What should I do next?

[thechamp]

Hello All Experts,

Background:
I am preparing for GMAT and my goal is 700+. My original plan was to take it around August 08 so that I could apply for Fall 2010. But because of some family issues, I am not as well-prepared as I should have been for me to take GMAT in August. Consequently, I think, I should shoot for 2011 because I don't think I will be able to make it to the first round of applications this year.

Current status and need help on:
I am finished with Princeton's Crack The GMAT and OG-11th edition, which I studied on and off, over the last 3months. While I studied both the books quite thoroghly, I did not time myself while solving questions and was quite irregular in my studies. I took a GMAT Prep Test I last week just to see where I stood and scored 640, but I ran short of time and had to literally click through the last 8 questions on Quant. and 5 questions on verbal.

I took another full length test called 'Crack-GMAT Diagnostic test' (available online for free download) and I scored 540. But the test said that the actual GMAT score will be 100 points more than Crack-GMAT.

The issue is that I don't know what to do next! I feel like I am about 70% ready and just need to solve a zillion 'full length' tests to get up to 100%. But because I am already done with OG & Princeton, I feel like I am out of resources. I also don't know where I can find Powerprep, Kaplan, etc. Would you suggest me buying these or they are available for free as well?

I also found GMAT-2009 by McGraw Hill publication and a couple other resources unheard of in our public library here. Would you suggest me to solve those? In short, should I go on solving anything that says 'GMAT' on it?

Can you please advise? Your help will be much appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.
The Champ

[mbadrew]

You should download the quant and verbal test from www.mba.com. Each test is $25. You can get the paper version or the CAT version. I think they'll be worth much more then going through a question book.

good luck
D

[lunarpower]

warning sign number one:

But because I am already done with OG & Princeton, I feel like I am out of resources.

warning sign number two:

I feel like I am about 70% ready and just need to solve a zillion 'full length' tests

this complaint, "i've exhausted the o.g.", runs through these forums like a threnody. in addition, the attitude betrayed by the second quote - quantity before quality - does not bode well for the productivity of your studying.

now, i have no idea just how thoroughly you've studied the o.g. - after all, i don't know you or your study habits - but the fact that you claim to have finished the whole thing, along with another book, in only three months of "on and off" studying is a HUGE warning sign.

here's the deal:
if your idea of "having finished the o.g." consists of having worked through all the problems, and maybe having glanced back at the ones you found hard, then, my friend, you have not finished the o.g. at all. in fact, you have barely started to study it.

here is what you NEED to have done with the o.g. before you can truly claim to have finished it:
* you have gone through every problem. you can solve every problem correctly in at least one way, and perhaps two for any problem that can legitimately be called challenging (or that you missed the first time around).
* for verbal questions, you can explain why every wrong answer on every decently challenging problem is wrong.
* on sentence correction, you can find every error in every decently challenging problem, and you can confidently decide every issue that arises upon comparing the different answer choices (i.e., every "split" in content between the different answer choices).
* on quant problems, you have identified the CLASS OF PROBLEMS to which each problem belongs. this is NOT as easy task; the most important type of classification is that involving classes of problems that don't actually mention their TRUE content. for instance, if you see a problem like this one, you should IMMEDIATELY be able to identify it as a problem about prime factorizations - despite the fact that primes are not mentioned anywhere in the problem statement.
* most importantly, you should be able to derive at least one general "takeaway" lesson from EVERY problem, easy or difficult. remember this: the problems themselves are absolutely worthless; the only value lies in the connections between those problems and the other problems that you're going to see in the future. therefore, on each and every problem you solve in the o.g., you should not leave the problem until you have successfully extracted at least one "takeaway" that you can apply to other, similar problems.

if you do all of these steps, you should find that it takes you much more than a couple of months of "on and off" studying to take FULL advantage of the o.g., not to mention the purple verbal supplement and the green quant supplement (which, taken together, are almost as big as the yellow o.g., doubling the potential treasure trove of problems).

--

you have also mentioned that you solved the o.g. problems untimed. this is better than leaving the book closed and using it as a placemat, but not by much.
you ABSOLUTELY MUST TIME YOURSELF whenever you solve ANY practice gmat problems.
remember: this is not a test of getting problems right; this is a test of getting problems right within the allotted time. there is a vast difference between those two ideas. just as a football team must run every single play differently during a 2-minute drill, you must solve every problem with a sense of urgency that simply isn't there if the problems are untimed.
go back, start from scratch, with a timer this time. anything less would be uncivilized.

[thechamp]

Hi Ron,

Thanks for the reply and the advise.

In retrospect, I feel that my post sounds much more flippant than my studies actually were. However, I did get the much needed kick in my backside.. I will definitely follow your advise and start preparing again.

I was also wondering if you would have any comments/pointers based on my scores in a couple of tests that I took. I am trying to decide when I should schedule my GMAT (Target score:700+). Would you suggest me taking one test a week or something while I am working on the OG so that I know how I fare in a 'full length' test?

Thanks again.
The Champ