Feedback needed for 2 mo study schedule + other topics

Question

Hi everyone,

First post here -- will appreciate any advice and/or feedback on how I'm approaching my 2-month study schedule below.

Some background:

- I'm aiming to take the test in mid-April, which gives me approximately 9 weeks to study. I'm aiming to take then because in May I have several family events to attend and may be moving cities, so I'm concerned my concentration will be broken if I extend my studying to then.

- I'm looking to apply this upcoming 2017 cycle and enroll in 2018

- I'm aiming for a 710+ score

- Before doing any sort of prep, I took 1 of the GMAT prep tests and received a 570 (32quan; 36 verbal; 7 IR) 
--For quant, I did not remember basic principles, formulas. But quant, in general, is also my weakness 
--For verbal, I rushed through. I ended with 25 mins remaining, so I know time management and not making reckless errors is key here. Verbal, generally, is usually a strong suit.

- Since taking this test, I have fully reviewed Manhattans' Foundation of Math book

- In terms of resources I have: 
--full suite of Manhattan strategy guides, 
--the OG + Manhattan OG companion 
--the Math review and Verbal review, 
--Manhattan Advanced Quant book 
--I'm also planning on purchasing Magoosh's premium service ($149), because I know for me having video instructions/guide will be helpful for certain topics.

Here are my major questions:

Error Log:  
 -- I'm planning on using the Manhattan Navigator to track my progress through OG questions.  1) Will this be sufficient/provide feedback that some of the other error log templates will?

-- Should I be keeping an error log of all practice problems - not only OG- that I do (ie. practice sets from the Manhattan Strategy guides or the OG Verbal review)?  2) If so, is there an error log template that exists that anyone suggests I use for non-OG questions?

Study Schedule  
 --I have access to Manhattans 6 tests, 3 additional GMAT prep tests, and 2 Magoosh tests (not sure if I will be able to use the Magoosh tests in this timeframe) 
-- 3) Does the way I've broken out the practice tests below make sense?

-- 4) Is there any feedback for week-by-week approach I've taken (in terms of what to study, pace, etc.)? 
 
 Other:

--I need to improve my mental math skills to make basic math calculations quickly.  5) Are there any phone apps people suggest to help with this? I already have MentCalc and Ready4GMAT.  
--I recognize this may either be an obvious question - or one difficult to answer - but,  6) does anyone think I'll get very confused combining what I learn in Manhattan with the approach Magoosh takes through its online resources + flashcards, etc.?  
 7) Instead of Magoosh, does anyone recommend an alternative service?

Study Schedule:

Week 1: Monday, Feb 6th - Sunday, Feb 12

Manhattan Test 1 
MGMAT: Fractions, Decimals, Percents 
MGMAT: Critical Reasoning 
OG practice problems for above topics 
 
Week 2: Monday, Feb 13 - Sunday, Feb 19

Manhattan Test 2 
MGMAT: Number Properties 
MGMAT Critical Reasoning 
OG practice problems for above topics

Week 3: Monday, Feb 20 - Sunday, Feb 26

Manhattan Test 3 
MGMAT: Algebra 
MGMAT: Sentence Correction 
OG practice problems for above topics 
 
 Week 4: Monday Feb 27 - Sunday, March 5

GMAT Test 1 
MGMAT: Geometry 
MGMAT: Sentence Correction 
Associated OG and Magoosh problems 
OG practice problems for above topics 
 
Week 5: Monday, March 6 - Sunday, March 12

Manhattan Test 4 
MGMAT: Word Problems 
MGMAT: Reading Comprehension 
OG practice problems for above topics

Week 6: Monday, March 13 - Sunday, March 19

Manhattan Test 5 
MGMAT: Integrated Reasoning and Essay 
MGMAT: Advanced Quant 
OG practice problems for above topics

Week 7: Monday, March 20 - Sunday, March 26

Gmat Test 2 
MGMAT: Review topics that were challenging 
MGMAT: Advanced Quant 
 
Week 8: Monday, March 27 - Sunday, April 2nd

Manhattan Test 6 
MGMAT: Review topics that were challenging 
MGMAT: Advanced Quant

Week 9: Monday, April 3 - Sunday, April 9  
 
Gmat Test 3 
MGMAT: Review topics that were challenging

Monday, April 10 - Sunday, April 16

Take the test

Nevernevergiveup · Answer

Welcome to the Gmatclub.

You seem to have a good plan well in advance of your preparation which is appreciatable. 570 is good score to start with. 8-)

Coming to the courses, do not go for too many. Go with only one of them. Too many cooks spoil the dish. Manhattan books are good for learning basics and Manhattan Advanced Quant book is not preferred at this stage. I feel we dont need it to cross 50 in quant also. I find it too hard myself. Only my personal opinion. Coming to error log, Don't keep account of Non-official resource problems (i did it but could not gain any benefit.) Don't stop or pause your preparation at any time in middle. Make changes to it if needed. All the best. :-D

yoshidos · Answer

Nevernevergiveup  - thanks for the feedback, especially regarding the error log. Interesting to hear that feedback about the Advanced Quant book too!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi yoshidos,

To start, a 570 is a solid initial CAT score (the average score on the Official GMAT hovers around 540-550 most years) and a V36 means that you have a strong overall grasp of the Verbal section. This is important because many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores. Since you have just 9 weeks of available study time, you might find it difficult to hit your score goal. However, if you only require a bit of time to boost your Verbal skills, then you can focus most of the next 2 months on building your Quant knowledge, Tactics and overall 'math skills.'

With those assumptions in mind, I think that you'll have to adjust your schedule a bit. For the first couple of weeks, you shouldn't plan on taking any CATs - you won't have put in enough study time at that point to have made an appreciable improvement to your Quant skills (and you would just end up 'wasting' a couple of CATs), so you should plan for your next CAT in 2-3 weeks time. You ask a number of good questions, but there's no way to properly answer them at this point (we'll have to wait to see how your studies progress before we discuss how you might adjust them).

Have you had a chance to do a full review of this CAT? Can you define WHY you got questions wrong? In real basic terms:

After reviewing the Quant section, how many questions did you get wrong.... 
1) Because of a silly/little mistake? 
2) Because there was some math that you just could not remember how to do? 
3) Because the question was too hard? 
4) Because you were low on time and had to guess?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made, 
Rich

kvw547239 · Answer

This looks like a solid plan. I would recommend keeping an error log for everything -- I just added a tab to my OG error log spreadsheet just to track particular Manhattan problems that I got wrong and wanted to go back to (page number, book, type of problem type thing).

I used a similar set of resources and FWIW I found the Manhattan and GMAT prep practices tests to be more useful and accurate than the Magoosh tests. Though having the extra Magoosh question bank (and the video explanations!) definitely made Magoosh worth it for practice problems, and for back-up lessons. I'd review all of the Manhattan stuff first, and then turn to the Magoosh video lessons for things that don't stick with you the first time around.

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Feedback needed for 2 mo study schedule + other topics

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