GMAT Strategy

[terence_mathew]

I have attempted GMAT 3 times,my scores are 430,530 and 430.I have followed OG,Kaplan,Manhattan and i have used TIME material as well.Can anybody please suggest how should i approach gmat. What should be my strategy.How should i keep track of errors i have made.Noting every error you make seems to me an exhaustive approach and you may lose track when you have so many data.Can anybody please help

[DavidG@VeritasPrep]

I have attempted GMAT 3 times,my scores are 430,530 and 430.I have followed OG,Kaplan,Manhattan and i have used TIME material as well.Can anybody please suggest how should i approach gmat. What should be my strategy.How should i keep track of errors i have made.Noting every error you make seems to me an exhaustive approach and you may lose track when you have so many data.Can anybody please help

The old forest/trees conundrum. Make it your goal, every time you review a test or a set of problems, to try to distill your mistakes into a set of 3 or 4 takeaways. The list may look something like this: 1) remember to pick simple numbers instead of doing complex algebra. 2) review exponent rules. 3) refresh pythagorean triples. Review your takeaway sheet nightly. Do some drilling to address any issues you've identified. Review your old practice tests again, making mental notes to yourself about how you'd address each problem. If there are any problems you aren't sure how to address, post the questions here. Then, and only then, take another practice test. Wash/rinse/repeat.

[terence_mathew]

I shall try what u suggested i have downloaded the free test by gmac.I havent prepared after my last test which was on March 2015 as i was a bit dejected.How should i start again.Confused!!

[[email protected]]

Hi terence_mathew,

Before I can offer the specific advice that you're looking for, I'd like to know more about your studies, your Official GMATs and your goals:

1) What were your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores on each of your Official GMATs?
2) How long did you study before you took each Test?
3) On what dates did you take each Test?

4) What specific materials have you studied with (books, courses, tutors, etc.)?
5) What is your goal score?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Test, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

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

[MartyMurray]

If you used the Manhattan Prep practice tests, and if you still have access to the data, you could use their analytics to get a sense of what you have to become more effective at in order to score higher.

You don't necessarily have to track and review every error, but you do need to somehow get a sense of the types of errors that you make and also of what areas you need to get stronger in in order to hit your target score.

You can do both by reviewing your practice tests to see what was going on.

Usually in looking at maybe dozen questions one can figure out what types of things one needs to change.

For instance, you might have a tendency to jump to conclusions or to miss key details. If that were the case, you could figure out that it is by looking over some data sufficiency questions and some critical reasoning questions, and noticing that the way you ended up picking wrong answers had something to do with jumping to conclusions. You would not have to note every error. Rather you have to somehow use the data that you have to figure out what you can do to increase your score.

Regarding starting over, probably you should warm up for a week to ten days, maybe by reviewing some questions in each category. Then once you are back in the swing of things, you could take one of those GMAT Prep tests to generate some data that you could use to get a sense of what to work on in order to increase your score.

[terence_mathew]

Hi Rich.C@EMPOWERgmat

1) What were your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores on each of your Official GMATs?

Well i do not have the last 2 scores with me but i have the score for the last exam i took.

Integrated Reasoning 1 0
Quant 31 24
Verbal 19 19
Total 440 18

I have asked gmac to provide the score reports hopefully i should get it by Monday or Tuesday,


2) How long did you study before you took each Test?
3) On what dates did you take each Test?

Exam date Preparation time
30/9/2014 9 months
16/12/2014 3months
11/3/2015 3months

4) What specific materials have you studied with (books, courses, tutors, etc.)?
I have used OG2014,2015,Kaplan2014,2015,Manhattan,TIME coaching institute materials and Powerscore.I have attended a coaching class for CAT in TIME coaching institute.

5) What is your goal score?
I am aiming to score more than 720 so that i get into top institutes

6) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

I am planning to attend in the month of september this year

One thing which i have felt i should have done is act bit more smartly as this test focuses on reasoning ability be it quant or verbal i should have analyzed in that manner.Even though i have failed thrice i believe i can do it and get into institute i want to get into

[terence_mathew]

Hi @Marty Murray

Thank you for pointing out what i can do,i have got data from Manhattan. Problem is i havent practiced for close to a year so will this data from the past help??

[MartyMurray]

Hi @Marty Murray

Thank you for pointing out what i can do,i have got data from Manhattan. Problem is i havent practiced for close to a year so will this data from the past help??

Probably you have to review pretty much everything. At the same time, unless since you took those tests you have somehow learned some GMAT related stuff, the things that you were best at a year ago are likely still what you are best at, and the things that needed the most work a year ago still need the most work. The reasons why you didn't get right answers may not be as clear to you now as they would have been right after you took those tests. Still that data would be a good starting point.

[terence_mathew]

Hi @Marty Murray i shall start with the manhattan data which i got now n see what went wrong as i took 6 CAT tests

[[email protected]]

Hi terence_mathew,

Many Test Takers who use a 'book-heavy' study approach tend to get 'stuck' at a particular scoring level; that's likely a part of what's happened to you. In addition, since you've been studying a certain way for so long, you've likely developed some 'bad habits' that will take some time to 'fix' (and replace with new 'good habits').

Considering your score goal and application plans, you would likely benefit a great deal from investing in a GMAT Course of some type (either Guided Self-Study or instructor-led). I think that 2-3 months of consistent, guided study will be necessary. Thankfully, you have plenty of time before the Round 1 deadlines later on this year, so you can certainly improve on these past performances. You will probably have to start 'from scratch' though, with a focus on learning and practicing the proper Tactics.

1) How many hours do you think you can study each week?

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

[Brent@GMATPrepNow]

I shall try what u suggested i have downloaded the free test by gmac.I havent prepared after my last test which was on March 2015 as i was a bit dejected.How should i start again.Confused!!

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 at the top of this page: 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 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

[terence_mathew]

GMAT/MBA EXPERT
Rich.C@EMPOWERgmat.

At the moment i do not work so i can put in n number of hours

[terence_mathew]

Brent@GMATPrepNow

Free 60day study seems to be a good idea.

[terence_mathew]

Can you please help me in understanding these numbers

[[email protected]]

Hi terence_mathew,

The Scaled Scores on each of your Official GMATs show that you don't have a strong understand of the basic concepts and patterns that the GMAT Tests. In the Verbal section especially, you were likely often choosing the wrong answer to questions (because you weren't clear on what the questions were asking you for, so you narrowed down the choices and 'guessed'). You might also have a pacing issue in each of those sections, meaning that you had to guess on a bunch of questions at the end just to finish the section. To score 720+, you're going to have to make some BIG improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections.

When it comes to studying for the GMAT, there are a variety of different options. Since you've used a variety of resources already, you might want to try out a few of the ones that you have not used yet to see how you 'respond' to them. Most GMAT Companies offer some type of free materials (practice problems, Trial Accounts, videos, etc.) that you can use to 'test out' a product before you buy it. We have a variety of those resources at out website (www.empowergmat.com). I suggest that you take advantage of all of them then choose the one that best matches your personality, timeline and budget.

If you have any additional question, then just let me know.

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