GMAT Strategy

I have MGMAT set of all the books. I first took a practice GMAT test, got 520. I haven't been in school for over a decade. Then I started studying but due to work, on and off study time, couldn't really finish more than 3 MGMAT Quant books and no Verbal book. I couldn't study for 3 weeks before the actual GMAT, and got 480. I feel horrible.

I know the avg range of students do not go move than 50 points, but I want to defy it. Mainly because I never got to study and so the test score is not the right one. I sometimes have trouble focussing, I have two kids under 8 and a full time job. Can you please help me in getting myself a schedule that will get me 700 plus? I can do 2-3 hrs a day, maybe 3 months should do it? Any help is really appreciated.

I looked at the 60 day BTG emails, but they are more Kaplan based. I am looking to get in to Booth Part Time. Have been looking at various things, like form a study group here in Chicago area and/or get an instructor to get me start up. Any help to get me on track is appreciated. Anyone who beat the GMAT and would like to share a "how-to" game plan is really what I need.

Thank you all.

uhsa

The biggest thing I can recommend do you is that you make studying an appointment on your calendar. Repeatedly stopping and starting or studying while you're distracted will not help boost your score. I've started waking up an hour earlier to study before work. I had initially been studying after work, but I was often too tired to be truly productive. You may also be able to spend an extra 20-30 minutes working on a few practice problems during your lunch break.

Thank you. I have been thinking along the same lines, to wake up early, do an hour before going to work and an hour after work at my work place, before I head out home. Hopefully the 2 hr daily (incl. weekend) would get me on the right track.

I was also wondering -- if I start my Quant first, by the time I am on Verbal - it would probably be 2 month (?) -- when I am doing Verbal, wouldn't I lose the "quick tricks" or "speed" of my Quant being out of daily practice?

Thanks again for the reply.

uhsa

Quant is my weak area, and I definitely feel that if I'm away from it for more than a week, then I start to forget some of the things I learned. Therefore, I'd recommend that even on days when you are studying verbal, you should still add in at least 20-30 minutes of quant.

uhsa wrote: I was also wondering -- if I start my Quant first, by the time I am on Verbal - it would probably be 2 month (?) -- when I am doing Verbal, wouldn't I lose the "quick tricks" or "speed" of my Quant being out of daily practice?

Thanks again for the reply.

uhsa

When you are preparing for verbal, don't cut yourself off from Quant. You will lose out on your skills and tricks that you learnt for 2 months. Make it a point to solve 10 questions 3 days a week, that is, 30 questions in the whole week.
And at some point of the day if you feel tired of studying verbal, review the math questions you did earlier.
You should also take practice tests after certain intervals, so that you can track your progress in verbal and also make sure that you're not losing out in quant.