Crunch-time! (2 mths of study done, 1 to go) - Any advice?

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Hi all,

So here's my situation: I started studying for the GMAT during the first week of May, so I'm coming up to about 2 months of studying now. I've spent the past 8-9 weeks working through the MGMAT guides (5 maths and SC) as well as the Powerscore CR Bible, and I've used the MGMAT Study Planner as a week-by-week organizer. I've done the General sections of all the books, the related In Action problems at the end of each chapter, and the assigned OG problems according to the Study Planner.

I plan on writing the GMAT around the last week of July, so that gives me exactly a month left of studying. From now until then, this is my planned course of action:

- (Week 1) -- Going through the Advanced sections of MGMAT, and reviewing the MGMAT readings/notes and materials from everything I've done so far. Going to also go back and review the In Actions that I marked down as having done incorrectly.
- (Week 2) -- Going through all the OG Problems, namely the ones that I haven't done yet. I've also got the Verbal and Quant supplemental guides, so I'll work through those as well.
- (Weeks 3-4) -- Doing the 6 MGMAT CATs, and the 2 GMATPrep CATs. Also the AWAs as well just to get a feel for them.

That will put me at around 3 months of total study time when all is said and done. I've been putting in about 3-4 hours a day, 5-6 days a week each week so far. Going to try to keep the same pace going during this next month, except for the 2 weeks prior to my exam when I'll be doing CATs.

How does this plan of attack sound? Any advice/suggestions? My goal is to gain a 700+. I haven't done any practice exams yet (I wanted to learn all of the material first before doing any practice exams). Should I look to do a Practice CAT or two before my final 2 weeks of pure mock exam'ing?

And as for RC, I've read through the MGMAT RC strat guide and made notes on their strategies... however I still think that this is an area that I could use work on. Anyone have any suggestions on how to better prepare for this section?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone! It's "crunch-time"! :)
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by amising6 » Mon Jun 28, 2010 9:41 am
sounds great but before you jump onto advance topic you can give one cat just to see where you stand and if you need to give some more time to some specific topics

all the best
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by albatross86 » Mon Jun 28, 2010 9:45 am
You've been working hard! Your plan looks good - make sure you review all the weak spots.

One concern - it's rather unconventional that you haven't done any CATs. I really recommend you get to that quickly, because it may really throw you off, with 2 AWA's and then the 2.5 hours of pressure during the main thing.

I hope you've been practicing all your questions timed? If not, that should be your main effort for the rest of your preps - developing time management.

Good luck!
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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Mon Jun 28, 2010 9:55 am
In addition to practicing your questions timed, make sure you study in 3 hour blocks. This will help build endurance. Try not to study an hour here then an hour there. Set aside a 3 hour block and just go at it.
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by flexed » Tue Jun 29, 2010 3:32 pm
Thanks guys! I will write my first CAT (GMATPrep #1) tomorrow to get a better gauge at where I stand. When I do study, I do focus on spending a good 3-4 hours at a time so hopefully my endurance isn't too bad.

Anyone else with any helpful suggestions would be great. *fingers crossed* for a solid score on the GMATPrep CAT tomorrow. :)