Hades wrote:
bb no that's not what I'm arguing, I'm advocating in my opinion the most efficient approach to GMAT preparation, which is through repetition. If you are stuck on a question, or weak on an area, THEN go to the books/tutors/forums/etc and try to figure it out. But the overall theme should be drilling questions instead of purely working off tutors/books/forums/etc.
There are a number of assumptions here again that I would like to point out and make sure I understand you:
1. GMAT strategies found in guidebooks are not relevant
2. Repetition and doing the same question over and over increases IQ
3. Most test-takers know basics and getting stuck on a GMAT question is a rare situation
The only situation where I can see this approach advisable is if the test-taker cannot focus or keep attention for longer than just a few minutes. Otherwise, what happens is that I take an arithmetic question, then probability question, then algebra, word problems, etc, etc. A person ends up learning bits from each area, but then next day has to come back here again because he/she missed another arithmetic or algebra question. The test-taker does reactive studying, which in turn assumes that he/she will encounter every possible question during practice, which both of us know is not true - there is always a curve ball on the GMAT. There is also an aspect of insecurity because one never knows if he/she knows everything by using this method. Instead, if a person covered the full guidebook, he/she would feel comfortable that they covered the entire section/area. Finally, the approach of repetition will take significantly longer than just going through workbooks/guidebooks. Take my example - I went through Kaplan Premiere, Kaplan Math and Kaplan Verbal workbooks. That's it - no other piles or mounds of questions. I would have probably done better if I had
OG (since Kaplan does not cover probability) but not by more than 10 points.
The diagnostic test is a diagnostic test - it is designed to show you where you are lacking but it is not designed to teach you. I think many people think that only by doing thousands of questions they can Ace the GMAT or that by having some tricks they can figure all questions out without actually taking time to learn and refresh their Math and Verbal. They do need GMAT Books that teach them.
Again, this approach may work in a situation where test-taker cannot keep attention, but in general, it is much faster to thoroughly and methodically cover several math and verbal workbooks and then focus on test-taking skills.
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