Great discussion, all - and I think a lot of this comes back to a great quote from basketball coach John Wooden:
"Never mistake activity for achievement."
As you browse this forum in particular, you'll read a lot of posts from people about what they're
doing (or should do) but not nearly as many about what they're
learning. Simply knowing rules isn't enough - the GMAT will not ask you to "define the Pythagorean Theorem"; they'll require you to apply it to a unique situation. Simply doing problems can help, but isn't sufficient, either - the GMAT is crafty and can test you on the same ideas in ways that look completely different at first glance.
What you really need to do in order to expect success is to learn not just individual rules or problems but the test itself, and how you take it. Which mistakes do you make most often? What incorrect assumptions do you tend to make when you read a problem quickly? How is your pacing affecting your overall performance? Why are you falling for certain trap answers?
I see a lot of people list the names of books they used, the amount of time they spent, and the number of problems they completed, but it's going to be a lot more useful if you start keeping track of what you learned at the end of each study session. If you can come away with summaries like "the GMAT loves to test 'special case' numbers like negatives and 0" or "when I miss CR problems it's usually because I misread the conclusion ever-so-slightly" then you're in great shape.
This blog post from over the weekend should help if you're looking to retake the GMAT:
https://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2011/06 ... at-retake/Brian Galvin
GMAT Instructor
Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep
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