740+ Study diary

Hi

as everything has again been postponed I finally booked my test date - 28 November 2012. So I have approx. 1,5 months to finish everything with GMAT. The good thing is I will be able to study 24/7 as I've taken these days off at work. Now - I'm ready with Sentence Correction and Number Properties, but still have to finish all remaining MGMAT 4th Edition Guides, as well as the new Integrated Reasoning Guide, which makes a total of 7 Guides. I aim to finish the guides till the 15th of November and then have approx. 2 weeks for error log, and CAT tests.

Do you think this is a reasonable and realisitc idea and how would you arrange the 7 guides?

Thanks for your help!

Hello Everyone,
I am new to the club and seeking help with my study plan. I would like to take the exam by the 28th of December. My math is poor but I do much better in the comprehension and sentence correction, Critical reasoning is also a struggle for me. How realistic is my goal, and what materials can you recommend to help my critical reasoning and Quant study overall?
Thank you so much for your time.

@mailgrace: It's difficult to say how you should approach the GMAT, but I would definitely recommend starting with one of the GMAT Tests and then relying on Manhattan GMAT. At least I have avery positive experience with them. In addition, have an error log (best with GMAT Toolkit App) and develope a plan. If you have any additional questions, feel free to share them with me via private message. Please, open another thread and place your question there as this i sjust a private diary of mine where you all can follow my preparation I guess it would be just better for you as well, as your questions will be more visible! Thanks for the understanding.

So guys,

do you think that the test date - 28 November 2012 is feasible? I still have much to do, but could dedicate a lot of time. I just am going to have (finally) my consulting interviews afterwards and hope to boost maths and integrated reasoning with my GMAT preparation. Additionally, I will need the GMAT next wear, when I plan to apply for business schools.
So I have approx. 1,5 months to finish everything with GMAT. The good thing is I will be able to study 24/7 as I've taken these days off at work. Now - I'm ready with Sentence Correction and Number Properties, but still have to finish all remaining MGMAT 4th Edition Guides, as well as the new Integrated Reasoning Guide, which makes a total of 7 Guides. I aim to finish the guides till the 15th of November and then have approx. 2 weeks for my error log and CAT tests.

Do you think this is a reasonable and realisitc idea and how would you prioritize the 7 guides?

Thanks!

I understand that I am a latecomer to this conversation, nevertheless, thanks to the original poster. Great study plan.

Hi guys,

Though replies have been rare I again need your advice and will be grateful to hear some expert opinions.

Now the starting point is my GMAT Prep 1 result of 610 (v34, q41) back in February. Because of the fact that I want to sit for the GMAT on November 28 or December 5, I have to intensify my preparation. Already completed are MGMAT Sentence Correction, Number Properties and Geometry. I'm currently working on MGMAT Fractions and hope to finish it by Wednesday.

The question is:

1. Having in mind that I have to complete Powerscore CR, MGMAT Reading Comprehension, MGMAT Word translations, MGMAT VIC and MGMAT Integrated Reasoning, do you think this is doable until November 15? (Theory and OG problems) I currently work 24/7 for the GMAT.

2. I also have the MGMAT Advanced Math - Can this book really boost my Q score or should I rather concentrate on GmatClub Q tests?

3. Is it a good idea to leave approx. 2 weeks (between November 15 and November 28) to just redo all wrong/guessed/overtimed OG questions? Also CAT tests.

4. Is my current OG hit rate of 69% in Quant and 76% in Verbal respectable based on GMAT Toolkit info (first attempt of above mentioned books)

5. Where can one get some 700+ verbal questions?

Thanks for the opinion guys! Kudos guaranteed!

Dude, You are violating some copyright issues here. No illegal / torrent sharing here. Remove it off the board before someone can come behind you

Hmm Such a nice thread ! After seeing this I though of sharing my SC experiences here !

1. Too many materials only cause harm and does not do much good.
2. For SC

- Pick up Aristotle SC Grail 3rd edition and cover Part 1 (basic Grammar Review).
- If you got hands on Veritas Prep SC, 2012 edition, Go through it .It has some excellent strategies for Modifiers, Comparisons, Tenses and few other topics. Moreover, they have a pretty good strategy for dealing with SC and illogical meaning.
- Cover Last two advanced chapters (chapters 12 and 13) from Mgmat SC
- Do Part 2 & Part 3 from Aristotle SC Grail 3rd edition.
- Solve the problems that come with Veritas prep SC.
- Maintain an error log and attack OG 12/13 SC problems.
- Do at least quite a number for GMAT prep problems for SC from this forum.

