Anyone have a good study plan

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Anyone have a good study plan

by hudsn » Tue Sep 11, 2007 11:36 pm
I would like to study for about 2 months is that enough time? Take the exam early December to get it over before the yr ends.

I took a Kaplan course a yr ago learned nothing and wasnt scoring well on practice exams maybe only low/mid 500;s. My goal is 650.

I just purchased the lot of 7 Manhattan GMAT Books. My weakness are data suff, geometry, verbal esp. grammar

I can devote up to 3-4 hrs a day but I also dont want my brain to go into overdrive

Does anyone have any suggestions of how to start? 1 book a wk ? Alternate math verbal a day etc?

Any advice is highly appreciated. thanks
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by mayonnai5e » Wed Sep 12, 2007 1:17 am
Go through each book, one at a time. Do not time your practice; instead, focus on learning and understanding. You do not need to track your performance here (i.e. tracking statistics) because what you are trying to do is learn the fundamentals. However, I would take notes on "hard" topics for you. Be as specific as possible about what is hard for you (e.g. SC with several pronouns, CR assumption questions). This is the fundamentals phase.

Next is the test-conditioning phase. Practice problem sets timed. Practice with GMAT official problems like the OG11, OG V review, OG M review. Depending on how your timing is you can practice in large sets (40 problems) or smaller sets (20 problems). TRACK statistics at this point. This is because timed conditions reveals weaknesses you did not know you had before (e.g. a Q problem takes too long under timed conditions to solve even though you know exactly how to solve it if you were only given another 2 or 3 minutes).

You will probably notice patterns of weaknesses. For example, I have a problem figuring out Q questions on groups with percents under test conditions. These are the problems where they say something like: there are 30 students, 15% are under 10 years old, 50% have a female best friend, 40% are female, how many male students over 10 are in the class? That problem is completely made up and probably isn't even solveable, but that's just to illustrate a point. I can solve it with tried and true algebra, but it takes too long.

While doing that you need to figure out how to address your weaknesses. Look at alternative ways to solve the problems that give you problems. If you need help definitely, definitely post in this forum. What other members know may be just what you need to tackle that problem type. KEEP logs on what you've learned, what problems give you problems and how you can improve next time you see that problem type.

This is the phase I am currently in.

After that, you need to start working on the harder and harder problems (later problems in the OG11, MGMAT math, Brutal SCs, Kaplan 800, etc etc). This is to break your glass ceiling and get you to the next level. Start from the beginning because the hardest problems will probably reveal new "fundamentals" that you don't understand or know how to do. For example, if you've never learned combinatorics and you start seeing them, doing practice problems timed will get you absolutely nowhere.

Hope this helps. This is my current study plan - my initial CAT scores were around 550 and my most recent CAT was 660. I have a little bit more to do to break 700.

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by Stacey Koprince » Fri Sep 21, 2007 1:57 pm
FYI - our current set of study materials comprises 8 books, not 7. If you bought a set of 7, those are the old books, first published in 2005. Most of them are very similar to the new books, but there is one MAJOR difference: the reading comp / critical reasoning book was split into two separate books with a LOT more material.
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by hudsn » Fri Sep 21, 2007 2:27 pm
Also those books will give me online access?

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by Stacey Koprince » Fri Sep 21, 2007 3:11 pm
The two new 2007 books are for CR and RC, not SC. The other books are enough the same that you don't need to buy new copies. Also, the 2007 books will give you access to more online resources than the old books, so it's worth it to buy the two new ones!

I believe that the schools are not told if you have extra time - I don't think that can be disclosed legally. But I would check on the mba.com website to make sure.
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by hudsn » Sat Sep 22, 2007 7:42 pm
So I should be fine with the old set of 7 but I will pick up the new CR & RC. Also is the SC the same than. Those will also give me online access to full lenth gmats correct?

Also when studying how do you advise I begin should I alt each day between math and verbal or study 1 book a day and alt topics or focus on 1 math & 1 verbal book at a time.

Thanks for the guidance

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by Stacey Koprince » Mon Sep 24, 2007 1:01 pm
yep, the new books give you test access. And take a look at Eric's blog for ideas about how to organize your study - it's different for different people. Depends upon how you study best.
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by hudsn » Mon Sep 24, 2007 1:11 pm
is the geometry book much different in the set of 7 vs 8?
also other than the sc and cr being seperate books do they go into greater detail?

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by Stacey Koprince » Mon Sep 24, 2007 1:50 pm
CR and RC are the new separate books, not SC. And, yes, the two new books go into much greater detail and offer more examples - each new book is thicker than the old single book!

All of the other books are substantially the same; we changed some things but not many. So if you already have the old versions, just stick with those. (If you don't have either version yet, though, then you probably want to get the new 2007 versions b/c you get more online resources than you used to get with the old 2005 versions.)
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by hudsn » Tue Sep 25, 2007 7:07 pm
Thanks I have the old set of 7 but to be safe I am going to pick up the new books for CR & RC as verbal is my weakness.
My other question is the geometry book much different in the old vs new edition as that is my wekest math area

thanks again

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by Stacey Koprince » Tue Sep 25, 2007 10:39 pm
All of the other books are substantially the same - don't bother getting new versions if you already have the old ones (except for RC and CR of course).
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by hudsn » Wed Sep 26, 2007 4:31 am
Thanks a lot I just ordered the new versions of the CR & RC.
Should I take a practice test before I start studying or wait about a week into my studies as I am more concerned so far with going thru the MGMAT books and going thru the questios in the OG they mention.
I looked at the blog for a study plan and still couldnt find anything concerte so I am going to try to focus on reviewing a few chapters of a math & verbal book a day but take more time on the areas I am weak in verbal, geomtetry and ds.Also do questions daily from OG and maybe take a full test every 2-3 weeks I am hoping to take the test mid end Dec or Jan the latest.

Does that sound like a good plan? Or do you have a better idea

thanks a million

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by Stacey Koprince » Wed Sep 26, 2007 10:08 am
I recommend taking a test at the start so you can use the data to identify your strengths and weaknesses. If you take our tests, you can run the same assessment reports that we instructors use when we look at our students' exams.

Remember that strengths and weaknesses aren't just limited to: did I get this right or wrong? You could be accurate at something but very slow, in which case it's still a weakness. Pay attention to question type, content area, difficulty level, AND timing.
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