GMAT Strategy

[email protected] wrote:Hi Need help,

You're in something of an interesting situation in that you don't need to improve much to pick up the missing points that you're looking for. Focusing on (and really improving) in ANY of the major areas in the Quant or Verbal sections could conceivably be enough to help you hit your goal. Before we talk about that though, I'd like to know a bit more about your studies and Official GMAT:

1) Did you take any practice CATs during your studies? If so, then how did you score?
2) On Test Day, did you have to rush at the end (and guess on a bunch of questions) to finish any of the sections? Did you leave any questions unanswered? Did you finish any sections early?
3) You've set your deadline for March 23rd; when are you planning to apply to Business School?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Brent@GMATPrepNow wrote:I suggest a systematic (even methodical) approach, in which you take the time to master each topic/concept (e.g., percents, ratios, assumption questions in critical reasoning, comparison questions in sentence correction, etc).

So, for each topic/concept, you should:
1) Learn the underlying concepts (rules, attributes, notation, etc.)
2) Learn GMAT-specific strategies related to that topic
3) Practice dozens of questions all related to that one topic.
4) Don't stop working on that topic until you have mastered it

Then, and only then, move on to the next topic.

To help you focus on one topic at a time, you can use BTG's tagging feature. For example, here are all of the questions tagged as statistics questions: https://www.beatthegmat.com/forums/tags/ ... statistics
See the left side of that linked page for more tag options.

While completing questions from the Official Guide (OG), you should you use an Error Log (aka Improvement Chart). You can find a free downloadable Improvement Chart here: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/gmat-error-log. This will help you identify and strengthen your weak areas.

You should also spend a lot of time reviewing the responses from the Experts on this site. They model the steps one should take when tackling math problems.

In addition to learning the core concepts and GMAT-specific strategies, be sure to work on your endurance and test-taking skills (e.g., time management) by taking several practice tests. If you're interested, we have a free GMAT time management video at https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... es?id=1244

Finally, you might consider signing up for Beat The GMAT's free 60-Day Study Guide (https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/gmat-guide).
Each day, you'll receive an email with a series of learning activities that guide you, step-by-step, from Day 1 to test day. This will ensure that you will cover everything that the GMAT tests.

Here's an outline of all 60 emails: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/gmat-guide-outline

Cheers,
Brent

BestGMATEliza wrote:The other posts made really good points. Its really important to learn the concepts and I think either a course or comprehensive strategy guide set will be good resources for that. In order to improve quickly, you should be studying to specifically target your weaknesses. In order to do this, go through your last few CATs and look at the problems that you are getting the easiest ones wrong. Then review those topics.

Brent@GMATPrepNow wrote:

Need help with 50 points! wrote: Hello Brent,

Thanks for the advise. But do you think I have enough time for such a comprehensive plan? I think for this I'll need > 3 months as I am working as well. I guess I should have followed this plan during my preparation for the first time.

Thanks anyways !

If you have limited time, then I suggest that you first focus on concepts that have the greatest return on investment (ROI). These are concepts that are tested frequently and require the least amount of time to learn. In my opinion, these concepts are:
- Sentence Correction
- Data Sufficiency strategies
- Percent
- Integer Properties
- Powers/roots
- Algebra
- Geometry

I say all of this because I often see students spending a lot of time agonizing over concepts like Probability and Counting, when these concepts are not tested nearly as much as concepts like integer properties and geometry.

CR and RC questions probably have the lowest ROI. I'm not saying that you shouldn't prepare for them; I'm just saying that improvements take a long time, especially for non-native English speakers. For CR, be sure you understand the various question types.

Finally, be sure to take several practice tests in order to perfect your time management skills and build your endurance.

Cheers,
Brent

manyaabroadtpr wrote:Hi,

Take as many practice tests as possible. Spend as much time in analyzing your performance in the test. Typically if you spend 2 hours in a mock test, spend 4-5 hours in analyzing your performance and take a note on how to attempt each question better, faster and smarter. Make sure you apply them in your next practice test.

Start reading articles, science journals , business tabloids and read them online and figure out for yourself if you can understand the language and the main idea present in the passage. This would improve your vocabulary on the GMAT.

Let us know if you would have any questions for gmat preparation and we would be happy to guide. Wish you the best.

[email protected] wrote:Hi Need help,

Based on your Official Score and your practice scores, something about the tests you were given by the coaching institute seem problematic (those Verbal Scores don't seem to match up with the Official GMAT Score). As such, you should probably use a different set of practice CATs this time. Thankfully, there are plenty of respectable CATs to choose from.

With your Official Scaled Scores, you have a much greater opportunity to pick up those missing points in the Verbal section, but you're clearly more comfortable in the Quant section. The issue is the limited amount of time that you have left. While you could probably pick up all of the missing points in either the Quant section or the Verbal section, I can't recommend that you take an "all or nothing" approach. Thus, you should probably focus on the BIG categories right now: DS in Quant, SC and RC in Verbal.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich