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27 days left for GMAT - need strategy help!

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27 days left for GMAT - need strategy help!

by karmoney » Wed Nov 23, 2011 9:42 pm
Hi,

I have been studying for the GMAT for about a month now and have about 27 days to go before I take the GMAT. I am kicking my studying into high gear but want some tips on how to use whatever study time I have between now and the day of test as efficiently as possible.

This is how I'm tracking so far:

Manhattan

Diagnostic - 580 (Q37/V33)
Test 2 - 670 (Q46/V35)
Test 3 - 670 (Q43/V38)
Test 4 - 650 (Q40/V39)

Kaplan

Free Test - 620 (I forget the breakdown since this was a while back)

Knewton

Free Test - 640 (Q40/V38)

My problem, as is plainly obvious, is Quant. My time management on Quant (which explains the decrease in scores) sucks!
I've been furiously practicing from the OG and the Question Banks that Manhattan provides so I can break the elusive 700 score well in advance of test day (I plan to take a test in the next day or two).

Any tips on what my strategy should be for quant over the next few days to see better results? I've been focusing on mixture problems, combinatorics and probability (my achilles heel) and some factoring problems. Where I seem to be tripping up the most is wordy problems that add a lot of "fluff" to what is actually being asked. Any tips on how to effectively "peel the onion" so to speak?

Also wondering what other resources besides Manhattan and the OG I can look at for good problem solving/DS practice.

Thanks for the help!

Kartik
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by sam2304 » Sat Nov 26, 2011 9:23 am
First of all its better to take one GMATPrep as early as possible. Saving it for later will do no good to you. Other practice tests are close to GMATPrep but not a very good indicator. Do not rely too much on other practice test scores. To know where you stand you can count only on GMATPrep. To know where you want to improve you can rely on other test prep companies.
Any tips on what my strategy should be for quant over the next few days to see better results? I've been focusing on mixture problems, combinatorics and probability (my achilles heel) and some factoring problems. Where I seem to be tripping up the most is wordy problems that add a lot of "fluff" to what is actually being asked. Any tips on how to effectively "peel the onion" so to speak?
Go for MGMAT guides to improve on quants in a quick and effective way. Its very helpful in guiding you on how to approach different problems. Dont fret too much over probability/combinations as less number of questions appear from those topics in GMAT. Concentrate more on inequality, statistics, co ordinate geometry, word problems and sets. Go through MGMAT books for these topics alone and you will reach 48 then you can come back to probability/combinations to improve further.

For more practice search in the net for OG 10. You have more 600 pblms totally in OG 10. Moreover your mgmat practice tests problems are suffice as they are very tough and review them over and over will help you improve your timing. Make flash cards/shortcuts/strategies to save time, say x^2 < x => 0 < x < 1. You don't need to calculate it again by substituting values. Solve less review more. The more you review OG problems the more you will find patterns of this sort and note it down and review them again to save time. Hope this helps.
Getting defeated is just a temporary notion, giving it up is what makes it permanent.
https://gmatandbeyond.blogspot.in/
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by karmoney » Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:44 am
Thanks for your response! Very valuable tips - thanks!

Btw I forgot to mention that I did take one GMAT Prep Test 3 weeks ago and my score was 670.
I am reserving the 2nd one for the weekend before the test.
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