I was too exhausted after completing Power score CR Guide and reluctant to spend couple of weeks with Mgmat SC / doing it multiple number of times.

The approach I followed above is neither comprehensive nor too precise but yes, you will utilize the time in a smart and efficient manner and also hone your SC strategies. Believe me, I was too weak dealing with SC and scared to cover mammoth of grammar topics, before I finalized this approach for SC which was effective, not too time consuming yet makes me cover all tested topics on SC.

But again that's my two cents on it ! Everyone has his/her customized strategies that works out the best for him/her.

Thanks, igloo!

Could you write a short opinion on the questions I stated above? Of couse, all other tips are welcome!

Thanks very much in advance!

Hi guys,

Please I need clarification on MGMAT. Does the MGMAT SC come with online questions for all quant and verbal? I intend to buy the 5 set quant "USED" and the SC "NEW" - will I be able to access the quant questions using the code that comes with the SC.

Thank you

1. Good You work for GMAT round the clock without other commitments. Out of curiosity, did you quit your job for GMAT or You are just fresh out of college and preparing for GMAT now so that you can focus on Work experience for few years and apply later taking advantage of GMAT Score's 5 year validity ?

Whatever is the answer, You have complete time for GMAT and that sounds great ! Do not overkill preparing for GMAT all day long ! That leads to pretty ineffective way of study. Perhaps study 2 hours early in morning , 2 hours in afternoon and 2 hours in the evening. That would assure you you have digested what ever you have read in complete ! (Perhaps thats why we eat at three different times in a day. Imagine what would happen if we have been continously throughout the day ) Also dont extent a study schedule beyond 2-3 hours, so study in chunks of 2 hours, take a break, socialize , go with your routine, again study for 2 hours, take a break , socialize or go eith your routine and come back for final 2 hours of study for the day.

With 5-6 hours of study time put in each day,

Prepare a schedule
- where you focus on powerscore CR theory for first 2-3 hours and perhaps complete a lesson or two along with end of the chapter problems.
- Work on related OG problems and make learnings from them. make sure you work untimed.
- Continue with rest of OG problems, and now make a note with all the learnings from these problems.

It is pretty much doable but dont fret over IR, rather dedicate a day or two for IR and not more. Distribute the other days between Powerscore, Mgmat word, Mgmat VIC and Mgmat RC.


2. First get all basics from MGmat Quant set and once you start taking Mocks, see where you stand. If you stand at atleast 44 - 46 on Quant, It is suggested to go for advanced stuff. Gmat club tests are perhaps better and provide you with alternate approaches from Bunuel and many other eminent C members. Mgmat advanced might be good, but at this stage I would invest time in doing advanced problems and learning from them rather than learnigng advanced strategies and practsing problems from this hefty book. But the most important concern is , make sure you dont leave any gaps in conceptual knowledge before you attempt this level , so finish off your quant books and assess your performance through Mock CATs.

3. 2 weeks buffer time sounds good to work on Mocks and on your OG error Log.

4. Is my current OG hit rate of 69% in Quant and 76% in Verbal respectable based on GMAT Toolkit info (first attempt of above mentioned books)

It should be true if the tool kit says so. i dont have a iphone(but own a outdated blackberry given by my company), so consult bb, walker or other concerned people on this.

5. Where can one get some 700+ verbal questions?

700 verbal questions ? you are kidding me ! if done with OG and if you are concetually strong in SC and CR then go with gmatprep verbal tags using the question directory feature in this forum. Do this after you are done with both Gmat Prep tests atleast once or twice.

More practice, use Gmatprep question pack 1.

Go with more and more official problems as far as verbal is concerned. I just got enlightened on the gmatprep question pack in one of my posts just a day back. Thanks to gurupreetsingh ( a 710 on GMAT ).

Thanks,

igloo!

For quant if you want complete video solutions of OG(free), quan 2nd editions etc go to this link

https://www.gmatquantum.com/

the videos are absolutely amazing and have very good explanations and have helped me a lot.

very good thread I'm sure I could gain a lot of info here for my preparation for GMAT.

It's rather the second! My primary career goal is to find a job in consulting this autumn/winter (already have a scheduled interview). There I'll have to complete some analytical tests (sometimes pretty similar to GMAT so I'm sitting for the GMAT with a longer perspective - 1. Get the job and 2. Being able to start an MBA in let's say 2014. Currently, I've taken a few days off from my current job.



