Prep Plan & Total number of tests...

you will be in if you add number of hours for review of each test

I think it is important to remind yourself that GMAT is about quality and NOT quantity and it would not make sense to take tests without reviews... (I am sure you know this )

By the way... I have NOVA CD-ROM too... did you try the tests? are they good? I have about as many tests overall as you do, but I didn't include NOVA because nobody ever mentions it. I only look at their book sometimes.

Also, 9 paper tests overlap with OG and PowerPrep, and make sure to read those from the computer...

I say start with PR's, use Kaplan and PowerPrep in the middle and finish with MGMAT and GMATPrep!

if you do all of them you will , but you'll be my hero

happy studying

For anyone having trouble finding PowerPrep, I have uploaded a copy at https://www.megaupload.com/?d=IBFWSNRU

Please let me know if you have trouble downloading it.

My list (in order) is:

PowerPrep 1 & 2
OG11 diagnostics test
GMATPrep 1 & 2 (twice - uninstall/reinstall)
ETS Papertest

I *may* take Kaplan CD tests, although I have heard negative reviews for it. From what I hear, the Quantitative section on Kaplan is tough - and I like to have see some tough questions for preparation.

Also, most people know this, but please post your score results on https://www.gmatclub.com/content/resourc ... /index.php to make the results better for others - the link will estimate your actual gmat score based on our scores from mock tests like Kaplan, Princeton, etc.

haas, my plan looks pretty similar! I too have about 22 distinct tests to take and I only have 51 days to take it! I'm planning to do GMAT around August end..maybe push it a little to September. I also have lot of practice questions to do... oh boy - now I'm suddenly worried :)

Where are you planning to apply?

*&#^% ... I completely missed out the review time...

Ok.. I think I need to re-evaluate how many tests I want to do and in what order.

Completely agree that its about quality and not quantity.. . But given the material I have and the time frame, I think I should put more focus on the GMATPrep/PowerPrep/ETS Paper tests. That should be about (4+2+9) 17 tests.. definately a more manageable number.

The MGMAT/Princeton/Nova/Kaplan tests can be optional on a feel-to-do-more basis.

Thanks for the input U2lover... and yes I do believe I will end up : if I do all the tests.

necromonger,
All this discussion is making me worried too and more importantly re-evaluate what tests to focus on. As U2lover said, its about quality not quantity... which should be my motto now!

I am worried and I am taking my test Oct 2nd. Inspite of that I feel I have less time.

In your case it might be a good idea to push it off to Sept... but thats my thought.

My initial plan was to apply R1 for Fall07 which means a deadline of Nov 15th or so.

:shock: I am NOT worried.
I am NOT worried..
I am NOT worried...

(that's my new mentra, nothing to do with reality! )

Two earthly questions:

1) What's up with this 'second-install' trick in GMATPrep? Is it possible to install the two versions next to each other, in different files GMATPrep1 / GMATPrep2 for instance?

2) how is the Cambridge GMAT CAT cd-rom? (any good? too old?) See info at: https://www.cambridgeed.com/ooshop/contr ... et&pid=155

Thanks, as always!

Daniel

Well, its sometimes good to be worried... early on atleast. Makes you chart out the right course instead of jumping into things.

To answer you Qs:

1. GMATPrep can be re-used by uninstalling, deleting the GMATPrep installation directory from you hard-disk and re-installing. Should be able to take 2 + 2 tests without *too much* overlap. You might not even remember the questions if taken far apart. Search for GMATPrep reinstall in forums and you will find a posting by Rhyme on this.

2. Cambridge : No idea... PM Rhyme, he used software by Cambridge while prepping.

Relax everyone... you all have plenty of time... almost 2 months or more... just plan it wisely and you will be just FINE

what is the worst that could happen? move the date, apply for 2nd round... and save some nerves... (I am not encouraging, just saying...)



PS... hey haas, to make things even more 29*3=87hrs of plain boring tests... + 1hr review*20 is about 116 hrs, which is about 4.8 days of straight studying... and not even sure 1 hr review is enough... Isn't it crazy to look at the overall picture... I would be in if I calculate every single hour I spent on GMAT so far in additon to the future hours...

