Just Joined! Another advice thread..but greatly in need of i

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Hey guys I just made an account after a few days of lurking on the site. There is plenty of useful information for novices and experts alike. Here is my predicament, please feel free to give me advice, or constructive criticism

My foundation in math is utterly horrible. I graduated from a top 20 public university with a finance degree. I have an average IQ, did average on the SAT. I was a slacker in HS, didn't remember anything about basic math or algebra, much less geometry. I went to a cc, but then decided to get my act together. When I put my motivation to the test, I excelled at college. I made only 1 B throughout my college career(which was in an intro to stats class, mind you). I was referred to by my peers as a "genius", but this certainly is not the case. So, back to the GMAT.

After realizing I had to learn, not re-learn, concepts from basic math, I knew it was going to be an uphill battle. I just graduated in May 2010, and want to get the GMAT out of the way. I took a mgmat CAT and got a 530, which is horrible I know. The breakdown was Q33 V31. I know this isn't an accurate gauge because I had to guess on virtually all of the quant questions, because I had no idea what was going on. Also, I didn't take it too seriously.

I recently got the mgmat books, PR GMAT book, along with OG 12th edition and OG Quant. Since I knew nothing about basic math strategy, I have started with the number properties book, just learning the basics and memorizing formulas. I started on 11/08. I am able to study at work, due to an insane amount of downtime(4-6 hours of downtime, so I make the most of it). After being 1 week into studying, I have went through Number Properties front and back 3 times...Cumulative 30 hrs/1st week.

Am I overstudying? I really want to get a 700+ score, and I know this is not attainable unless I study profusely, which is how I excelled in college. I plan on studying for about 2-3 months, 30 hours a week, going through each of the mgmat books and working on countless problems. I am motivated beyond words to excel at this test, and my study habits are similar to a "gmat cave" approach.

Any advice?

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by rishi raj » Sun Nov 14, 2010 10:23 am
Well, what counts is the quality of your studies. Make sure that you understand the concepts well enough that you're able to tackle any type of question from the category. Explore the topics well and don't superficially go through the topics.
Though you're weak in Maths ,as you have said, but don't neglect Verbal also. Form a strategy for yourself for the next two months and you may even want to put it here so that we may help you out with anything where you may be going wrong.

So focus ,focus and focus more on the fundamentals ! That's the way to go!
Last edited by rishi raj on Sun Nov 14, 2010 11:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
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by eyelikecheese » Sun Nov 14, 2010 10:51 am
Thanks for the response. As for the verbal, reading is a passion of mine, so I make sure to read everyday for at least an hour or 2. I also read the WSJ every morning. But I will definitely pay attention to your advice.