Ovelskies.
Congrats on the process of starting this new journey. Sounds like you've done a great job in setting yourself up for an optimal testing and application process.
Rich has it right: your first step is to take a diagnostic CAT, and it's even better for you to take this prior to 'prepping' for it. Compare this to going on a weight loss program, and not weighing yourself until you have week into your new regime. Just do it and see where your score lies.
It's also great to have clarity from Jennifer WRT their CAT tests and their marketing and resources you'll have access to.
I wanted to throw my hat into the ring from the boutique private tutoring service perspective with each of your points for you to consider.
Your aim to get >700
Once we know what your diagnostic score is we can ascertain if you need support and if so, how many hours of private tutoring would be recommended. This can be compared to a course which will likely be more of a one-size-fits-all option and more hours... which MANY students benefit from. Given your work load and personal commitments, however, you might be better off with private tutoring, and even remote tutoring which can be done in 15 minute increments, which is something we offer.
Private tutoring is typically focused on fortifying a student's strengths and reversing his/her weaknesses whereas when you're in a class, you're going to have to deal with or listen to other students' challenges which won't necessarily be your concern. If you zone out during something that doesn't interest or affect you, you may miss nuggets which would be beneficial for your performance and score. Lower scoring students voicing their concerns, obviously happens in group settings. Whereas in one-on-one sessions, you'll be more engaged in an a continuous interactive relationship with learning and the tutor.
We typically recommend classroom courses for students with lower budgets to work with, or those with a good amount of time to cast a wider net on their learning process. Obviously, classroom courses benefit many people (or they wouldn't be so successful) but we find students who benefit most are often those who score in a range of low to medium and who want to get high medium to high- - but not necessarily extremely high. That is more difficult in the classroom setting and ultimately, your improvement may be dependent on how good your tutor/teacher is and what kind of fit he or she has with you and the other students.
You likely won't always know who your tutor is prior to going into a classroom course. You could get lucky and get a superstar...but more remote from major cities or top universities/colleges...the more variety you have in quality control. And when you have a grad student teaching a GMAT...which is what I did, you're not necessarily getting the best educators. Find out what kind of success your tutor for the classroom OR privately has had.
I base these opinions on my 6 years working as a Princeton Review tutor, in Ann Arbor, MI, NYC and Brooklyn, whereby I worked a lot behind the scenes championing my students who wanted to achieve top results but we couldn't spend a lot of class time dedicated to that or address many of their issues which came down to time management and anxiety relief, or getting the hardest questions correct. The smaller the big test prep company office the more streamlined their offerings usually are. That said, they often have great customer service and I'd think remote options. Find out what you'd get for your money if you take a course.
In addition to these things brought up, you might also want to gauge your reading speed because that is an area you can improve time management and performance. Also take stock in your emotional levels about the test: do you feel anxious? focused? grounded? Present? Nervous? If not on top of your game, there are many solutions to get there.
Below are more pointed answers to your questions:
- Aim is to apply for fall 2016, or winter 2016/2017 admissions
Great: you're right on time but it really is time to get busy.
- deadlines for the schools i am interested in are rolling - with many cut off at March.
see above
- I usually pull 10-11 hours of work, and then at least couple of hours with the kid on weekdays before he sleeps by 9ish. Thereafter, I have a window of about 90-120 mins to do some self studying.
For this reason...a course seems to be more challenging to integrate into your schedule. Our tutors typically work with students at least 1x a week for 1 - 2 hours, then can be available in 15 minute blocks to answer questions or go over things.
- I've explored programs in my area, Toronto - and several courses are scheduled for late evenings (usually twice a week). As an example Veritas is offering Monday/Wednesdays for a month with 3 hours of in class teaching. Course starts in Nov, ends in Dec first week.
Private tutoring with us or others, remember are going to work with YOUR schedule. Remote tutoring gives you the opportunity to work odd times with no additional travel.
- Objective is to give the exam mid Dec; but this can be pushed out a month
You should plan on taking the test at least 2x. Factor that into your timing.
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I haven't taken one of the sample tests, but I did take the Prep4Gmat test and scored 600 - so lots of work to be done.
Take a real GMAC test.
What is your breakdown at this point. Another benefit that we offer, and I'd hope other folks do too, is that it's not only THAT you're getting questions wrong, it's HOW your'e getting them wrong and if there are any patterns in how you perform.
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With taking a full course, how much time does one expect to spend on self study mode to achieve a 700 plus score.
This depends on where you really start out. We typically tell students they'll study an average of 20 hours a week for 6 - 8 weeks, or the equivalent over a longer period of time.
- what would be the best way to utilize the in session classroom mode? Do I study the entire course prior to attending the classroom sessions? Go with the class?
Again: you need to gauge who you are in a classroom vs. one-on-one. We used to have a quiz to help people determine how they can best study. Listen to yourself and what sounds like the best ROI in terms of time commitment and improvements.
- Given my timelines, best strategy would be to push taking the exams out to Jan instead of Dec? Though I'm worried about the retention of knowledge after the course has finished.
Take a diagnostic. See how you're learning. This is not a decision to make without data.
- any resource that can really help me chart out a workflow/plan of action for the coming days/months that I can stick to as a rough guideline?
We have an awesome guide in our book about scheduling. It sounds like it would be awesome for you. I can send it in an email...I think? Or an attachment here...but Google calendar will work great too. Here is a link to our book. It would be in the Full Potential Manual part of the book which is more about the psychological, logistical and emotional aspect of taking the GMAT than the Sentence Correction content part of the book.
https://www.amazon.com/Full-Potential-Se ... bara+sapir
- any new parents who care to share their strategy, and how they made it work?
I think one need not be a new parent to fully understand the pressures you're getting from all these different sources.
Happy to discuss further, here, on the phone/skype or via text/email.
Best,
