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New study plan - what are your thoughts?

by mdlyman » Fri Aug 29, 2014 8:53 pm
Hi All,

So I have been working on my GMAT prep for a few months now, and have been pleased with my progress so far. I've improved from a 540 (36Q 29V) to my high last week of 630 (40Q 36V). 44 is my high quant score and 36 is my high verbal. I'm hoping to score 680+ once all is said and done. As far as my current prep goes, I've been using Kaplan, MGMAT, and GMATPrep CATs (usually taking one each week).

I'm hoping to take the official exam first week of October and for the next month I'm thinking about mixing up my study plan. I've heard that there is no substitute for using official GMAC problems. So I'm thinking about purchasing the additional GMATPrep software question set (anyone have an opinion of these problems). Also, I'm going to purchase the additional GMATPrep CATs. I'm hoping to do 2 CATs a week leading up to the exam (but at least 1 each week).

I've been playing around with the idea of retaking my MGMAT CATs and just doing one section a night when I get home from work. For example, come home from work and do a quant section to see how I score, then the next night I'd do a verbal section. Since I don't have the time to do a full exam each night, I feel like this would be very beneficial to improve my timing strategies as well as working on problem sets that vary in type and difficulty, compared to just working on random problem sets from my prep books/GMATPrep software. Do any of you have similar experiences/strategies that you've implemented? Experts, do you think that I'm setting myself up for success? Thanks in advance for your help!

Cheers,
Mark
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by GMATinsight » Sat Aug 30, 2014 4:12 am
mdlyman wrote:Hi All,

So I have been working on my GMAT prep for a few months now, and have been pleased with my progress so far. I've improved from a 540 (36Q 29V) to my high last week of 630 (40Q 36V). 44 is my high quant score and 36 is my high verbal. I'm hoping to score 680+ once all is said and done. As far as my current prep goes, I've been using Kaplan, MGMAT, and GMATPrep CATs (usually taking one each week).

I'm hoping to take the official exam first week of October and for the next month I'm thinking about mixing up my study plan. I've heard that there is no substitute for using official GMAC problems. So I'm thinking about purchasing the additional GMATPrep software question set (anyone have an opinion of these problems). Also, I'm going to purchase the additional GMATPrep CATs. I'm hoping to do 2 CATs a week leading up to the exam (but at least 1 each week).

I've been playing around with the idea of retaking my MGMAT CATs and just doing one section a night when I get home from work. For example, come home from work and do a quant section to see how I score, then the next night I'd do a verbal section. Since I don't have the time to do a full exam each night, I feel like this would be very beneficial to improve my timing strategies as well as working on problem sets that vary in type and difficulty, compared to just working on random problem sets from my prep books/GMATPrep software. Do any of you have similar experiences/strategies that you've implemented? Experts, do you think that I'm setting myself up for success? Thanks in advance for your help!

Cheers,
Mark
My Advice:

1) Your score is a bit on the lower side in Quant specially for taking MGMAT at this moment so you should do away with your test taking in the beginning

2) Purchasing additional GMAT prep test set is a good idea

3) You should be finishing the Official guide once again with the problems that you might have got wrong the previous time as targeting your problem area is more important for preparation and improvement

4) You seem to be treating Quant and Verbal both with similar concerns however there is huge potential to improve score in Quant especially. So you might want to give greater attention to Quant and improve your score by about 40 marks.

All the best!!!

I welcome your further query.
"GMATinsight"Bhoopendra Singh & Sushma Jha
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by mdlyman » Sat Aug 30, 2014 9:48 am
GMATinsight wrote:
mdlyman wrote:Hi All,

So I have been working on my GMAT prep for a few months now, and have been pleased with my progress so far. I've improved from a 540 (36Q 29V) to my high last week of 630 (40Q 36V). 44 is my high quant score and 36 is my high verbal. I'm hoping to score 680+ once all is said and done. As far as my current prep goes, I've been using Kaplan, MGMAT, and GMATPrep CATs (usually taking one each week).

