I just Beat The GMAT!

Hi Enginpasa1,
When do you plan to take the GMAT? Did you make up a plan about what you were going to study and practice when you started your preparation process a couple of months ago? What was the study schedule that you were referring to from beatthegmat.com?

Did you do any kind of math review before you started practicing in the Official Guide? I made a suggestion to you about starting to take some practice tests so that you can get an idea about how you were doing in your prep process. What the results of those practice tests will do for you the most, is to give you real numbers and percentages about how you did on those tests. Plus, the results of those practice tests will help you to determine what your strengths and weaknesses are. You can work from that to determine what you need to study the most in your preparation process. If you are concerned about making careless errors, in what areas are you having the most problems with that kind of thing? It is hard for me to figure out what you mean by getting a certain percentage of Official Guide questions correct because there isn't something to compare that with. Once you take a practice test, you will see some numbers and percentages that will make a lot of sense to you. You will get a math and verbal percentage of what you got correct from those practice tests, too.

If you are having difficulties with word problems, then you should look at the math review section of the Official Guide for pointers about how to do the kinds of word problems that they cover. There are specific kinds of word problems that are tested on the GMAT, too. You could look around in the GMAT resources part of this website as well. I would read some of the posts written by other people in that section to see what they have to say about problem solving and data sufficiency.

I am hoping that you understand what I am trying to help you with.
It is also important for you to make up a very concrete study plan for the rest of the time until you take the test.

I am sure that you know about what is on the test, but I just wanted to add some pointers for you. Here are some of the subjects that I know are important to review, study, and practice for the GMAT:

MATH-
Number Properties-divisibility, prime numbers, odds/evens, positive/negatives, consecutive integers, exponents and roots, order of operations
Word Translations/word problems, really-how to translate english into math, rate and work problems, averages, sets-venn diagrams
Equations and Inequalities-algebraics
Fractions, decimals, and percents
Geometry-know all the formulas well

VERBAL-
Sentence Correction-basic grammar and know how to use it
Critical Reasoning-arguments and question types
Reading Comprehension-find a method that works the best for you
Analytical Writing Assessment-an issue and an argument

I would go to the GMAT resources section of this forum and go down the list of topics there. In particular, there is one big item that has a complete study aid for the verbal part. Look for the one that is very long, about 60 pages. That looks like a really helpful resource. In addition, there are other things that might help you out a lot there, too. You should know what you are going to study each day and why you are studying it. That is where a plan will come in very handy. The same goes for when to take a practice test. You should make a plan for when to take those tests and when to review the results as well. The Official Guide is like the bible for anybody who wants to do well on the GMAT. I would use that exclusively for when you practice. You don't necessarily have to practice problems by subject area because the test picks questions at random, according to how you are doing. You should do them in blocks of ten questions, timed. Timing is something important to think about as well. But, you should make sure to go over all of the problems that you did for the day, to look for errors and or careless mistakes.

I read a post on this website from a guy who told other people that you have to know all of the items in the math review section of the Official Guide, VERY WELL for the test. That means, you have to know those things in that math review like the back of your hand. He got a 780 on the GMAT. So, I think that he knew what he was talking about.

Greg

Thank you so much for the valuable information. THis is priceless and I will be sure to spread the word to my friends. i have made it a goal to study about 5 hours a day. I have all the books that are recommended and have been trying to finish and understand every book as much as possible. (fully). AS for the schedule I am a bit confused but I will have to take another practice exam and then make a schedule according to my weak areas.
I have been alloted more time for the exam also because I take medicine that clouds my focus and concentration. To make it fair i will have some more time. so this is one more thing to consider also. I have even printed out your reply because it makes complete sense and I will follow the directions. thank you.

p.s. I am always open to more help if you have anything that crosses your mind.

You could not be any more correct by saying that everyone has a unique way of tackling the reading comprehension. I have taken the kaplan course and found it very helpful because it gave me review (math) and brushed me up exam wise to take an exam. More importantly it helped me gear up for the exam and understand what the "language" of the exam is. BUt its true that everyone has a special way of tackling reading comprehension.

Nothing will ever replace practice.

Do as many practice exams as possible, analyze your mistakes, then take another practice exam.

Once you know the basics I don't think anything can beat out practice, practice, practice.

Some practice exams don't give you explanations or let you go over your mistakes, so those ones don't help as much as ones that do.

Manhattangmat does allow you to do this.