NoObstacles wrote:
Hello fellow GMAT clubbers!
So i've currently been studying for the GMAT for about 2months. I've completed the Knewton live course, which I finished in the first week of February, but now i'm kind of not sure of where to go next in regards to my prep. My Knewton diagnostic Cat score was a dismal 410, which was not encouraging whatsoever given the fact that about 6 months prior I was scoring around 600 on the MBA GMAT tests.
A quick break down of Knewton Diagnostic: Jan 5, 201: 410 (Q22/V25).
A few weeks later (February 13, 2011) I wrote another Knetwon CAT and scored a 470 (Q32/V24). This was after completing a majority of the homework and going to all the live classes as well. I haven't been using any other supplements to study, as I found that the amount of homework given and the duration of the classes took up soo much time that I didn't have enough time to do anything else.
Anyways I finished the course on March 1, but I know I wasn't nearly ready for the actual GMAT yet, and from that point on I wasn't sure where to go from there. I felt that I needed more guidance and a structured format to go through the material again. The Knewton course kind of felt a little overwhelming for me, and I feel I didn't absorb as much as I hoped given the rushed feeling I got. This is not to say that Knewton was bad, the teachers were absolutely amazing actually in regards to explaining concepts and pointing out different perspectives with which one can look at a question. I wrote about that experience here:
knewton-live-online-gmat-course-85519-160.htmlAfter finishing the course I made the decision to buy the
Manhattan GMAT Strategy Guides, all of 8 of them. I still haven't got into them just yet. I figured I would write another Knewton CAT and decide from there where to go.
So on the last Knewton Cat that I wrote yesterday (March 15) I scored a 530 (Q35/V29). I started using timing strategies more on the Quant section, and forced myself to move on after 2min if I knew I wasn't going to be able to finish the question or be able to recall the concept that was being tested. I'm currently still reviewing that last CAT and I noticed that I made quite a few silly mistakes in the Quant section in regards to Arithmetic, or just not reading the question all the way through. In other words the time strain got to me I guess. In regards to the Verbal section, I know I can improve in this section, but I didn't focus on it that much this time around.
So now that I kind of have my bearings what should I do? Go through ALL the
Manhattan GMAT books, which I know will take a while, and I plan on writing the GMAT at the end of April sometime. OR should I pick and choose which ones to do ? In addition should I still be going over the Knewton material as well?
Some feed back would be much appreciated guys! I know I can keep improving, that's evident given that my scores have been increasing. I REALLY REALLY WANT TO BEAT THIS THING BADLY, and I think formulating a strategy to do so is the best approach.
Look forward to your responses!
P.S reading some of the other stories have been a great encouragement tool as well!
NoObstacles.
So just wanted to post a brief update to my experience. Thus far I have been studying for about 2.5 months, and i'm getting worried that I'm going to burn myself out.
As mentioned above I started going through the
MGMAT book series, I'm almost done the first one which is Number properties. Overall I understand the concepts presented. It's taken me almost two weeks to get to the last chapter, and that's with completing all the problem sets and the
OG 12 questions listed in it as well. Right now i'm having trouble seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, just the sheer amount of information to absorb is insane!
Anyways i'm at that point where it's getting that much hard to crack open the books. I was planning on studying for about 4 hours today, but I could only finish one chapter, which was the Odds/Evens Advanced Section. I'm worried that i'm going to burn my self out again. I say again because my first attempt at the GMAT last year, I studied for about 6 months, and did end up burning myself out unfortunately.
Well right now i'm looking for that extra motivation to keep on trucking!
Just having one of those off days I guess.
The experience continues......
NoObstacles