GMAT in 2 months

Question

I've been thinking of GMAT over the past 2 weeks and eventually decided to take it in 2 months. I've gone through this forum and came up with the below schedule.

1. Take the 9 week course from Manhanttan
2. Complete the OG guide
3. Take about 10 GMAT tests

I am totally new to GMAT. I have over 10yrs of work exp and planning to apply to ISB as I am seeing a void in my career. I believe the cut off date is mid Sep for Cycle 1. So, I need to take the exam by Aug 20 - 25 timeframe.

I will be devoting about 3hrs a day. Let's see how it goes.

If there is anything I need to look for, please do let me know. My MGMAT will start from next Monday.

bb · Answer

Welcome to GMATClub gmatslog! Your plan sounds good. A course is a good option for a person 10 years out of school. What you may want to do is review some of the feedback about the Manhattan Classes and make sure you set the right expectations - the load can be high. Here is a list of reviews (also - would appreciate any feedback you have to give - we'll take anything!) gmat-prep-courses-classes-reviews-ratings-and-comparison-78451.html Everything sounds in order. Are you aware of GMATPrep? (get GMATPrep) - it is a free test software made by the GMAT creators. Make sure you don't waste it and save at least one test for the last month to get a good idea about your performance. Your work situation is very similar to what many of us faced and hence started on the MBA journey - welcome to the beginning of yours - I can promise it will be exciting and will be an experience of its own - be excited and if you need any inspiration, just come back to the forum.

gmatslog · Answer

Yes, I am aware of the GMATPrep test. My plan is to take 1 test every week so that I will take atleast 10 tests before the final shot.

I started off with the OG guide...On an avg, I am getting about 5 questions wrong for every 20qtns in Math.

Verbal is pathetic..Getting about 8-10 wrong for every 20qtns..Most importantly, I am loosing focus..I read the question, but it just doesnt get into my head. So, I have to read it again and again..Hope I will improve my concentration as I progress.

Yes, this website is definitely going to be my inspiration...Probably I will use it more like a blog ;-)

bb · Answer

You're very welcome to

Consider this section for Verbal improvement - may sound a bit off but this is the best approach I have found for the verbal section: GMAT Fiction.

gmatslog · Answer

It's been about 2.5weeks since my last post. My preparation is going good. MGMAT books are awesome. Not comparing with others as I haven't seen any other books. Online tutoring is good. I need not leave the house, saves travel time. I am taking the class from 8-11pm. My son goes to bed, so I can concentrate on the class. You get 2 instructors (1 experienced and 1 of relatively less experience). The experienced instrutor is great and explains the problems in detail. The other guy sort of rushes through. Most of the times, he never explains the basics (atleast I never understood). Well, the class is only meant to keep you on track and do the homework. We need to spend about 3hrs a day to finish the homework. So far, I am on track. Hoping I will continue the pace. I've taken my 1st GMAT prep test from MGMAT last weekend. Got a score of 540 (Q45, V19). This is an expected score. Most of my Quant qts which I got wrong are bcoz of mistakes from my end. though for some of them, i forgot the basics like Compound Interest, mean, Median, isosceles triangle etc. Still managed to get 45. Now on Verbal, I am not a native English speaker. You must have understood by now ;-)

MGMAT explains what to look out for. But you still need to know your bascis of grammar. First thing to master your SCs. For ex, when you have a question on Parallelism, not all words in the sentence should end with "-ed" or "ing" etc. Based on the sentence, a noun can be ex: "the splitting" and a parallel word can be ex: "reversals". If you follow the book blindly, you might think "the reversing" is parallel. But it is not. So, bottomline, BASICS rule!!! I am planning to get the "Doing Grammar" book and read "The Great Gatsby" book for now. I feel, there is no point in doing 100 questions, when you can't get your basics right. I haven't covered CRs and RCs in MGMAT yet. So, can't comment much. However, my focus is to improve my Verbal from 19 - 40 within the next 1.5 months and avoiding mistakes on Quant. Let's see how it goes...

pleonasm · Answer

Q45 to start off is good. Focus on the Verbal .. you'll hit 40 with the concerted efforts you are putting. However like bb suggests, try reading some of the fiction books listed in the Verbal section. It might help you take the steam off the preparation for a short while but still help you improve your verbal skills.

Good luck. Keep us posted about your progress.

