GMAT Strategy

Hi Folks

Through this post, I want to address the perpetual confusion that I faced during the early part of my prep, a state I am sure a lot of people face. I will condense my entire prep experience to structure this post in 2 parts -

1. How should one structure the prep including what material to study and what not to...demystify what I consider certain myths
2. Which tests to take

Part 1

Collect all the material you will need upfront rather than keep figuring along the way, a pursuit which will distract your focus. To begin with, devote about a month to get all the basics right for each sub section, depending on where you currently stand....E.g., understand all SC error types, various forms of questions in CR etc - I would recommend using OG guides, MGMAT question banks and following Beat the Gmat (only expert answered questions) for this part of your prep. "Please note down or copy/paste (if online content) all your mistakes with answer explanation in one notebook".

The basic foundation should now be complemented with some uphill drill over the next one month. This month, can be gainfully used to build stamina and caliber for a level of difficulty a notch higher than what one would encounter in the real test. My recommended content for month 2 are:


MGMAT challenge questions for Quant (can be purchased online)
Official LSAT SuperPrep
LSAT next 10 official tests
Beat The GMAT - for all sections

The 13 LSAT tests will give you about 650 CR questions and about half as many RC questions - one should religiously subject oneself to cracking all these tests (though not as per LSAT indicated time but about 2 min avg for CR and just under 2 min for RC). As you progress through the initial few tests, start solving one full section of 26 CR questions and as many RC questions in a test all at one go.....try solving these 50-52 questions in about 90-100 mins in a single sitting. These stretch tests may leave you mentally exhausted but that's exactly what will prepare you better. It is not just building stamina here but also training one's mind to handle those 90-100 minutes with high levels of focus. During this phase again, keep solving a few Beat the GMAT questions everyday to primarily learn innovative techniques from the experts.

Part 2 - Tests

Having gone through the gruel of LSAT tests, other verbal and quant practice from MGMAT challenge questions, and general question bank both on MGMAT and Beat The GMAT, you will feel a lot more confident to take on the full tests.

The next 2-3 weeks should be devoted to cracking the following 9 full length tests. I don't recommend using a GMAT Prep test early on as a diagnostic because there are only 2 of these tests at your disposal and you want to render your prepared performance on them to get the closest proxy to your GMAT readiness.

6 online MGMAT CAT GMATs
2 GMATPrep
1 Princeton Diagnostic Test

I would like to say that one should avoid the following guides - Barron, Princeton Review Guide (test is ok but the guide has ridiculously easy ques. I would caution people from using "WinPrep" - it has a very seductive emotional spiel from its founder (who touts his own success from 650 to 780) but the language of many question is incorrect, has a good number of mistakes and worst of all, they are not entirely original - some questions are picked straight from LSAT....poor ethics!!!"

If someone feels that he/she is not quite ready to comprehend everything himself/herself, please seek a personal tutor (a person who has done well in GMAT him/herself)and not a class.

Another important point - please please do not be misled with a very good performance on OG - in my opinion, OG does not do a good job of preparing one for the more difficult questions, which are a must for those aspiring to score 700+....so, do the OG and in later stage of your prep, limit your OG revision to only the last 30 questions (relatively tougher lot).

Hope this connects with many spoken and unspoken quandaries:)

Having gone through GMAT for the first time with a 34 verbal score, I can't say that I agree with your view on OG and the heavy emphasis on LSAT materials. There are roughly 250 CR questions from the OG guide and at least another 100+ more questions from the GMATPrep tests. These are 350+ ACTUAL past GMAT questions, and should be more than enough if you completely go through them. Another 650+ plus 350+ is roughly 1000 questions, and that's simply way beyond what is necessary and for anyone to really give each question the adequate evaluation it needs. Perhaps this might be the approach for someone with 6 months set aside for studying, but I think this load could end up working against a lot of students.

Point is not about the quantity of ques at one's disposal....some of the best known athletes train themselves at high altitude for a reason even though they will never encounter those conditions in the actual competition.

uwhusky wrote:Having gone through GMAT for the first time with a 34 verbal score, I can't say that I agree with your view on OG and the heavy emphasis on LSAT materials. There are roughly 250 CR questions from the OG guide and at least another 100+ more questions from the GMATPrep tests. These are 350+ ACTUAL past GMAT questions, and should be more than enough if you completely go through them. Another 650+ plus 350+ is roughly 1000 questions, and that's simply way beyond what is necessary and for anyone to really give each question the adequate evaluation it needs. Perhaps this might be the approach for someone with 6 months set aside for studying, but I think this load could end up working against a lot of students.

Using a similar example, it's like someone having the expectation that his/her golf skill will improve if he/she plays in a lot of different golf courses. I am suggesting that is not the case unless you have 6 months to study and have thoroughly gone through the OG.

I am actually borrowing similar thought from Stacey who made an earlier post about the time, roughly 15 minutes, we should spend evaluating each question in the OG, and I wholeheartedly agree with her. Quality over quantity is what I think it comes down to.

I apologize if I may sound rude, but I want to share a little bit of difference in opinion and allowing others in similar shoes to make the judgment.

I don't know, I may be in the minority, but I honestly think that going through the OG is almost a waste of time. I think that only about the last 20-25 CR questions are reflective of the CR you will see on the real thing. Only the last 4 RC passages are reflective of what you will see on the real thing. The SC is just easier than anything you will see on the real thing. I think I did well on the CR and RC, and I think a big reason for that was my use of past LSAT test. I bought "The Next 10 LSATs" I think they were tests 29-38. Those really helped. After doing those RC passages, there was nothing that the GMAC could throw at me that would rattle me. With the CR, you just have to be mindful that the questions that would require diagramming in order to solve, won't be on the GMAT. Otherwise, I really feel like going through those will give you and advantage. I don't know what will help with SC though. I never mastered that section. Good luck and keep us updated on your progress.

I agree that majority of CR questions in both guides are fairly easy until the last 30 or so. I can also see the need to look for more challenging materials once OG is exhausted. I guess I find it weird to start off with LSAT materials and then use OG last.

Anyhow, I have come to agree with the idea of using more difficult material, such as LSAT, but I still believe that the student should master OG prior to venturing out. It makes sense to move up with difficulty rather than moving down.