GMAT Prep Strategy - Critiques?

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jzh200: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 2; Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2007 7:16 am

by jzh200 » Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:17 am

Hello everyone! I am new to this forum and I have been spending a lot of time reading and catching up on the GMAT prep experiences.

A bit about me: I'm 27 M from Boston, USA. I have a bachelors in economics with B- GPA, 4 years non-profit finance work experience, solid leadership/extracurriculars, and excellent recommendation letters. I took the GMAT last year and received a lowly 560. It was a crushing experience but well deserved as I had not studied for the test.

Since then I have been on and off about prepping for the GMAT. I still have a ton of books (mostly unread) from last year. I am getting serious about taking the GMAT in August 2008, although I have not scheduled the appointment yet.

The books that I have:

MGMAT - Full set of 8 books
OG 11 including the additional Verbal/Quant books
Kaplan 800
Princeton Review book

My plan of action is to:

- Week One: Work through the 4 Quant MGMAT Books (I'm weak in Quant)
- Week Two: Do all the Quant problems on OG11/Additional Quant review.
- Week Three: Do the quant sections of the GMAT paper tests
- Week Four: Work on OG 11 Verbal/Kaplan 800 verbal section. Take the GMAT.

Since I work full time, I will not be able to dedicate more than 15 hours a week for preparation. This means that I can devote up to 60 hours of study time before I take the exam.

I am really concerned with math, as my skills are really rusty and I make many mistakes along the way. I would like to reach the 700 zone which means that I have to get better in all areas. I would really appreciate your critiques on my study plan and whether it might be feasible to make the almost insurmountable 560 -> 710 jump in one month?

If this is overly ambitious and not doable, I would still love to hear from you.

Cheers!

Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:17 am

VP_Jim: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1223; Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 3:29 pmFollowed by: 15 members; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 185 times

by VP_Jim » Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:18 am

Hi there,

First off, it's possible to go from 560 to 700 with that amount of studying, provided you have a good background in basic math and grammar to get you going; many people who have such a background but score in the 500s just need to learn the "tricks of the trade" for the GMAT.

My advice is to focus on the questions in the Official Guide - I did all my studying out of the three OGs. Make sure, though, that you are familiar with the GMAT tricks that the books from the test prep companies teach. Learn those strategies, then work on adapting them to the problems in the OG.

Also, be careful of doing too many problems. I know that sounds weird, but it's more about quality than quantity. Take the time to analyze each and every problem you do, right or wrong, so that you know that question backwards and forwards. It's not unreasonable to plan on spending more than 10 minutes per question during studying.

Which brings me to my next point: be sure to take some practice tests, too, to get your exam pacing down.

Good luck!!

Jim S. | GMAT Instructor | Veritas Prep

bilko: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 42; Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:10 am; Thanked: 1 times

by bilko » Mon Jul 07, 2008 6:45 pm

It DOES sound like sn overly ambitious plan. I agree that quality matters over quantity. Plan on spending 2-3 hours a night on questions and do at most one test a week. You have some good materials to work with.

jzh200: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 2; Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2007 7:16 am

by jzh200 » Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:32 am

Thank you both !!

I agree that its important analyzing the mistakes and taking the time with questions.

I will integrate taking a practice test once per week. Hopefully that will help in the confidence department.

bhasinvishal: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 36; Joined: Mon May 19, 2008 6:35 am

by bhasinvishal » Wed Jul 09, 2008 9:37 pm

Hi Jim !

Please demystify this for me...
I have about 15 days to go for my GMAT and am revising my materials...
Using OG11, OG Math & Verbal Workbook , Kaplan 800.
What I am curious about is that you( like many others ) have suggested referring primarily to questions from the OG... the problem is that there are many posts in which people have written that the questions in the actual exam( quant. ) were much tougher than OG level and that additional materials may be required... this has me confused...
Please comment !

Thanks

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