GMAT in 4 months! Need help with strategy

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GMAT in 4 months! Need help with strategy

by Ishaan8 » Tue May 20, 2014 7:11 am
Hello Everyone!


I plan to give GMAT on 2nd October 2014, with a target score of 720 - 750, V39 Q28

I gave the GMAT Prep Practice Exam 1, and scored 550.

I have bought the OG as well as the Manhattan Strategy Guides.

Any help would be appreciated on what my strategy should be to reach my target score.


Thanks and Cheers,
Ishaan

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by ceilidh.erickson » Tue May 20, 2014 9:12 am
Four months is a very reasonable timeline. Here's what I would recommend:

- Analyze the practice test you've taken in a lot of depth. Which areas were you weakest? Strongest? Fastest? Slowest? Decide which topics and question types need more of your time and attention. Be very aware of your timing as well.

- Study topic-by-topic, and practice each topic with OG problems. For example, read the chapter on SC subject/verb agreement, then go do a set of 8-10 problems in the OGs that relate to that subject (you can find a master list for OG 13 in the back of our SC guide). Aim to do this in 6-8 weeks.

- Make sure you are tracking all of the OG questions you do, and timing yourself while you practice. Hold yourself to strict 2-min time limits per question! MGMAT has a great tool called Navigator that will aggregate your OG data (it's included for free if you bought the guides through MGMAT, but you'll have to purchase it if not): https://www.manhattangmat.com/storeitems ... 36&catid=4

- Keep a record of any mistakes you make, so you can locate patterns in your errors: https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -studying/

- Once you've covered all of the topics, practice your skills with random timed sets out of the OGs and practice tests.

- Analyze your data from the random sets and practice tests, and go back to any topics that need extra work.

Good luck!
Ceilidh Erickson
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Harvard Graduate School of Education

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by [email protected] » Tue May 20, 2014 10:20 am
Hi Ishaan8,

Based on your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores, you appear to be much stronger in the Verbal than in the Quant, so your studies should focus a bit more on the Quant material (at least in the early going). Since you're just starting, your emphasis should be on learning the content and tactics necessary to beat this test, so don't worry too much about pacing just yet (everyone has pacing problems in the beginning, but pacing tends to get better as you become more familiar with everything).

Your score goal is above the 90th percentile, so you'll have to work hard. You might also need to adjust your study plan as you start to get a better sense of your strengths and weaknesses.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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by anurag_7 » Wed May 21, 2014 8:10 am
@ Ishaan8 Hi....
I left you a PM. Please respond.

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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Wed May 21, 2014 9:49 am
You might consider signing up for Beat The GMAT's free 60-Day Study Guide (https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/gmat-guide). Over 25,000 Beat The GMAT students have already done so.
Each day, you'll receive an email with a series of learning activities that guide you, step-by-step, from Day 1 to test day. This will ensure that you will cover everything that the GMAT tests.

Here's an outline of all 60 emails: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/gmat-guide-outline

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
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