GMAT Strategy

Hey all,

Just starting off with my prep..was wondering how to structure the study plan for the next 4 months..should i do quants in the 1st month then move on to verbal..or should i do both at the same time?

please suggest !

Jayanth

You should mix it up. It was done that way in the MGMAT prep course I took online. A bit from both verbal and quant each week.

I'm sure the self study guide they have on this website also has a similar plan (assumption here, note sure as I've never actually bothered to read it)

Good luck.

I agree, mixing them up is a good idea. Both Benchmark and MGMAT told me to mix them up while I was studying.

I agree with everything that's been said - definitely mix them up - and I'll even go one further..."Quant" and "Verbal" aren't completely different skillsets...the two sections are more similar than different, so in addition to the need to keep both sets of skills active it's also helpful to mix it up because studying one side can help you immensely on the other.

Overall it's a logic and problem solving test that requires some mathematical and language knowledge, but Data Sufficiency questions are in many ways Critical Reasoning questions that use math in a unique format. Sentence Correction questions use similar Process-of-Elimination logic as to that you'd use on a "which must be" or "which cannot be true" Problem Solving question, and each requires that you use the more-efficient strategies (number properties; verb tenses and agreement) before the labor-intensive (idioms, multiple digit multiplication).

As you study for the test, it's important that you're not simply studying facts and rules, but also practicing logic and problem solving. Studying both sides simultaneously can help you to leverage the strategies that are working for you on one question type to see efficient ways to solve another. Also:

-Because you'll do the verbal section last on test day, it can be helpful to practice Reading Comprehension at the end of quant study sessions so that you can practice focusing while you're tired and while your mind has already been stretched in different directions.

-Practicing both sides with at widest a 2:1 ratio of "what you need to work on" to "what you're doing well on" will help you to avoid the traps of either focusing so much on a need area that you fall out of practice on a strength, and of practicing the questions you're "good at" and like studying at the expense of those that you really need to work on.


Definitely keep both sides in practice and try to see the similarities in thought process so that you can emphasize strategy and efficiency.

Brian,
I am taking the test for the second time. The first time I did much better on the quant. You say that I should keep working on both. What about someone like me who reallly needs more help on the verbal? I do not plan to take the test for a few months so could I let the quant go for a while?