GMAT Strategy

Please assess my game plan for taking test in first week of Sep 2009 - Target Score is 720+


What I did ?

Verbal

1. Completed Manhattan SC guide (atleast I know what to look for in the answer choices), finished OG Verbal review (purple) book - hit rates are around 70-80%. Most of them are silly mistakes because of subtle details

2. Finished all RC questions from OG Verbal review (purple) book - hit rates are around 80% - Facing trouble with inference and according to the passage questions

3. Finished all CR questions from OG Verbal review (purple) book - hit rates are around 80% - my best bet in verbal


Quant

1. Finished Manhattan Number properties and Word translations (Still struggling with number properties)

2. Finished PS problems in quant review (green) book - hit rates are 70-80%

3. Finished DS problems in quant review (green) book - hit rates are 60-70%


1. After finishing OG review books, I took a Diagnostic test from OG 12 - Un-timed

PS - Avg (6 - 8 Silly mistakes)
DS - Barely made above avg (Silly mistakes killed me)
RC - Avg (12/17)
CR - Above Avg (12/17)
SC - Above Avg (12/18)

Note: I felt questions in DT are tough when compared to OG review books

2. Review Diagnostic test and go through missed concepts


What I am planning to do next?

1. Revise quant and verbal flash card and do 10 problem from every section starting from question # 50 every day and review any mistakes - I am sure silly mistakes will kill me.

2. Every Saturday revise missed/tough concepts and revise all the questions which went wrong over last five days.

3. Take full length CAT exam every Sunday morning

4. One month before exam start practicing for AWA

5. Include AWA in every CAT exam

6. Take GMAT Prep 2 at least 10 days before the exam


Questions to experts

1. How to avoid silly mistakes? My silly mistakes include the following

- Misreading a quant problem, particularly in word problems.
- Wrong calculations
- Hurrying to pick an answer which is unnecessary in most cases

2. How to do well in DS questions

3. How to do well in 'Inference' and 'According to the passage' questions in RC

Experts,

No suggestions!! Please suggest me.... where do I stand? I am moving in the right direction? or Do I need to do more?

Regards

I think you are on the right track. You have a very organized study plan, and it seems that you have been sticking to it well. I would encourage you to take GMAT Prep 1 sooner rather than later.

With regards to making silly mistakes. The only way to really avoid that is to slow down a little. If you are pressed for time, this is a difficult situation. But there is no reason to finish the test early. When working math problems, make sure you check your answers. That could be just "plugging the answer back in" or rereading the question to make sure you are actually answering it.

For example, a question might ask you what X^2 equals, and you may have solved for x. If you are in a hurry, you might just pick the answer choice that corresponds with x. Part of what the GMAT tests you on is your attention to detail. Don't give away points when you can check an answer in under 20 seconds.

On Data Sufficiency, ALWAYS make sure that you read the "fine print". Some questions will state that the numbers in the problem are integers, or assume x > 0. There is always a reason that they mention it, and its important.

Also, make sure that A and B aren't sufficient by themselves. It sounds dumb, seeing as how thats the object of DS questions. But I cant tell you how many times I put down C without really making sure that both statements were really necessary.

Another thing to keep in mind is, you don't always have to solve DS questions. You just have to know that you CAN solve them. Now, don't get carried away with that, but sometimes it can save you time.

Other than that, I think you are on the right track. Don't go crazy with CAT from different test makers. I really think focusing solely on official GMAT questions, MGMAT's study guide, and the official GMAT CATs is sufficient. You can even redo the GMAT CATs once each and get mostly new questions.

Hope this helps!