General Question for those DONE with GMAT/done studying.....

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Quant vs Verbal?

I'm speaking on a few things here, and I'll go as far as to say please only respond if your native language is English, or you are fluent.

-How much time did you spend on quant vs the verbal? (ROUGH % ALLOCATION)
-What was your prior experience with the math involved?
-What resources did you use?
-Score?


Trying to gauge the rest of my study plan. I have 2 months to go until test day and I'm moving slowly on quant. I feel like reading comp/critical reasoning are much more intuitive and thus require less studying.

sentence correction seems more particular and strategy based.

please correct me if I am wrong on this generalization


thx

DS

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by brianlange77 » Wed Jan 23, 2013 7:00 pm
DCS80 wrote:Quant vs Verbal?

I'm speaking on a few things here, and I'll go as far as to say please only respond if your native language is English, or you are fluent.

-How much time did you spend on quant vs the verbal? (ROUGH % ALLOCATION)
-What was your prior experience with the math involved?
-What resources did you use?
-Score?


Trying to gauge the rest of my study plan. I have 2 months to go until test day and I'm moving slowly on quant. I feel like reading comp/critical reasoning are much more intuitive and thus require less studying.

sentence correction seems more particular and strategy based.

please correct me if I am wrong on this generalization


thx

DS
DS -- Good questions. I think you've caught onto the fact that 'studying/preparing' for quant just fundamentally feels different than preparing for verbal. But, don't let that fool you. There are as many points to be 'had' on verbal as there are on quant.

With two months left, you've got time to really explore both sections. I'd suggest starting here with these two links --

https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... an-part-1/
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... an-part-2/

This should help you frame out a study plan. I don't want to answer your questions, because candidly, I don't think they are the right questions!

Have you completed a practice exam? What did your score look like there?

Let's chat more.

-Brian
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by ceilidh.erickson » Sat Jan 26, 2013 7:50 am
Hearing about study plans that worked for others can be helpful, but remember that every test-taker is unique! What works for others may not be what works for you. I'm with Brian - these aren't the most helpful questions.

The first thing that you should do is take a practice test (doesn't really matter which one you use). Then analyze that test in a lot of depth. Where were you strongest? Weakest? Which areas need the most work? Let this tell you how to allocate your time, not what other people say worked for them.

You're right in thinking that native English speakers have an advantage on the verbal side, and may not need to spend as much time there. But - time spent learning SC rules could lead to a significant score gain, which would increase your overall score.

Good luck!
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by vomhorizon » Sat Jan 26, 2013 8:15 am
How much time did you spend on quant vs the verbal? (ROUGH % ALLOCATION)
I would say that around 80% of my prep time has been allotted to quant. I have not touched math in over a decade. However once i am done with all my prep i would probably have a 60 : 40 split with Q and V or atleast a 70 : 30 split.
What was your prior experience with the math involved?
For me quant was and still is an uphill battle. I spend a good 3-3.5 months going over the strategy guides and OG before i kicked my prep up a notch and started with more advanced questions and strategies. Even after all this prep i have still not reached my target 80th percentile but am very very close.
What resources did you use?
Quant :

MGMAT Strategy guides (5th edition for quant and 4th edition SC book which i borrowed from a freind)
Power score LSAT Logic reasoning book
MGMAT RC Book for strategy
Veritas Prep RC Book for practice (yet to do)
Veritas Prep DS Book
Veritas Prep Advanced word problem book
MGMAT Adv. Quant : This is the best book if you are looking to kick it up to the highest possible level..(Leave it for the last month)..

In addition to this , i tried dozens of questions from this forum, and GMAT CLUB.
Trying to gauge the rest of my study plan. I have 2 months to go until test day and I'm moving slowly on quant.
Have you considered the 60-Day study guide by BTG?
sentence correction seems more particular and strategy based.
SC is like quant , Rule based (for the most part) so if you spend quality time in practicing and learning the rules then their is no reason why you cannot become really good.

CR and RC , involves reading ability and logic, i would go over the books but would stay away from over emphasizing the rules. If you are good with logic and reasoning you do not need to follow the rules, just go over the question stem and think logically.
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by tim415 » Sat Jan 26, 2013 1:36 pm
I think the expert replies are spot on, I'll just add my experiences and opinion for you to help gauge.
DCS80 wrote:
-How much time did you spend on quant vs the verbal? (ROUGH % ALLOCATION)

DS
80/20 Quant vs. Verbal. I'm native English speaker and started with what I consider a higher than average command of English.
DCS80 wrote: -What was your prior experience with the math involved?
Studied engineering in undergrad, so I've studied far more advanced concepts. BUT, as you'll find out, that doesn't mean all that much for GMAT. GMAT isn't testing math skills in the traditional sense.
DCS80 wrote:Quant vs Verbal?

-What resources did you use?
Veritas prep, OG, some MGMAT free resources.

DCS80 wrote: -Score?
720. Q47, V42.
DCS80 wrote:
I feel like reading comp/critical reasoning are much more intuitive and thus require less studying.

sentence correction seems more particular and strategy based.
I found for reading comp and critical reasoning, it was less about learning concepts, and more refining skills to be accurate and efficient. As a native speaker, I found the advantage was in understanding the meaning and subtleties in the question stems and answer choices.

SC was the biggest challenge as a native English speaker - I had a huge tendancy to just rely on my ear and what "felt right." I figured I just knew everything and didn't pay attention all that much to the specific rules. This was horribly inefficient.. although my verbal scores were still quite high in practice exams.