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GMAT Prep Strategy... Need feedback...

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GMAT Prep Strategy... Need feedback...

by gmat2011prep » Sat Apr 09, 2011 7:26 pm
I have 3 months for GMAT Prep. I am done with the GMAT Quant Concepts from MGMAT Books. I plan to use the following resources for the next 3 months.

Grockit for Practice (20 Questions everyday)
GMATClub Tests
OG12 (PS,DS,SC,CR not for RC)
Verbal Review (CR,SC, not for RC)
e-gmat (SC concepts and 450 questions)
Aristotle SC Grail (Concepts + 100 questions)
RC99 (99 passages)
Powerscore CR bible

Tests -
5 800score tests
6 MGMAT Tests
GMATPreps

Using RC99 instead of OG based on the reviews here.

Please give you feedback on the strategy. I have GMATPrep 1 - 620 (Q47,V28) before starting with my Prep.
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by therealtomrose » Wed Apr 13, 2011 5:34 am
Your strategy sounds very agressive when it comes to completing practice questions. That is: you are planning to do many GMAT problems.

You probably don't need to do that many practice tests, and you probably don't need to do that many practice problems.

I would suggest that you back off on the volume of problems, and increase your planned review time.

Here are some numbers and ratios that I give my students to use:

You should be spending about a 2:1 ratio of time reviewing problems to doing problems.

For example, it should take you approximately 1 hour to complete a practice set of 10 problems. (20 minutes completing the problems, and 40 minutes reviewing the answers.) If you are going faster than this, you are probably missing learning opportunities.

So, when I read "Grockit for Practice (20 Questions everyday)" What I hear is 2-hours of Grockit every day. (That sounds like a lot considering it's only 1 line out of 8 in your plan.)

99 Reading comp passages? That's just masochistic.

Here is a toned down plan with some insurance built in.


General ideas:
Plan to take the test twice: once in 2 months, once in 3 months (31 days later)
1/3 practice problems, 1/3 content review, 1/3 practice tests
2:1 ratio of time reviewing to time doing
Focus on your weak areas. Verbal is holding you back, not quant. Do very little quant. Focus on verbal.
It sounds like you have plenty of time to devote to this quest, so maybe about 3hrs per day is possible.
Avoid VOLUME, go for DEPTH instead. (I.e. A few problems deeply.) 99 RC passages is off-the-chart extreme. Try something reasonable first.

Specific ideas:
A total of 6 practice tests is fine. Maybe 4 MGMAT tests, and 2 GMAT Prep tests) (NB: I'm biased)
OG12 is great. Use it for SC, CR, RC (only light work on quant)
For content, use only one methodology: I can't comment on Aristotle or e-gmat. I know MGMAT is good. (NB: I'm biased)
Skip the extra sources of problems and tests: Grockit, GMATClub, e-gmat. Stick with one content methodology for each section. (It is okay to mix and match between sections.)

-Tom Rose
www.TheMBAShow.com

Full Disclosure: I work for ManhattanGMAT
Like the advice? Remember to click the "thank" button. It's my only source of gratification :)

-Tom Rose

MIT Sloan MBA, Class of 2011
The MBA Show: https://www.TheMBAShow.com

Full disclosure, I work for
ManhattanGMAT: https://www.manhattangmat.com/gmat-tutor-rose.cfm
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by gmat2011prep » Wed Apr 13, 2011 8:50 am
Thanks a lot for the feedback...

Point taken...

Should focus on Verbal... Will devote more time to verbal now...

How do I get my score to Q49-50... Any views on that?
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