more you re-examine and adjust HOW you're using your scratch paper and approaching each Q, the faster you'll get to you target score. It's totally do-able. Good luck!

Ok Guys. I appreciate all of the help. Unfortunately, I took the GMAT this past week and scored a dismal 480 (Q35:V21). I clearly need to focus on the verbal portion. I am a native English speaker, but my grammar skills are lacking. I plan on re-taking the test in 3-6 months.