GMAT Strategy

i know this is an old thread, but i'm working on a couple of weeks' backlog in answering private messages.

here are my general comments regarding the initial post:

in your first reading of the passage, DO NOT pay much attention to detail. this is really important, because it's basically impossible to focus on the main idea and on details at the same time -- you have to pick one level of focus and stick with it. (as an analogy, consider a smart phone. you can think about the design and purpose of the entire smart phone as a whole, *or* you can think about the functionality of one particular component of the touchscreen, but you can't think on both of these levels at the same time.)
it's not going to be possible for you to figure out main ideas and themes later, so your initial reading of the passage should focus entirely on main ideas and themes.

as far as the details: just INDEX the details as you go through the passage. DO NOT write them down, and DO NOT try to memorize them.
by "index" i mean that you should just try to remember where you saw certain types of details.

don't forget that you can always refer to the passage again! i think a lot of students forget that the passage will always be available to them -- i see lots and lots of students copying tons of small details, almost verbatim; needless to say, that's a complete waste of time, because those details will always be available if you just go back and look at them.
as a timesaver, consider the fact that once you figure out what's basically going on with the details in a certain section of the passage, you can skim or skip the rest of those details.
for instance, consider the RC passage on page 394 of og12. when you start reading the third paragraph, you can figure out that this paragraph is just going to rattle off a list of 5 different ways in which managers use intuition. you don't have to read through this paragraph at all! once you figure out that the paragraph is just going to give an exhaustive list, you can skip it, and then return to it if and when you have to answer a specific question about the things in the list.