GMAT Strategy

Received a PM asking me to reply. I'm sorry it has taken me so long to reply. I no longer participate on the BTG forums (though I do still write articles). For an MGMAT response, please contact one of our participating instructors (as of this writing, Ron Purewal and Whitney Garner).

I will give you some quick ideas myself, since I'm here already, but in future, please contact Ron and Whit for further questions or issues.

Stop taking practice tests once a week. Until you get to the final few weeks before your real test, practice tests are best taken once every 2 to 4 weeks! This is because CAT exams are really good for (a) figuring out where you're scoring right now, (b) practicing stamina, and (c) analyzing your strengths and weaknesses. The actual act of just taking the exam is NOT so useful for improving. It's what you do with the test results / between tests that helps you to improve.

You mentioned that you were only able to complete 30% of the MGMAT assignments when you took the course. Take the course again (via the tapes). You have access to the class tapes for 3 months from the last day of your class. So start over again, watch a class, do the homework, and then watch another class. If it only takes you 5 days between two classes, that's fine. If it takes you 10 days between two other classes, that's also fine. But go back and do it with the work this time.

You describe timing problems; this article will help: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2009/12/ ... management

When reviewing tests or practice problems, it is NOT ENOUGH to review just the ones that you got wrong. You need to review EVERYthing. Got something right? Great. Now figure out how to get it right 10 or 15 seconds faster. You can't focus on getting things right - you also have to learn to be more efficient with things that you already do know how to do.

That review is also how you're going to get better with your timing. Go back over and afterwards and figure out how you spent your time on each problem (start with smaller sets so that you do remember them all!). Where was your time well spent and where did you waste time? Did you, for example, get yourself down to 2 answer choices on SC by the 1m mark and then you spent 45sec deciding between those two? Then your opportunity is to make yourself pick in 15s, not 45. (My rule for myself: once I'm down to 2 answers on any verbal question, I look at each answer ONCE more. Then I pick. Agonizing back and forth doesn't make that choice any easier; it just uses up my time!)

These are the kinds of things you should ask yourself when analyzing problems:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/10/09 ... ce-problem

And here are three more specific to verbal problems:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/03/ ... c-question
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/01/ ... r-question
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/02/ ... e-question

Also, these might help re: verbal techniques in general:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/04/ ... mp-passage
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/07/ ... rc-passage
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/09/ ... ading-comp
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/06/ ... on-problem
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/05/ ... -reasoning