I thought it was good, though the math questions appeared a little bit easier on cambridge than on gmatprep. That being said, my scores on cambridge rarely different by more than 1 or 2 points than those from GMATPrep. I thought the software was fine - I did like the fact that is adapative and you can retake the exams around 7 times before you recieve a warning about duplicate questions. This is also nice- it was smart enough to track my previous exam questions and not show me duplicates in subsequent exams (gmatprep does not do this). Eventually it does tell you have exhausted the question sets at a certain difficilulty level, but for me that took 7 or 8 exams. So you see a few repeat questions - no big deal - after the OG guide and 8 exams, you probaly wont remember it anyway.

29 tests isn't 70 hours! 1 hour essay, 10 minute break, 75 m math, 10 minute break, 75 m verbal. 3 hours 40 minutes per exam.... If you factor in an extra 20 minutes to get yourself ready before each exam - paper, pens, booting up the PC, clearing the desk, mentally preparing yourself before you start, bathroom, turning off your house phone, etc - you are looking at something closer to 115 hours.

Plus review time for each exam, which, depending how you do can be anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours (particularly on gmatprep where explanations are not given). You may well have 150+ hours on that plan.

My gut instinct here is that you are trying too bite off too much. 29 exams is a monsterous amount - how are you scoring now and what are you trying to score? Why are you choosing to do so many? Is timing an issue or are you just pushing yourself for the sake of doing everything you can get your hands on?

For comparisons sake think I did about 15 practice exams total.

As for the 150hrs, I didn't intend to write the essay for any except the last 4. But yes, in general it is still quite a lot of hours spent testing & reviewing.

As for my current scoring, I haven't started taking tests regularly as yet, but plan to start this weekend with a PowerPrep test. That should give me some indication about where things stand.

As for doing 29, it was more about getting into a frame of mind where tests become routine (which probably will never be true.. ) but with so many tests I am sure quality will suffer after a certain number of tests.


I think 17 which I mentioned before is a good number. The others are just for practice and range in case I have time left. What do you think?

I'd do at least 4 with essays, probably 6. I also wouldn't make them the last four - you don't want to suddenly get discouraged if adding the essay in drops your score a bit. I'd suggest doing six with essays and pace them out a bit - maybe 1 with an essay early on, 1 with an essay midway, and then do your last four with essays.

There really is no set number, some people manage great scores with no practice exams at all. I wouldn't count on that, but honestly, until you start trying practice exams, determine your natural ability range, and then determine your target score, we could pick numbers all night and get nowhere. Depends on how much you are looking to increase your score and how much trouble you have with timing, how much difficulty you have staying focused for 4 hours at a time, etc.

Tests will become routine, you will be suprised, but they do. I'd suggest doing 1 test a week, and at least at first, don't focus too much on your score. For almost everyone I know, you go down in tests #2 or #3 before you go back up. This is usually because you are trying to apply things you learned and work slower at first.

If I was doing your plan, I'd probably do something like this:

Weeks 1-6: One exam per week, 2 with essays
Weeks 7: one exam, with essay
Week 8: no exams
Week 9: two exams, one with essay
Week 10: two exams no essays (GMATPrep + someone else)
Week 11: one exam, with essay (GMATPrep)
Week 12: one exam, with essay (GMATPrep)
Week 13: one exam, with essay (GMATprep)

Save the GMATPreps for last.

Also, I noticed you didn't mention any study plans.... are you jsut taking exams again and again, cause thats unlikely to make that much of a difference alone.

No... I am not just taking tests. I am working with MGMAT + OG for basics review and planning to work on the SC/CR/RC 1000 set. I spend about 3 hrs everyday reviewing my basics (I work fulltime...). I was thinking of going in for the challenge problem set from either this website or MGMAT. Haven't decided that as yet... But I do plan to focus on MGMAT + OG for prep as my core and then use the others for tests or practice.

But you made a good point about the score drop, once the essays are factored in. I need to keep that in mind.

Thanks for the outline for the week by week plan. Thats a great start for me.