am i ok with my study schedule or pick up some speed?

Question

Hi,

Do you guys think I’m going too slow for my study schedule? I plan to retake my GMAT on May 7.

I started studying on Feb 1st, went through all 5 Manhattan quant books including the advanced section and finished them around the 16th. Following a schedule of taking Sunday and Thursday off per week, I have been doing official problems from the OG quant review book and I will be finishing the book today.

I complete around 20-30 questions per quant section, so a total of 40-60 depending on how long I review. Sometimes I feel like I spend too much time reviewing. For example, I would do a set of 15 DS questions, and then spend around an hour reviewing those questions. Then I do another set of 10-15 (depending on my time) and review the second set for another hour. On March 1st, I will be prepping for verbal, so I feel like I’m running behind on my schedule. According to the 3 month self-study schedule, I should be done with quants by tomorrow. Considering the fact that I didn’t touch the OG12 yet (and the gmat club tests), should I resume quant in April? I was thinking April is the last prep month consisting of pure error log reviews and practice tests.

Btw, I have been spending 3 hours a day and 5 hours on the weekend.

GMATLA · Answer

Sounds like you are right on track! make sure to take practice tests along the way so you can see how you are improving. It's a slow process, but it sounds like you are taking the correct approach. 3 hours a day and 5 on the weekends will definitely be sufficient. Just make sure to have a healthy work/life balance or you may burn youself out.

Good luck! And let us know how it goes.

Good luck! And let us know how it goes.

chamisool · Answer

Whoops, I meant to say, “…should I resume quant in April?” Not May, since April is the third month which should consists of nothing but reviewing the error logs and strengthening my weakness.

Thanks for the prompt response GMATLA. You think I’m on the right track, even thought I did not start on the OG12 book?

GMATLA · Answer

I would continue doing what you are doing and try to stay on your schedule. When april comes, see what you are weak at. That is an entire month, so you can do with it what you want. You can definitely pick up quant if you feel you need more review. In fact, I would definitely spend the last month strengthening all areas to make sure you know the areas you know perfectly and continue to improve on your weak areas.

Also, I think you are fine even though you didn't start with the OG12. In fact, i would never recommend that anyone starts with that book becuase it doesn't teach material necessarily. It is only a book of questions and answers, so why only do questions before you even know the topics. It's just a waste of the questions. When you are doing the questions, make sure you are learning the topics behind them.

Don't worry about spending time reviewing questions, b/c this is one of the best ways to learn! See why you got questions right and wrong, and learn from what you did right and wrong. Definitely spend time doing this, even if it seems like it takes you a long time. This is normal.

During your month of verbal, it might make sense to do a few practice math questions here and there just to make sure that you don't lose the feeling for them.

Yekrut · Answer

It looks like you are doing great. You went through the MGMAT material pretty quickly! I would agree with GMATLA that you should take another diagnostic test to determine your progress. Best of luck!

chamisool · Answer

Thanks for the response! My mind was convoluted with doubts whether or not I was going too slow, but with a clear mind, I actually got majority of the DS questions right. Anyway, I will continue to practice a small set of quant during my verbal review.

Thanks Yekrut, I appreciate the feedback. Yeah, I think I went through the materials pretty quickly, but this is my third time going over them so while revising my notes so maybe that's why~ Surprisingly though, I picked up new information that I had either forgotten or never really understood.

Yekrut · Answer

You're very welcome. Thats some good insight. I am taking my own notes but do plan on going over the official guide books again to make sure I didn't miss anything. I would also recommend comparing your notes to some of the notes posted by other forum members. Take a look at these: my-comprehensive-quant-flashcards-109836.html

They are based on the MGMAT books. I found them quite useful. It was great to compare my own notes to the ones by miguelmick. It helped reveal the areas I kind of glossed over.

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am i ok with my study schedule or pick up some speed?

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