Perfect! I'll try to finish all preparation books in the remaining 2 weeks. As I am doing the MGMAT books I also complete all of the OG12, QG2 and VG2 problems. So in the end, I would have a my error log (which I would re-do 1-2 times) and the GC Tests for boosting 700+ Quant and Verbal. Once I've finished all books I'll definitely do a CAT (until now I've just done the GmatPrep 1, and will most probably complete GmatPrep 2 at this stage. All 6 MGMAT will be for the days before the exam).

Now regarding IR and AWA - are two days really enough? I'm a bit worried about AWA and IR is the section, which has mostly in common with the consulting tests that I'm about to do in December. So I should be prepared, but still am not sure if 1 day is enough?



Thanks! I'll really give my best to be at Q44-Q46 level at the GMATPrep 2 exam, though at my first mock, which was back in March and was before I started all books I already had Q41. I should be able to do better now.



Superb, then I'll really give my best to finish until the 17th of November and have about 10 days until the 28th of November. If this turns out to be impossible, I'll book the 5th of December as my exam date.



My question rather had the idea to clarify if a 70-75% hit rate on the Quant questions, as well as 70% on SC from OG12, QG2 and VG2 is OK? So I wanted to know if you guys score similarly when you do all those questions for the first time?



Sounds very interesting! What do you mean by GmatPrep Question pack 1? Do you mean the questions from the books or are there any new GmatPrep questions? I heard that when you complete both free CAT tests from GmatPrep, you should have most probably seen all questions the software has?

Thanks very much igloo for your help! It's very much appreciated!

A short update from my side:

GMAT Date finally booked: December 11th 2012

In the meantime I completed all MGMAT Quant books and am currently 1/3 through with the Powerscore CR Bible. When I finish this, I will have to just have a look at MGMAT RC and MGMAT Integrated Reasoning.

So far my overall hit rate on Quant, based on OG12 questions, has been 75% (80% PS an 72% DS). I feel once I am ready with the above mentioned three books (hopefully by the end of this week), I will have to significantly improve on those two scores. Regarding Verbal in SC I am achieving somewhere around 75% as well, and will have to do some more drills in the last weeks.

I am currently thinking about my finish line strategy - I will try to once more re-do all wrong/guessed/overtimed OG12 questions. Then for Quant I will furthermore try to take the maximum out of all GMAT Club Tests. Regarding Verbal I am still on the lookout for some 700+ questions, but if I do not succeed in finding something, I will just rely on OG, GMATClub and GMATPrep and MGMAT CAT's.

At the end of this week when I have finally completed all sections, I will complete my second CAT and will hope to see a significant improvement - back in March I scored 610 (Q41, V34) without any preparation.

Would appreciate if you could share your opinion on this "plan". Kudos are guaranteed!

Thanks!

Hey buddy!

thanks for the reply! These two articles will be of immense help.

Regarding CAT's - I wonder if I should do one MGMAT CAT once I have finished with all sections or if I should make use of my second GMATPrep CAT? Which one provides better statistics, which would help me to gauge my level and find some weak areas?

Thanks!

You must take Gmat prep CATs, which gives you almost an exact picture of where you stand. If you have the luxury of time, you may take MGMAT CATs , which I would rank second after GMAT prep.

Hope my suggestion helps.

That's a good point! Thanks!

Still I've heard that the MGMAT Tests provide you with a better breakdown of mistakes into inividual questions types - so it seems to be a better analytic tool? Would this mean that it's better for a diagnostic test, whether the GMATPrep is the better one for score estimation?

Another questions I ran into is how to tackle OG CR questions while doing the Powerscore CR Bible? Should I do all OG/VG2 CR problems once I am ready with the entire book or should I start earlier?

Thanks guys! You are the best!

Hey guys,

a small update from my side! Time is tickin' away and I have just 10 days till December 11th 9 am!

Today I finished OG12 RC questions and are hereby officially ready with this section as well. I got a success rate of 86,3% on alle 139 RC questions from OG12 and as time is not enough I will try to complete only the medium and hard questions from the Verbal Guide 2 (in total 80).

My plan for the next days:

1. Today and tomorrow - Revision of my section notes (based on all MGMAT Guides and Powerscore CR) and completion of all mistaken OG/QG/VG problems. I also have to finish a couple of SC problems.

2. Sunday - Tuesday - Thursday - Saturday - Sunday - Completion of 5 CAT's with focus on GMATPrep CAT's (MGMAT secondary), always 9 am as my exam is scheduled for this time together with weak area analysis and analysis of all wrong questions

3. During the week, utilizing every free minute, I will work on GMATClub Quant and Verbal exams!

What do you think? Your input would be invaluable!