Good luck. Keep us posted about your progress.

gmatslog · Answer

It's been about a month since I posted my progress. So what did I do in the past 1 month

Read most of the MGMAT material. Doing questions from OG12 as per their schedule. Most importantly I've taken 2 tests.

2 weeks ago I got a score of 570 (Q - 42, V - 27). Well, I did not time the Quant very well. For some Quant questions, my ego took control and i spent about 4mins on 2 questions. Then I realized that my ego is not going to take me anywhere, guessed those questions and moved on. But I ran out of time for the last 10questions. So, had to guess and for the last question, I thought I answered it, but I did not. All this brought my score down to 42. I wasn't worried too much as I learnt something by taking this test.

My verbal is improving, but still a long way to go. A jump from 18 - 27 is good, but not sufficient. Manhattan tests give a break up of how you are peforming in each topic and SC has obviously been my weakness. So, started doing lot of SC questions (even at work).

Last weekend, I took my 3rd MGMAT exam. Scored 620 (Q 46, V 30). After analyzing the scores, I've got 17questions wrong in Quant. But about 13 of them (out of 26) are in the 700-800 range. I am not too worried about this as I think getting a jump from 46 to 50 barrier is about practise. 700-800 level questions involve tricks which you get by practise and not by studying. So, my lesson learnt is to continue practising Quant questions...

My Verbal improved by just 3 points. Not sufficient at all. After analyzing the score, I am only getting 70% of 500-600 level questions right and about 30% of 600-700 level questions right. I ran out of time for the last 5 questions. Lesson learnt - Have to really improve SC. I am getting about 50% questions right. Not only that this area is easy to improve, but if you can solve a SC question in 1min, you are actually saving time on other CR/RC questions. So, improving SC is going to be my target. My ego has to come into picture now than in Quant ;-)

I've scheduled my exam on Sep 11 (what a date, didnt realize that ;-)

). I have little over 20days and here is my plan of action
1. Do about 40verbal questions every other day and document lessons learnt
2. Do 40 Math questions every other day and document lessons learnt
3. Take MGMAT exam over the weekend and document lessons learnt
4. Take atleast 2 GMATprep exams before the final test - I've been reading that GMATPrep exams give a better indication of your actual score than MGMAT (Quant is tough in MGMAT than the Actual test would be). This is what I heard.
5. I've gone through AWA essays and writing the essays as part of every exam. I am assuming that is sufficient.

I request the experts to comment on my plan of action for the next 20days. If I need to focus on something else, please do let me know.

Thanks.

I've scheduled my exam on Sep 11 (what a date, didnt realize that ;-)

). I have little over 20days and here is my plan of action 1. Do about 40verbal questions every other day and document lessons learnt 2. Do 40 Math questions every other day and document lessons learnt 3. Take MGMAT exam over the weekend and document lessons learnt 4. Take atleast 2 GMATprep exams before the final test - I've been reading that GMATPrep exams give a better indication of your actual score than MGMAT (Quant is tough in MGMAT than the Actual test would be). This is what I heard. 5. I've gone through AWA essays and writing the essays as part of every exam. I am assuming that is sufficient. I request the experts to comment on my plan of action for the next 20days. If I need to focus on something else, please do let me know. Thanks.

gmatslog · Answer

I've postponed my GMAT to mid Nov. I need to get to 700 level and I am at about 600 now. 
So, I need some real help to achieve my goals.

Math - My scores are varying between 44-47. I want to get to 50+. What should I do? When I look at the questions which I got wrong, most of the times it is the thought process which I keep missing. I think I need to practice 700+ level questions. Please guide me to the best source for these.

Verbal - 
SC - I am making great progress on this. Thanks to Manhattan SC guide. Will continue work on different SC questions.
CR - I need to improve on this. Still at about 600 level questions. Planning to get Powerscore CR bible to get to 700 level. Heard a lot about this book. 
RC - This is the biggest problem now. On some days, I get many questions right, and on some days, it is pathetic. This is skewing up my verbal scores from 20 - 32 on different tests. If RC is good, I am getting 30+, and if RC is bad, the score drops to 20+. I just dont seem to maintain consistency. I need some help on how to improve RC. One of the options which I was thinking was, to solve CR questions in 1.5 -2 mins instead of 2 mins so that I get more time for the RC questions. This is another reason why I want to get Powerscore. Let me know if this is right approach.

TIA.

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