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my preparation

by crowmale » Thu Mar 01, 2007 1:54 am
Hello folks,

I decided to post this topic as your sugestions and feedback might be very valuable in my preparation for the test.
I would like to score around 680.. and I just began my preparation a week ago. At the moment I have the cracking the gmat book, but expecting to receive Kaplan800, and the official guide 11th edition.

I only have like 7 weeks from now to take the test, but I have like 6 hours per day free, my current score is around 11 - 12 out of 20 in the diagnosis questions of the cracking the gmat (the section that tells you which bin you should try). Do you think this is possible?
I am recording all the mistakes I have made, and plan to do a daily test.

Another question, is there a list of words (with their shades) which we should know for the test?

thanks ,

Victor
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by fsar45 » Thu Mar 01, 2007 4:46 am
Nope, you don't need to learn new vocab for the GMAT. Unless your vocab is poor, in which case it would probably help you for RC. So if you need to study vocab, get a book like Word Smart. The word lists and memorizing tips are great.

6 hours a day might be too much. You might fry your brain like that! Break it up between a few sessions at various times in the day. Marathons are bad!

The Cracking book is a great place to start. Don't forget to download the free GMATPrep tests too, from mba.com. If you take the Kaplan tests, disregard the scores. They're not realistic.
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by beatthegmat » Thu Mar 01, 2007 1:49 pm
Hi Victor:

I encourage you to read through my GMAT Blog: https://beatthegmat.blocked

The first thing you should do in your preparation is develop a strong study strategy. This blog is just one example of what a successfuly study strategy could look like for you.

Best of luck!
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by crowmale » Fri Mar 02, 2007 1:27 am
hello :D , thanks for the suggestions folks
well Eric, perhaps my strategy is very simple.. but what do you think of it.. :

1- do evaluation tests everyday
2- revise the results the day after , focusing in the wrong answers and finding out what went wrong
3- record the results in a spreadsheet
4- revise material regarding the weakest points of my performance
5- repeat the process again (do evaluation tests..)

I read your blog, and is great. For that reason I inscribed myself to the site. I try to do the things taking your main ideas but still adding my personal style into it. Do I miss something? :?
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by crowmale » Fri Mar 02, 2007 1:34 am
by the way, yesterday I took an electronic test from crackgmat.com (is not from Princeton review) and scored 425 (the author of the test said that results were skewed down comparing to the real gmat and must add 100 points to the score). So, supposing I am around 525 now.. is it a huge improvement to score at least 650 in 7 weeks from now studying at least 5-6 hours per day? (I started my preparation a week ago).
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by beatthegmat » Fri Mar 02, 2007 9:44 am
Hi Victor:

I recommend that you take a GMATPrep test to see where you stand. I haven't heard good things about crackgmat, and I question how accurately it represents the real test.

Take the first test in the GMATPrep software, and let's see how you do. We'll be able to better assess whether you can reach your target from there...
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by beatthegmat » Sat Mar 03, 2007 9:30 am
Crowmale:

I've moved your latest post to the sentence correction forum area.

In the future, please post your specific GMAT subject questions in the appropriate forum areas of this website. Thanks!
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by crowmale » Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:15 pm
Ok, I took the test today.. for the first time and I scored 580 points.
My weakest area was the verbal section.

Now, I have like 10 days since I started studying it.. and I would like to ask your opinion about how likely it is to score around 650 or a bit more in 6 or 7 weeks from now, studying at least 7 hours per day (I have all the day for just studying the gmat and resting).
Is it possible??

I am following the studying plan that I mentioned above.. any suggestions regarding my plan?
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by beatthegmat » Mon Mar 05, 2007 6:53 pm
crowmale wrote:Ok, I took the test today.. for the first time and I scored 580 points.
My weakest area was the verbal section.

Now, I have like 10 days since I started studying it.. and I would like to ask your opinion about how likely it is to score around 650 or a bit more in 6 or 7 weeks from now, studying at least 7 hours per day (I have all the day for just studying the gmat and resting).
Is it possible??

I am following the studying plan that I mentioned above.. any suggestions regarding my plan?
I think that your goal of 650 is within reach if you stick to a consistent study schedule. I reviewed your study plan and looks more or less effective--the key is to really spend a lot of time analyzing your weaknesses and drilling down on them with lots of practice.

Be systematic and patient, and you will see a score improvement.

Best of luck!
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by Stacey Koprince » Mon Mar 05, 2007 11:33 pm
I wouldn't do a test every day. For every practice problem you do, you should spend 2-3 times as much time reviewing it as you spent doing it in the first place (even if you got it right!). There are a LOT of things you can learn from examining one problem.

