GMAT Strategy

Hello Guys,

I took the GMAT last week and ended up with Q:28 while i used MGMAT series along with the OGs

Should i redo the Manhattan quant books or should i consider an alternative publisher Like Jeff Scakmann sets both the foundation and the challenge extreme sets ( 1800 Practice Math ).

Thanks in advance.

how was you initial practice?.How much were you getting on GMATprep?

Aslan : Thank you for your prompt reply !

One week before the test :

GMAT prep : q 28 ( First try )
GMAT prep : q 29 ( second try )

MGMAT CAT 1 through CAT 6 : always between 25 to 30

Real GMAT : 28
In highlight of the above , what do you suggest ?

thanks in advance ,

In highlight of the above I suggest you should have not taken the test

Only when you see your scores on a constant plane, where you would like to see your 'actual' score, should you take this test (period)....I had done the same mistake thinking that the actual test would somehow award me more points :\

But honestly speaking, GMAT is not a thing which is an inherent ability, is just a skill like carpentry or free masonry etc..the more you work at it, the more you will adapt yourself at taking this test.Consider it like body building!

Huss982 wrote:Hello Guys,

I took the GMAT last week and ended up with Q:28 while i used MGMAT series along with the OGs

Should i redo the Manhattan quant books or should i consider an alternative publisher Like Jeff Scakmann sets both the foundation and the challenge extreme sets ( 1800 Practice Math ).

Thanks in advance.

My dear friend, you have probably seen that I placed the similar post on Strategy BTG recently. In fact, I have left behind decent part of my quant preparation with MGMAT series, OG11 ( solved all PS and DS problems), Kaplan 800 'straight math', MGMAT question banks. Now I am doing re-re-redo of all quant staff! The reason I do this thing is that what aslan correctly mentioned here, GMAT is skill.

Let me explain. One person can solve a difficult (tough 800 level quant) problem within 2-3 mins, another can solve it within 3+ minutes, yet another can solve it within 60+minutes, the other can not solve it anyhow.

When we start preparing for GMAT quant and do not remember math foundations from high school we are in the category -can not solve it anyhow. Later we get hold of important math concepts and progress towards 60+ minutes and further onto 3+ minutes.

In fact the difference between that you can not solve the problem at all i.e. ZERO (0) preparation and you solve the problem within 3+ minutes is tiny. For GMAT will take off your scores for unanswered questions or make you skip quickly all other remaining questions which you were unable to even look at...

If you want to score well in quant you must progress towards solving quant problems within maximum 2-3 minutes.

See, you have got plenty of road to go depending on where you stand for different complexity level of questions. You can solve 300-500 level questions within 1-2 minutes yet struggle to solve the 550+ questions within 2-3 minutes. Your score then will be below 500 for quant section (below average).

My sincere advice to you, do not bother yourself with such human kind illusions as how much you would score under this and that test condition, how better you could read math from this and that guide.

All math guides are the same, the only difference lies with us. Practice more and refresh your math concepts on the constant basis. When you are very comfortable to solve complex problems within 2-3 minutes, take CATs and monitor your progress.

Having said that, I urge you to read every letter in Jeff Sackman's book and solve all problems at least by using mental thinking if they come easy to you. Jeff's contains advanced topics to show you 650+ questions and will better prepare you for GMAT exam.

In fact, Jeff's will soon be entirely commercialized as Knewton and Princeton or Caplan (I cut MGMAT here). When this will happen then the content of Jeff's may not be as much of use for solid preparation as it is now. So grab for yourself 'total GMAT math' and start doing preparation work.

cheers

I'll point out that simply "doing more questions" won't increase your score if you don't figure out how to do the questions efficiently and of course, correctly.

I would go back to square one, read the concept book chapter by chapter, and after each chapter, really spend the time on the materials in that chapter. Be patient and slowly build your way back up to 600 or even 700 level.