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Disheartening 550 - please help devise a study plan

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Disheartening 550 - please help devise a study plan

by sheena_2510 » Wed Feb 17, 2010 5:40 am
Hi,

After studying for three months, I wrote GMAT on 31th Dec 09 and got a score of 550(Q39, V 27, AWA 5) . I took the Kaplan course but was not very helpful. In December I studied for about 10 hrs everyday but didn't pay off. I want to rewrite the test again in 2 months and hoping to get a 700. Can you guys help me devise a study plan? What do I need to work upon?

I practiced OG 11, OG 12, Verbal Review and Quantitive review. My accuracy here was about 80% untimed. My weakness is that I always take more time to solve each question - both verbal and Quant. I take more time in RC, CR and SC. I am not good in Number Properties and Probability. I am also unable to solve advanced Word Problems. I usually take more time with Word Problems. How should I study for 2 months, so that I can score 700?How do I improve my reading speed? I have started reading "The Economist" daily. Please help! I really want to make it.

Thanks,
Sheena
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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Wed Feb 17, 2010 6:25 am
Your problem was probably Kaplan. I have gone through their materials and they do a poor job on number properties. Instead of teaching anything they rely on testing numbers and plugging in. This is what you should do. Get all of the Manhattan GMAT math guides. Get the Power Score Critical Reasoning bible and sentence correction guide (or the manhattan guide). Go through all of this material, and then use your Kaplan online resources as an additional question bank. If you do all of this you will be fine.
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by money9111 » Wed Feb 17, 2010 7:08 am
sheena_2510 - "I practiced OG 11, OG 12, Verbal Review and Quantitive review. My accuracy here was about 80% untimed. " - you should never practice with the OG guides untimed! On the exam it won't matter if you can do the question if you can't answer them within the allotted time. I also don't think the OG guide should be used for learning as much as reinforcing and practice
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by sheena_2510 » Wed Feb 17, 2010 8:17 am
Thanks for your advice. I don't have access to a lot of practice material other than OGs. I do not have access to Kaplan's online material anymore. Do you suggest Manhattan's online resources? Do you have any other recommendations? Also, how do I improve on RC? Could you suggest some good practice material or resouces?
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by mjgoldste » Fri Feb 19, 2010 1:34 pm
Hey Sheena,

A few observations for you before I wish you well on your journey. My first recommendation is actually the Manhattan GMAT online bundle: they give you six full length practice exams (the first of which you can try for free to get a sense of whether you like it or not), but also 8 question banks each with 25 problems from each GMAT question type. Moreover, each question comes with a very clearly written explanation as to which answers are right and which are wrong. When I took the GMAT (which I literally got out of an hour ago), I only studied with the OG, Manhattan's online materials, and about two months ago, I took a practice test using the GMAC software. As far as materials, this is all I used, and I think all anyone would need, too.

So, as far as devising a plan. First of all, if you're studying 10 hours a day, you might be just exhausting yourself in the process and instead of learning to "test smarter", you're just building stamina. What I'd recommend is literally monitoring what you do in those long-time study sessions. Do you look at problems you've gotten incorrect? Do you look at explanations to problems that are rough for you? What I noticed for my own habits is that it was far more worthwhile for me to spend an hour looking at explanations than to spend 3 hours doing practice tests. The practice tests were great for helping me develop my mental stamina (which it sounds like you've got plenty of), but they didn't help me improve on my understanding of particular problems at all. This is crucial if you want to break past the 600-range.

As far as reading, I've found that reading speed is only half the battle. Do you take notes while you're reading that are informative/useful? Do they help remind you where certain points come up in a particular passage?

Finally, how did you feel sitting down for the test itself? How were your nerves/feelings/emotions? Were you rested? Hungry at all? Distracted by other test-takers? Success on any standardized test is so much about being "in the zone" on test day. How were you feeling then? How do you feel now? Very much agreed with Money about doing everything timed. Untimed tests don't tell you much about your performance under the strict conditions found on the test itself.

I agree with Osirus that Kaplan's materials are a bit sub-par and that, in order to really get effective texts to study from, you've got to spread yourself out a bit. PowerScore's undeniably the best for Crit. Reasoning. But I've found Manhattan GMAT to be the best for all around usefulness.

Now, all this being said, you've got a clean slate. Got a 550 on your last effort? Doesn't matter: you've got a month to build yourself into a test-taking machine. Set yourself a schedule, stick to it, and monitor everything you do with regarding to the exam. If it's important to you, you'll do it. Take a day off once a week to let your head rest but otherwise, study for an hour or so a day, take a practice test a week, and kick ass the next time around.

Good luck!

Mike
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by beatthegmat » Fri Feb 19, 2010 1:53 pm
Moving this excellent thread to the "GMAT Strategy" section.
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by sheena_2510 » Sat Feb 20, 2010 8:04 am
Hey Mike,
Thanks a lot. To answer your questions...
Yes, I did look at problems I got wrong. I also reviewed the explanations. However, I never made note of them or reviewed them again. I guess I never really worked on my weakness. I will make sure I will do that now.

In RC, I do take notes that are informative but they are just about one phrase per paragraph. I tend to loose focus for long passages and end up reading them twice. I need to build up my stamina for RC.

Yeah, during the test I was constantly distracted by other test takers. The noise of the keyboard was annoying. I had always practiced mock tests in a silent room. During or before the test I was calm and composed. When I started the Verbal section, I was not able to focus or concentrate completely. I am sure this would have affected the score.

Yeah, the biggest lesson learnt is like you mentioned - " monitor everything you do with regarding to the exam"
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by mjgoldste » Sun Mar 07, 2010 5:34 am
Hey Sheena,

Go for the kill :o) Good luck with your GMAT journey and keep us posted of your progress!

-Mike
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