So for one test, you'll spend 2.5 hours doing the multiple choice questions in the first place. You might spend 5-7 hours going over the test afterwards. Anything less and you aren't really learning much - you're just looking at the superficial "how do I do this problem" and moving on.

For every question, determine:
- the most efficient way to do it (which is not necessarily the way you did it the first time)
- why the wrong answers are wrong (ESPECIALLY for verbal)
- why the question is hard / tricky (ESPECIALLY for harder questions)
- how the test writer is trying to trick / trap you
- how to make an educated guess (for ALL hard questions, even the ones you know how to do - have to practice this so you know what to do on questions you don't know how to do)

And most importantly: how will I recognize a question of this type in the future and how will I tackle it when I see it again? (This does not mean you should expect to see the same question - just a question of the same type.

For example, question problem solving question #37 from the OG quantitative supplement and data sufficiency question #147 from OG 11th edition are very similar. Do them. How are they similar? How can you recognize the similarities - what is "universal" to the two problems? How can you use what you learn from #37 (which is easier) to do #147 (which is very hard)? Etc.
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by crowmale » Wed Mar 07, 2007 12:41 am
Thank you very much for the suggestions, which are quite logical and I totally agree on them.

After I took the test, actually, I checked almost all the answers (good and wrong) and I tabulated the results in excel, with a small suggestion tag for at least the wrong answers. Later, I revised carefully the type of questions I did the worst and started reviewing the theoretical material of those questions.
It certainly took me a long time.. just revising the questions; at least I spent 5 hours on that. And I am just reading and revising material before attempting to do another test.

So, my revised study plan goes like this:
1- Revision of the past answers of prior tests
2- Revision of the theoretical material of the weakest point of my prior tests
3- Take small tests only focused if possible, in the type of questions I scored the worst.
4- Take again another preparation GMAT test
5- Do the loop 1-4 again

I think that considering that I graduated like 6 years ago.. practicing for me is vital. So I must find time for that, I think.
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by crowmale » Mon Mar 12, 2007 7:43 am
It's really confusing the evolution of my preparation
I thought that my strongest point was the quantitative section, as english is a second language to me. So, at the beginning it was like that.
No, in the Bin 3 of crack the gmat PR, I get like 12 out 26 right in math and 17 out of 26 in verbal section.
So, what is the matter? one day I think I am strongest in one area only to see another day the opposite.
Suggestions?????
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by beatthegmat » Mon Mar 12, 2007 10:43 am
crowmale wrote:It's really confusing the evolution of my preparation
I thought that my strongest point was the quantitative section, as english is a second language to me. So, at the beginning it was like that.
No, in the Bin 3 of crack the gmat PR, I get like 12 out 26 right in math and 17 out of 26 in verbal section.
So, what is the matter? one day I think I am strongest in one area only to see another day the opposite.
Suggestions?????
Hi crowmale:

I would read too much into your results yet because it's still relatively early in your prep.

What's more important is that you should be recording your errors and analyzing them to see why these questions gave you problems.

Focus on identifying and improving your weaknesses, and you'll see improvement in your performance as a result. Best of luck!
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by Tame the CAT » Wed Mar 14, 2007 3:40 pm
crowmale wrote:hello :D , thanks for the suggestions folks
well Eric, perhaps my strategy is very simple.. but what do you think of it.. :

1- do evaluation tests everyday
2- revise the results the day after , focusing in the wrong answers and finding out what went wrong
3- record the results in a spreadsheet
4- revise material regarding the weakest points of my performance
5- repeat the process again (do evaluation tests..)

I read your blog, and is great. For that reason I inscribed myself to the site. I try to do the things taking your main ideas but still adding my personal style into it. Do I miss something? :?
I don't particularly like this strategy. But if it works for you that is fine, I suppose. Personally, I prefer structure. For instance.

1. Fundamentals
a. basic math - just in case their are wholes in my fundamentals, perhaps I forgot certain aspects of geometry, or exponents, etc. Then test each aspect I studied
b. basic verbal - sentence structure. - subject-verb agreement, etc. Test the aspects I studied
2. Create flash cards of certain things I needed to remember and review them once every third day usually. This way, in a few weeks I will master the fundamentals and keep practicing how to apply them.
3. Practice challenge problems often.
4. Take a diagnostic test once ever 3-4 weeks.

This should underline my strategies. Just to give you another idea.
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