GMAT Strategy

Ok, I'm sure you've been asked this before. However, I can't seem to find any post on my questions.

So I want to take the test in 45 days. I have taken the Veritas practice exam. I scored a 500. I'm not trying to get into a top 25 school. So scoring 750 is not my goal. I would be sufficiently happy with a 650 or ecstatically happy with a 700. My target schools are George Washington University, George Mason, Fordham, University of Rochester. Basically any decent school that offers an Information Systems emphasis. However, I would consider UCLA or UCB. Not holding my breath though.

I have all the MGMAT books plus Powerscore CR Bible. I'm currently unemployed and have all the time in the world to devote towards studying during the day. This is going to be my job for the next 45 days.

What type of study plan would you suggest I use for scoring in the 650-700 range? Should I take a practice exam every 3 days or once a week? Should I go through all books first then do the OG problems. Are there any other materials that i need to buy to improve my study prep?

I know I need to time myself and keep an error log to gauge my strengths and weaknesses.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

I would start off with MGMAT 8 strategy guides and the 6 tests. Take a test each week or once in 10 days. MGMAT tests are good for quant. They are good for verbal if you want to know your weak areas in CR and SC. RC style is not close to GMAT, it differs from person to person. For me, I hardly made 1 or 2 mistakes in GMATPrep RCs, while in MGMAT tests my RC accuracy was less than 30%. But their reports and other questions are of great help.

Start off reviewing the basics given in OG book. Get used to gmat style or if you already know your weak topics in quant then use the MGMAT strategy guide to learn those concepts.

Give an MGMAT mock.
Use the reports to find your weak topics i.e not just PS or SC but inequalities or probability in quant and SV error problems in SC.
Find the weak topics in all the sections - Work on improving them.
Start with strategy books.
learn the concepts.
Supplement it with OG problems.
Also you can choose problems by topic in MGMAT tests, use those as well.
Solve the problem in timed mode.
Take ample time to review.
Post the questions in forums like this or MGMAT. You will find expert solutions for every problem. Take notes or shortcuts or prepare flash cards.

All these will take almost 2 to 3 hours for one topic. Try to finish one section a day if possible or if you have more weak topics then take more time between your MGMAT mocks and try to cover all weak areas. With 1 test you won't get much topics to learn, but once you had taken two or three tests you will have solved atleast one problem in each topic and a overall report then give you a fair idea of your weak areas.

Once you complete 3 MGMAT tests, take a GMATPrep mock or you can even start off with that in the beginning, the only problem is that you don't have reports to find your weak topics. Taking GMATPrep mock in the middle is very important as none of the other test prep company mocks are close to GMATPrep, so their diagnosis might go wrong. In short, your diagnosis of weak areas in both GMATPrep and MGMAT should be in sync. Different prep company uses different style and none comes as close to GMAT particularly the verbal section. So its better to be cautious and not rely completely on other test prep companies for the entire preparation period. I found out the RC trouble mentioned above too late, exhausted 5 tests and still kept on working on RCs instead of other topics, and that's why I am suggesting you this. Don't save it for last minute. After all the tests are useful only to improve your testing experience (stamina, endurance) and to know your weak areas. Proceed with MGMAT for another three weeks, if you know your weak areas, you don't need to take tests. Keep on improving. And the last 10 days before your actual test, take the another GMATPrep. See if you are close to your target score. Then start reviewing all the daily notes, you had prepared, mock tests and flash cards etc, tough problems. This will definitely help you reach your target score.

If you don't have MGMAT tests, then use GMATPrep. As I had mentioned above, you have to find your weak areas and categorize them yourself, which will be a tedious task. Each test can be taken many times. The first two tests will be very close to what you will be scoring in the actual test. Generally there will be a +/- 30 point difference between your GMATPrep and GMAT scores whereas it will be more than 50, when it comes to other tests. You can repeat the tests, the first repeats will be a good indicator, but score gets inflated in the subsequent repeats.

Try to improve both quant and verbal. Concentrate on your strength more (either quant or verbal) and improve the other. Do not leave out any section unprepared, that is a very bad strategy. Hope this helps !!

Thank you. I appreciate your thorough response. Wish me luck!