Prep Strategy

This topic has expert replies
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2011 11:55 am

Prep Strategy

by gmat_102011 » Sat Feb 26, 2011 12:55 pm
Hi Guys,

My first post over here. :-)

After months of procrastinating, I have finally decided to bite the bullet and re-take the GMAT exam. Scored a 660 (48Q, 34V) in my first attempt. Need a solid 720 plus to camouflage my poor acad scores. Planning to start from 1st March with some 6-7 odd months of preparation time. Here's what I have in mind:

Books

Verbal

For Sentence Correction - I was thinking of starting with e-gmat followed by Aristotle SC Grail. If these two resources don't give me the desired accuracy, I shall pick up Manhattan SC.

For Reading Comprehension - RC 99

For Critical Reasoning - PowerScore

Once I am through with all these books, I will start with the official guides

Quant

Although a score of 48 is not too bad, I am not sure if I'll be able to repeat this performance. Plus, I really think that I can score a 49+ with more focus and dedication. My weak topics are - Co-oridnate, geometry, P&C, probability, absolute values and inequalities. I have a feeling if I can master these topics, I'll be able to break in through the 49+ barrier. Will start with other topics only once I am through with the ones mentioned above.

Anyway, somehow there aren't any great books/courses available for quant section in the market. The only set which I liked so far is the Veritas one but its too expensive. So have decided to just browse around the forums for questions/material.

Structure

Will only be able to give 1-2 hour on weekdays followed by 3-4 hours on weekends. For the first month or so, I'll try to do 3 RC passages and ten CR questions everyday and any additional time (specially during weekends) would be devoted towards sentence correction. After that, ill dedicated my weekdays to quant and weekends to verbal.

Only once I am reasonably confident of my accuracy, I'll start taking full length/sectional tests.

Guess, I have rambled on a lot.

Let me know what you guys think of the above ? Any changes I should make or books I should add ?

Cheers

User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 320
Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2010 7:09 am
Thanked: 116 times
Followed by:52 members
GMAT Score:760

by rishi raj » Sat Feb 26, 2011 7:06 pm
Your list of books/resources seems good ;however, what is worrisome is that you have a 6-7 months target. If you prepare for that long a duration, you're bound to be bored with the your preparation and as a result you'll lose momentum. Ideally you should be targetting 100-120 days i.e around 3-4 months. I think even if you dedicate 2 hours on the weekdays and 4-5 hours on the weekends , you should be adequately prepared in 3-4 months.

If you find the Veritas Maths material expensive , you may want to buy MGMAT Quant books. I have heard great reviews about them.

Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2011 11:55 am

by gmat_102011 » Mon Feb 28, 2011 6:57 am
Noted. Thanks a lot.

Cheers

User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 118
Joined: Sun Sep 05, 2010 10:21 am
Location: Canada
Thanked: 5 times
GMAT Score:730

by joannabanana » Wed Mar 09, 2011 12:55 am
I really liked the Manhattan quant guides. There are lots of them so you can buy only the ones for the topics you're struggling with. They are very in depth and help you understand the topic rather than just giving you tricks for how to solve the problems. In fact, I really wish I had discovered these earlier. I only bought them at the very end of my studying. Had I picked them up earlier on I think my quant score would have been higher.

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 509
Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2010 1:08 pm
Location: Irvine, CA
Thanked: 199 times
Followed by:85 members
GMAT Score:750

by tpr-becky » Wed Mar 09, 2011 7:36 am
My only suggestion would be to actually take diagnostic exams along the way to make sure what you are doing is helping to increase your score. Accuracy is not all you are looking for, timing and performance under a long stressful test is also important.

Also, be sure you are not simply solving problems. each problem should fit into a larger idea of what the test actually tests. There are only a relatively small number of concepts tested on the exam and focusing on those will give you the biggest improvement.

Best of Luck
Becky
Master GMAT Instructor
The Princeton Review
Irvine, CA