I'm hoping to take the official exam first week of October and for the next month I'm thinking about mixing up my study plan. I've heard that there is no substitute for using official GMAC problems. So I'm thinking about purchasing the additional GMATPrep software question set (anyone have an opinion of these problems). Also, I'm going to purchase the additional GMATPrep CATs. I'm hoping to do 2 CATs a week leading up to the exam (but at least 1 each week).

I've been playing around with the idea of retaking my MGMAT CATs and just doing one section a night when I get home from work. For example, come home from work and do a quant section to see how I score, then the next night I'd do a verbal section. Since I don't have the time to do a full exam each night, I feel like this would be very beneficial to improve my timing strategies as well as working on problem sets that vary in type and difficulty, compared to just working on random problem sets from my prep books/GMATPrep software. Do any of you have similar experiences/strategies that you've implemented? Experts, do you think that I'm setting myself up for success? Thanks in advance for your help!

Cheers,
Mark
My Advice:

1) Your score is a bit on the lower side in Quant specially for taking MGMAT at this moment so you should do away with your test taking in the beginning

2) Purchasing additional GMAT prep test set is a good idea

3) You should be finishing the Official guide once again with the problems that you might have got wrong the previous time as targeting your problem area is more important for preparation and improvement

4) You seem to be treating Quant and Verbal both with similar concerns however there is huge potential to improve score in Quant especially. So you might want to give greater attention to Quant and improve your score by about 40 marks.

All the best!!!

I welcome your further query.
Thanks for the advice, it's greatly appreciated. I have a bit of an update. I just took another GMATPrep practice exam and scored a 690 (Q45 V40). I'm very pleased seeing this today, but agree that I have a lot of work to do on my quant. Any recommendations??

Right now I'm planning on going through my MGMAT CAT reports to identify which areas/topics that I really struggle with, and then trying to master those.
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by [email protected] » Sat Aug 30, 2014 10:12 am
Hi Mark,

That's great news about your improvement. Since you're starting to get close to your planned Test Date, you should be focused on making your practice as realistic as possible. When you take CATs, have you been taking the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR)? If not, then you need to start doing so. Breaking a CAT up "into pieces" is not realistic and skipping sections often leads to artificially "inflated" scores (since you're taking a shorter Test).

Here are some suggestions going forward:

1) Schedule your Official GMAT. Pick a day and a time that work best for you. During the fall, the schedules at the various Pearson Centers fill up quickly, so you have to plan ahead to get the perfect day/time combo. Certain Test Takers tend to be better focused when they're facing a deadline.

2) Plan on 1 CAT/week; taking more than that is rarely beneficial. The bulk of your time should be spent on practice problems, quizzes, review, etc.

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by mdlyman » Thu Sep 04, 2014 1:01 pm
Thanks for the great feedback, Rich. I've been taking the whole GMAT, but I'll be honest that I could work a little harder on my AWA. I usually only spend 15-20 minutes on it. I go to the library to take my exam, hoping to simulate the real experience. I guess I'll steer clear of taking 2 exams in a week as I don't want to burn out.

Returning to my previous question, do you think it's wise to do a quant section alone on weekday nights to work on timing and problem variations, or would it be more worthwhile just working on problem sets? Right now I'm going from start to finish again through the OG to help track which problems I'm struggling with, or missing. Please let me know if I'm on a decent track or if you have some suggestions.

MDL
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by [email protected] » Thu Sep 04, 2014 5:46 pm
Hi MDL,

I'm not a fan of "breaking down" a CAT in the way that you describe because you don't start Test Day with a Quant section so the "exercise" isn't realistic. You have to travel, go through the check-in process and orientation, then do the Essay/IR/1st Break.... and THEN you do a Quant section. In essence, you have to jump through a bunch of administrative hoops then work for an hour before you see your first Quant question. THAT lead-in must be part of any practice for the practice to be considered realistic (and for the scores to provide meaningful data). You'll be better served doing practice problems, quizzes, reviewing past CATs, etc., then taking 1 CAT/week to see if you've put it all together.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
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