Hi,
You are very welcome. It is very hard to judge where you are based on
Kaplan material. It is especially hard to judge verbal performance because I find that non-official verbal questions are neither a good indicator of performance nor good practice. The good news is that you have a ton of official material to practice on. So if you haven't purchased these already you should procure:
The Official Guide 13th edition
The Official Guide for verbal review 2nd edition
9 GMAT Paper Tests
Questions Pack One (which is an add on to the GMATPrep software)
All of these are available as "digital" versions and I suggest that you get digital copies so that you always work from a computer screen as you will during the real test.
A broad plan for working the materials:
1. Create a study schedule with a certain amount of questions that you will approach per day. Actually create a calendar (for my students I like to use google docs so the schedule is accessible from anywhere and can be shared). I would aim for about 25 verbal questions (starting with the easier ones at the beginning of the guides) per day + analyzing them after you solve the whole batch. While you solve do not dwell on any single question for too long. Approach the solving as you would on real test. After you are done with the set then analyze. Spend time figuring out why something was difficult and seek explanations not only from the book but from forums like this one. You can usually type in the first 5 or so words from any official question into google and you will find explanations here are at the
MGMAT forum.
2. Create an
error log. As you analyze your answers keep track of the ones that you got wrong and the ones that you found difficult. An easy way to do this is to take a screen shot of the question and keep all of those screen shots in a folder which you review every week. As you master the question/concept tested you can take the question out of the folder. The
error log should be dynamic and should be revealing in terms of the types of questions that you are getting wrong. As you notice patterns seek out content/learning and extra practice in the weak area. As you learn new rules: WRITE THEM DOWN (create a document with the new things that you have learned and review this Doc on a regular basis)
3. Once you start getting your feet on solid ground you can start taking the 9 GMAT paper tests (only the verbal sections). You can do two of these per week as time permits (maybe just do these on the weekends) These are decent predictors of verbal score and excellent practice. You should take all of the succession and give yourself and extra 5 minutes on the clock (to give yourself a timing that is a bit closer to the real thing)
In the last month before your test you can start taking GMATPrep CATs. I would try to squeeze in 4-5 of them. After exhausting the tests I would use the GMATPrep Docs (these contain every question from the question banks of GMATprep and you can find them here are on GMATClub) and solve every verbal question that you did not see on your tests.
You can use the same plan for Quant except that I would purchase
MGMAT and
GMAT Club tests and would mix (only the Quant sections) them in throughout the entire study period. Do not worry about the scores, just learn from the explanations.
I would advise against more
Kaplan classes. If you feel overwhelmed by the studying and need someone to help keep you organized and motivated then I would consider a tutor.
Let me know if you have any questions.
HG.
PS: I forgot to mention the timeline for this: 2 months if you have no job and your only job is GMAT. 3 months if you have a job but are still dedicated to an organized plan.
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10 Feb 2013, 08:30
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