I'm hoping someone has advice on how to retain all of this information that I don't seem to be absorbing very well. This mostly applies to quant-
Here's what I've been doing, so maybe you can help me optimize my study time:
- I've been keeping a detailed excel spreadsheet of all the question types that I'm learning from manhattan gmat books, I include the type (in my own words), the type of information given, steps on how to solve, and an example question, plus where to find it again
- I'm following the Magoosh Advanced study guide, so it's a balanced mix of magoosh questions, official guide and manhattan prep books
- As I encounter each question, I try to categorize it in a certain type and then complete the question. However, I'm thinking it might make more sense to look up in my spreadsheet before I try to complete the question to help stop falling into old bad habits
- I'm also keeping a separate excel spreadsheet for electronic flashcards (superflashcard.com has an upload tool so I can flip through on my way to work) that have smaller pieces of the questions broken down
Now that I have spreadsheets with 100+ types of questions (and not even halfway through the mgmat guidebooks), what is the best way for me to go back and learn/remember all of that info? Scorewise, my practice tests results are significantly below what I'd like to get, since it doesn't make financial sense for me to go back to school unless it's a top 15 program. I'm willing to put in serious time and effort into this, but I have less than two months until test day and not seeing as much improvement as I was expecting at this point.
Thank you for your feedback!
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Strategy for remembering everything I've learned?
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Hi asrnyc,
For most Test Takers, the missing "piece" is usually not about memory, it's about organization and execution.
It sounds like you've come up with a solid way to organize your data (flashcards, notes, etc.), but you my try shifting your focus away from individual questions and more towards broader tactics.
Here's an example of what I mean: If you drove a particular car for a year and then drove a new car, you wouldn't have to memorize an entirely new set of steps to drive that new car. Many of the "steps" would be the same as before, they would just be variations of things that you already knew how to do. The brake and gas pedals would be in about the same place (even though the pedals might be a slightly different size), the key would still be needed to start the car, the handle for the windshield wipers might be in a different spot, but you'd know to look for a handle, etc.
Quant and Verbal questions are based on patterns. Since a prompt will only contain a set amount of information, there won't be 1000 different things you could do, there'd only be a handful. Most of the time, proper note-taking and organization are the keys to correctly solving questions in an efficient way. Yes, you have to know math rules; yes, you have to know grammar rules, but I don't believe that that's really your problem. You wrote a detailed, well-worded post defining your situation, so I don't believe that memory is the problem.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
For most Test Takers, the missing "piece" is usually not about memory, it's about organization and execution.
It sounds like you've come up with a solid way to organize your data (flashcards, notes, etc.), but you my try shifting your focus away from individual questions and more towards broader tactics.
Here's an example of what I mean: If you drove a particular car for a year and then drove a new car, you wouldn't have to memorize an entirely new set of steps to drive that new car. Many of the "steps" would be the same as before, they would just be variations of things that you already knew how to do. The brake and gas pedals would be in about the same place (even though the pedals might be a slightly different size), the key would still be needed to start the car, the handle for the windshield wipers might be in a different spot, but you'd know to look for a handle, etc.
Quant and Verbal questions are based on patterns. Since a prompt will only contain a set amount of information, there won't be 1000 different things you could do, there'd only be a handful. Most of the time, proper note-taking and organization are the keys to correctly solving questions in an efficient way. Yes, you have to know math rules; yes, you have to know grammar rules, but I don't believe that that's really your problem. You wrote a detailed, well-worded post defining your situation, so I don't believe that memory is the problem.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
