help! MGMAT!

thanks guys that made me feel a bit better about all of this - I seriously had enough of the GMAT today, I felt like throwing my books out the window and I had no motivation to keep going through the books for today's study session - a sign of burnout I'm sure!

I've probably been approaching this in the wrong way - i.e. trying to thoroughly cover every inch of the MGMAT books instead of going through them and marking the weaker points (I actually only starting doing that this week - I wish I'd thought of it before!) with sticky notes. I've already noticed some subjects sink in easily whilst others are complete mysteries to me. This would have saved me a lot of time because some of the concepts I remembered quite easily from high school and others were completely new to me.

I read that article thanks cclay. This paragraph in particular made a lot of sense at this stage of my preparation:

"The average MBA applicant works for at least a few years after undergrad before returning to school. Depending on your job, you may or may not keep up with any of the content tested by the GMAT. Most of us don't - yet we do need to have specific knowledge in order to score well on the test. Knowing how much you don't know is key to establishing your prep plan. "

So - I'm going to find out how much I do and don't know by doing the practice test like you guys suggested.

I'm also going to design a study schedule e.g 8-10 only on weeknights and 10 hours on weekends max. That way it's more effective and I won't burnout as easily.

I'm not going to focus anymore on doing every single question in the MGMAT books - I will start by doing - like you said cclay - a select amount of problems and skip the grey areas until later. I'll also do one or two practice exams and then focus on my weak points after that.

I think this is making sense now - quality over quantity regarding effective study

How much time is recommended for practice question studying - one month?

Thanks again

Hi,

I'm glad you read the article, and it sounds like you're on a path to productive studying! Best of luck with your practice test!

In terms of length of time studying, our courses run for 9 weeks because we feel it takes at least that long to absorb everything you need, but it really is up to each individual what he or she feels is necessary in order to do well. 1-2 months does sound about right though.

Best,
Caitlin

First, you certainly made the right move by incorporating the MGMAT into your math preparation. It's also good to see that, once you detected a problem, you are asking questions and adjusting your studies accordingly. Many people fail to do so, and it costs them. Kudos for doing the right thing!

While the MGMAT math guides are excellent, their end-of-chapter questions frustrated me and brought on fatigue. If you find yourself in the same position, then skip those questions and just do the suggested OG problems found in the "Official Guide Problems" section.

And try to find some time to go through a practice test. Do your best to mimic actual test conditions as much as possible. But don't get too extreme with the CAT's! As you have discovered, the phrase "too much of a good thing" applies to the GMAT, including the practice tests.

Another thing to meditate on is the whole "quantity versus quality" dilemma. It's not really about pitting one against the other; the important thing is to find the right balance between the two. This takes some time and experimentation, but you can do it. In fact, you're already accomplishing it right now!