GMAT Strategy

If we assume that you're in the mid-600 range right now (I'm discounting from the GMAT scores a bit because GMATPrep is generally a better indicator), then 8 weeks may be enough (though I'd want to know more about your situation and work with you a little bit before I gave you a really firm answer).

My week-ends, unfortunately, are booked pretty much for the summer. My available time is mostly on week-days during the day at this point - and most people have to work during that timeframe.

great - I'm glad it went so well! Definitely do keep us up to date on your progress!

"Do and Don't" list:

- Don't take practice tests so frequently and don't take a practice test within 5 days of the real tests. Practice tests are used to assess your progress from your last practice test, but the actual act of taking a practice test doesn't teach you a whole lot (in the moment). Practicing to run a marathon and actually running a practice marathon are two totally different things - during the former, you're learning discrete, useful pieces of information and during the latter, you're trying to use everything you learned to date (and not collapse!).

- Do concentrate on analyzing test problems (OG = best). Don't just do problems, check the answers, correct your errors, and move on. Analyze how you should know what the problem is testing, the most efficient and effective way for you to do the problem, how you can recognize that most efficient and effective way (so that you don't have to figure everything out from scratch), how to spot and avoid traps, how to minimize careless mistakes, how to make an educated guess, how well (or poorly) you spent your time, etc. On EVERY problem, even the ones you get right. (It's often easier to learn from the problems you do get right!)

- Do, as you noted, fix your timing. Keep these stats in mind. For every problem left blank at the end, the official test penalty is -3 percentile points. For strings of problems wrong in a row (4+), the penalty averages about -2 to -2.5 percentile points per question. So if you have to guess on the last few, you're opening yourself up to a serious score drop at the end of the test.

- Do guess. You're going to have to - everybody does! But CHOOSE the problems on which you guess. Choose the hardest ones as you see them throughout the section. That way you're not forced to guess on a bunch in a row at the end (some of which you could do - because anytime you look at a string of questions in a row, you can do some of them!)

- Do practice using timed, random sets of questions. For example, pick 10 DS questions and 10 PS questions at random out of OG (make sure to vary the difficulty level - don't choose all very easy or all very hard questions - the higher the question number, the harder the problem, in general). Give yourself 40 minutes for those 20 problems and FINISH in that 40 minutes. Keep track of your time per problem (buy a stopwatch if you don't have one) and don't forget to analyze how you spent your time.

- Do the essays on practice tests, every time. This will help with your endurance during the verbal section.

- Don't worry about probability. Typically, people get 0 or 1 per test. Not worth spending a ton of time on.

- Do, however, worry about Number Properties (if that's what you meant by Numbers). These are quite common. You don't mention what resource you are using to get better at Number Properties. Identify a resource (typically a GMAT preparation book) that will teach you what you need to know for GMAT NP.

- Same thing with SC - identify a resource, typically a prep book, that will teach you what you need to know for those. The OG explanations are not the best.

- Don't stress over a 10-30 point different in test scores, even if it's a drop. Standardized tests have standard deviations; the official test's SD is 30 points and our test's is 50 points. Do take a look at the test problems and statistics to see if you can identify any problem areas for you (in terms of content, timing, stamina, etc.), but 700 to 670 is not a big deal.

- Don't burn yourself out in the last few days before the test. Remember: you're getting ready to run a marathon. You actually need to rest in the last couple of days; don't tire yourself out right before the marathon!

Good luck - let us know how things go!

I recently studied for and took the LSAT, and I found the strategies for some question types different enough that, if I used GMAT strategies, I actually got the questions wrong. I know others have suggested using LSAT CR to study for the GMAT but, based on my recent experience, I wouldn't do that myself.

At this point, I think you also need to change your study mindset a little bit. You aren't just trying to "do" problems. You're trying to pick them apart, analyze them, understand how they're written.

I've mentioned analyzing the answer choices in a lot of posts, but it's important, so I'll mention it again! Try to answer these questions about every problem you do:

- why was the wrong answer so tempting? why did it look like it might be right? how were the test writers able to write this WRONG answer in a way that made it look like it could be right? (be as explicit as possible)
- why was it actually wrong? what specific words indicate that it is wrong and how did I overlook those clues the first time?
- why did the right answer seem wrong? what made it so tempting to cross off the right answer? why were those things actually okay - what was my error in thinking that they were wrong?
- why was it actually right?

Even if you know the answer or got the question right, still try to articulate why the wrong answers are tempting and also why they are wrong. If you know how to identify the traps, you're a lot less likely to fall into them!

You can get some more new questions by looking for OG10 (which has significant overlap with OG11 but does still have different questions) or old paper tests. I've also heard that GMAC is planning to publish new versions of the quant and verbal supplements in August (though the publication dates often get pushed back, so don't count on the exact date). But I wouldn't do new questions until you can do the above analysis on the old ones!

Ideally, take your practice tests at the same time of day as you plan to take the real test. Mimic the entire test experience - the essays, the breaks, everything.

FYI - they are about to announce that they are shortening the lengths of the two breaks from 10 minutes to 8 minutes, so make this adjustment when you take your practice tests. (I really hope they change their minds - I think that 2 minutes won't make a big difference to them but it will make a huge difference for us!)

It doesn't matter whether you take MGMAT or GMATPrep first, but do remember that GMATPrep doesn't give you lots of tools to analyze your performance, so factor that in as you decide which to do when. Time yourself on your GMATPrep test - use a stopwatch and keep track of your per-question timing. That's important data.

I do have to say that it is not typical to jump from mid-600s to mid-700s in 10 days. (Obviously, it's not even typical to score mid-700s in the first place! Only 2% of test-takers accomplish that.) If your goal of 750 is really more of an "I'd love to hit this score, but I'd be happy with a lower score" - then that's fine. But if you really feel you have to get that 750 score, you may need to think about postponing the exam.

I don't think it's accurate to say that you should add some number of points to an MGMAT CAT score to reflect what will happen on the test. In fact, I'll say that this is actually inaccurate.

The standard deviation of our students' last practice test compared with the real test is about 50 points. That means 50 points up or down - not just up. So there are some people who do score 40-50 points higher on the real test. But there are others who score 40-50 points lower. If you see posts only by a few people in the first category, then you're not actually getting the complete picture.

In terms of when to take the test, if you want a 750 and you take the test when your practice test scores are in the high 600s, you should generally expect to get a score closer to your practice test scores than your desired score. In terms of what to do - well, if you're not yet at your desired score on practice tests, then you have to keep studying until you are. (Or you have to decide to lower your goal score.)

We talked above about a number of things to do / ways in which to study. In order to score a 750 on this test, you have to understand how the test works and how individual problems work well enough that you could almost write the problems yourself. You also have to know both the most commonly tested material and the more rare material that shows up infrequently. Until you know / can do those things (and your practice test scores reflect that), you're not ready (again, if you want a 750).