Need to re-evaluate gmat study strategy

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nickhar130: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 44; Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2010 10:07 am; Thanked: 1 times

by nickhar130 » Fri Dec 31, 2010 2:32 pm

Hello,

I've been studying gmat for about a year but I started studyign seriously about 2 months ago. I have registered to take the gmat exam on January 29th and I've used the "gmat study guide 60 days" as a way to structure how to prepare and study (as well as some extra guide i've planned myself) for the gmat. So far i've studied in math - quantitative and data sufficiency and for verbal - sentence correction and currently working on critical reading. The books I've used and using are below. I feel a little discouraged because I am almost finish reading through the "Powerscore Gmat Critical Reasoning Bible" and I feel that CR is extremely difficult for me.

My next step after finish upon the Powerscore book is to pratice the CR problems in the OG book. After that I plan to go over all the questions once more in the books mentioned below. Any suggestion if this is a good idea or thoughts? Let me know guys. Thanks!

Books I have:
OG 12th edition
Manhatten Review - Turbocharge Your GMAT - math study guide w/ solution
Kaplan GMAT verbal workbook
Powerscore Gmat Critical Reasoning Bible

Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Fri Dec 31, 2010 2:32 pm

VivianKerr: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1035; Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 11:13 amFollowed by: 365 members; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 474 times

by VivianKerr » Fri Dec 31, 2010 7:53 pm

Hey Nick,

MGMAT has online CATs which I recommend to help you practice pacing (the scores themselves are of dubious accuracy). Instead of studying one section at a time, I would do a little bit of each every day. That way you don't "burn out" and you can keep up your skills in sections you've already covered extensively.

CR is definitely tough, especially if you don't use your scratch paper, don't understand the rhetoric behind the argument, and don't write down predictions before you read the answer choices. Maybe you need a focused strategy review?

Article I wrote on Complete the Passage questions: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/11/ ... -questions

Practice your strategy with easier questions, then move on to the harder ones as you gain confidence! Remember that successful GMAT studying is not about quantity - it's about QUALITY. You need to have a written-down step-by-step process for how YOU approach each question type. Don't just copy the Kaplan Method or another test company. Practice several strategies and see what works best for you.

You might also want to check out Grockit's GMAT section using a trial membership - there are extra questions there as well!

Good luck!
-Vivian

Vivian Kerr
GMAT Rockstar, Tutor
https://www.GMATrockstar.com
https://www.yelp.com/biz/gmat-rockstar-los-angeles

Former Kaplan and Grockit instructor, freelance GMAT content creator, now offering affordable, effective, Skype-tutoring for the GMAT at $150/hr. Contact: [email protected]

Thank you for all the "thanks" and "follows"!

rishi raj: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 320; Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2010 7:09 amFollowed by: 52 members; Thanked: 116 times; GMAT Score:760

by rishi raj » Sat Jan 01, 2011 12:58 am

You said that you're still finding CR difficult but haven't mentioned what your strategy in CR so far has been.
Did you practice a sufficient number of CR questions from a particular question type say Assumption or Bold faced questions or did you just keep on going through the CR Bible .
I have addressed a similar query related to CR on this page . You may want to try some of the tips there but since you don't have much time left,I'm not sure whether you'd actually see the benefit.
You haven't mentioned what score you're targeting at ,but I think that you could have referred better material if you are aiming for a 700+.

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