I have a few questions for anyone who may be able to shed some light on this quandary of mine.
I'll be taking the GMAT for the third time in about 2 and a half weeks, and I'm looking to fix the issues I had the first couple times around. Well, just the second time actually. The first time I took the test, I took it without any real preparation, as I took one of the CAT tests from MBA.com and scored a 680, so I figured I was just about ready to go. I was wrong. On test day, my quant was far from up to par. I got too nervous during the test, made stupid mistakes, freaked out, scored a 35 on quant. My verbal was 41, and hasn't wavered much since. It usually varies between 40 and 43, and it's always been my strength, so I'm not too concerned about it. In fact, the second time I took the test, my verbal actually went down, as all I managed to do was confuse myself with the verbal prep I tried to mix in. My quant the second time around was a bit better, at 38, but still a far cry from where I think I should/need to be. This was all amidst a 80 hour work week, so the time I actually got to put towards prep was scattered and fairly lackadaisical, if I'm being honest. I worked my way through the full Manhattan GMAT series of books, but I breezed past sections too quickly, didn't retain what was important, and didn't drill through my weaknesses.
Things are different now. I have a two and a half weeks off from work, where I'll be able to give GMAT prep my undivided attention (not to mention a real sleep schedule). I know it's not great to put too much work into a single session or day, but I have no problem breaking up my study time throughout the day and staying focused. To compensate for doing more prep than is typically recommended in my timeframe, I'd like to spend extra time on many, many sets of practice problems for each area in which I need work, so that I really absorb the concepts that I wasn't grasping previously. Again, I know it's hardly ideal, but given the once-over I had with the material before, and my ability to have it as my sole focus for the 2.5-week duration, I think I can meet my goal with a bit of your help.
So my question to you all is this:
In the 2-Week Study Plan, Dana outlines the Diagnostic day, the Targeted Quant Practice, the Verbal Practice, and the Review days. Assuming that I want to cut out days 6-11 (Verbal Practice) completely, and extend my Quant work to fill those days, what sort of plan would you recommend?
Do I still focus on just the most commonly tested topics, and spend a lot more time doing problem sets for those? Or should I also work my way into some of the less common topics and try to become well-versed in those as well? I know there are certain things like combinatorics that may not play into my ability to score 700+ in a significant manner, but I definitely do NOT want to skimp on any sections that may have 4-5 questions drawn from them with a little bad luck on my part. I'm a big believer in Murphy's Law, and I'd rather not give him the opportunity to beat me down.
Any advice you guys might have on how best to use those extra 5-6 days in a quant-centric fashion would be greatly appreciated, and to everyone else out there trying to reach their target scores, all the best!
-Nick
I'll be taking the GMAT for the third time in about 2 and a half weeks, and I'm looking to fix the issues I had the first couple times around. Well, just the second time actually. The first time I took the test, I took it without any real preparation, as I took one of the CAT tests from MBA.com and scored a 680, so I figured I was just about ready to go. I was wrong. On test day, my quant was far from up to par. I got too nervous during the test, made stupid mistakes, freaked out, scored a 35 on quant. My verbal was 41, and hasn't wavered much since. It usually varies between 40 and 43, and it's always been my strength, so I'm not too concerned about it. In fact, the second time I took the test, my verbal actually went down, as all I managed to do was confuse myself with the verbal prep I tried to mix in. My quant the second time around was a bit better, at 38, but still a far cry from where I think I should/need to be. This was all amidst a 80 hour work week, so the time I actually got to put towards prep was scattered and fairly lackadaisical, if I'm being honest. I worked my way through the full Manhattan GMAT series of books, but I breezed past sections too quickly, didn't retain what was important, and didn't drill through my weaknesses.
Things are different now. I have a two and a half weeks off from work, where I'll be able to give GMAT prep my undivided attention (not to mention a real sleep schedule). I know it's not great to put too much work into a single session or day, but I have no problem breaking up my study time throughout the day and staying focused. To compensate for doing more prep than is typically recommended in my timeframe, I'd like to spend extra time on many, many sets of practice problems for each area in which I need work, so that I really absorb the concepts that I wasn't grasping previously. Again, I know it's hardly ideal, but given the once-over I had with the material before, and my ability to have it as my sole focus for the 2.5-week duration, I think I can meet my goal with a bit of your help.
So my question to you all is this:
In the 2-Week Study Plan, Dana outlines the Diagnostic day, the Targeted Quant Practice, the Verbal Practice, and the Review days. Assuming that I want to cut out days 6-11 (Verbal Practice) completely, and extend my Quant work to fill those days, what sort of plan would you recommend?
Do I still focus on just the most commonly tested topics, and spend a lot more time doing problem sets for those? Or should I also work my way into some of the less common topics and try to become well-versed in those as well? I know there are certain things like combinatorics that may not play into my ability to score 700+ in a significant manner, but I definitely do NOT want to skimp on any sections that may have 4-5 questions drawn from them with a little bad luck on my part. I'm a big believer in Murphy's Law, and I'd rather not give him the opportunity to beat me down.
Any advice you guys might have on how best to use those extra 5-6 days in a quant-centric fashion would be greatly appreciated, and to everyone else out there trying to reach their target scores, all the best!
-Nick
