Which books to study from on the last 20 days? Help.

[kareemicy]

Hello,

I'm preparing for my GMAT exam. I've finished Manhattan foundations of Math and foundations of Verbal books.

I have 20 days remaining for my exam, and I have the following books untouched:
- Manhattan Prep Set, 5th Edition (9 guides, excluding the roadmap which I've read)
- The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 13th Edition

I want to know if I should focus on the official GMAT review or should I focus on the Manhattan prep set books. I don't really know the exact difference between both, but from going through them quickly, I had a feeling that they serve the same purpose. And since I'm short on time, I believe I should be efficient and prioritize.

Any advice?

Thanks in advance.

[[email protected]]

Hi kareemicy,

You should find both options to be helpful. The most realistic practice questions in print are in the OG books, so you should plan to spend at least some of your time working through those questions.

How have you been scoring on your practice CATs? What is your score goal?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

[kareemicy]

Hello Rich,

Thanks a lot for your reply and advice.

I have not yet taken a CAT exam as I waited till I finish the foundations. I'm planning on taking one before starting the other books as to point out where my weaknesses are.

I've went through the books again and found out that there are basically no GMAT questions on the Manhattan strategy guides. So my plan is to review from the guides and answer GMAT questions from the OG. Hopefully the 20 days would be enough.

Do you happen to know how many pages could/should one finish per hour/day?

[[email protected]]

Hi kareemicy,

If you have not taken any CATs yet, then I think that you need to be prepared to push your Test Date back. It might not be necessary, but your timeline doesn't allow for many CATs along with the necessary review, practice and re-review.

You should not measure your studies by how many pages/questions you do a day. The only practical measure of your abilities at any given point is by taking a full-length practice CAT. Those scores will point out your strengths and weaknesses (in content, tactics, pacing, endurance, etc.). You can set goals for yourself on a short term basis (e.g. working on certain categories each day or doing a certain number of OG questions), but there isn't a "minimum" amount of study that will help you to achieve a score goal. Your ability to make adjustments is a part of the process. Until you put enough work in, you won't know how much extra time you'll need to spend on any category.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

[Dan@VinciaPrep]

Hello Kareemicy,
I just wanted to add a couple things to what Rich said, although I generally agree with his statements. One thing to keep in mind is that most people need to go through the books that read at least two times. So if you've only done the foundations book one time and you haven't reviewed all of the questions that gave you trouble a second time you should focus on doing that first.

What score are you shooting for and what score did you get on your practice test ? Most people take about 8 practice tests before taking the actual test, but of course this depends on your initial level and what your goal is.

Finally, the OG and the Manhattan guides don't really serve the same purpose. The proper way to study is to do the Manhattan guides and then do the OG questions that they tell you to do near the end of the book (note- these are not the practice questions throughout the Manhattan books but questions that they recommend you do from the OG that relate to the material that you've just read). If you don't have the time to do all of the Manhattan books and the OG I would probably focus on the SC book from Manhattan since most people can make the most amount of improvement by using this book in a short time period. I would also try to master some of the math sections instead of trying to get better at all of the math all at once so at least you'll be able to improve enough on some areas.

Cheers!
Dan