GMAT Strategy

Dear BTG Community,

I've been studying off an on for a few months. Some weeks I don't do any problems, and some I do some serious sessions. In the summer I took my first GMAT Prep CAT and scored a 600 before any studying whatsoever. I've now gone through all the Manhattan GMAT books, but have only just scored a 670 on the 2nd prep CAT.

I suppose with a Q48, I can't hope to significantly make up ground in that area. Now with so many SC rules in my head, I feel like I may be a bit worse in that section than how I was when I just relied on my "ear." And I hope to improve my timing in Critical Reasoning. But at this point, I feel like I'd just be shooting in the dark for any particular strategy.

Has anyone been in a similar position before? I'd love to get a 730 on the actual GMAT (to be average for the top schools). Just don't really know how to get there.

-Kenan

First thing is consistency in your studies. This is key. Second, trying to memorize rules and apply them is a recipe for disaster in SC. Similarly, if you just memorized formulas in quant you would not do well on the section. Your practice should be on recognizing what a sentence is trying to say and what is the best way to say it. You have to compare answer choices and learn what is the most appropriate usage.