BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

Refining my studying going into the last month of prep

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Post Reply
Previous Topic Next Topic
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Jun 23, 2011 4:53 am

Refining my studying going into the last month of prep

by msorola » Sun Aug 21, 2011 12:34 am
Hey all,

I'm starting to enter my last month of prep before my exam, and I've narrowed down my problem areas.
(I did all the OG questions, re-did all the ones I got wrong, then identified the common themes in what was left.)

-Listed from worst to best in performance, same for sub-topics-

Sentence Correction-
  • Grammatical Construction
    Verb form
    Rhetorical Construction
    Parallelism
Reading Comprehension-
  • Inference
    Support Ideas
    Logical Construction
Problem Solving-
  • Applied Problems
    Simplifying Algebraic Eqs
    Properties of numbers
    Operations on/with rational numbers
Data Suff-
  • Properties of numbers
I'm going to re-read the OG for specifics, review the answer explanations, and obviously do more practice problems. Just wanted to see if anyone had any specific suggestions on how to improve any of these areas.

Thanks!
Top
Source: — GMAT Strategy |
User avatar
MBA Student
Posts: 91
Joined: Wed Apr 06, 2011 5:54 pm
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Thanked: 46 times
Followed by:26 members
GMAT Score:760

by therealtomrose » Tue Aug 23, 2011 8:01 pm
Wow. This is a really great data-driven approach to studying. Kudos for the methodical approach.

There is something missing from your approach that jumps out. You haven't mentioned using study guides at all for content-specific ideas for improvement. You mention reading the OG for ideas. The OG doesn't offer any tactical advice. You need a methods-based study manual.

It looks as though you are categorizing problems using a proprietary taxonomy. I can't make out where the taxonomy is from other than it's not a ManhattanGMAT taxonomy. I would buy and read the strategy guides from the company with the same brand as the data tool you used to generate your strengths and weaknesses assessment. It's important to stick with the same brand because different categorization methods will not jive well with current question categories.

Also, a red flag went up when you mentioned that you had done ALL the OG problems. My intuition tells me that you are likely "churning" through problems. That is, the ratio of time you spend "reviewing" problems is low in comparison to the time you are spending "doing" problems. The ratio that I suggest is 2-review : 1-do. I.e. if you spend 20 minutes doing problems, spend 40 minutes reviewing those problems. Any less, and you are likely missing opportunities for improvement.

Enjoy,

T
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
Top
Post new topic Post Reply
• Page 1 of 1