Help with study plan

Rich and GMATinsight,

Thank you for your replies. I feel very hesitant in taking a full CAT, because I suspect I'll do very poorly and be discouraged. Instead I wanted to review the Manhattan books (at least the Quant) and then take a CAT, and go from there. Would that work?

Thank you.

would work wonders
also do advance book for math

Hi omegan3,

As I mentioned in my post, if you want to do a bit of studying to familiarize yourself with the general concepts and question types that occur, then that's fine. However, you would benefit a great deal from having that initial CAT score - so you shouldn't wait to long to complete that practice CAT.

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

Dear Rich and GMATinsight,

I took your advice and attempted the full GMATPrep Exam1.

I scored 500:
Q28, V31

Can you kindly help with a study plan/schedule. The materials I have are:
Veritas books, Manhattan books and 3 OGs.

Thank you.

Hi omegan3,

A 500 is a solid initial CAT Score (the average score on the Official GMAT hovers around 540-550 most years). At this point, there are a variety of different ways to approach your studies, so it would help to know your broader timeline and goals:

1) What is your goal score?
2) When do you plan to take the GMAT?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
4) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

Dear Rich,

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

1) For a final score, I'll take what's commensurate with my God-given ability. I want to first aim at 650. Do you know if a higher score can help with scholarships? If so, then as a next step, I'll look to 700 as a stretch goal.

2) In about 5-6 months time.

3) & 4) I've not finalized yet.

Would you be able to suggest a study schedule based on the books I've mentioned?

Thank you.

Hi omegan3,

With the resources you have and the time frame you are aiming for, I would advise to begin with Manhattan Prep books. The target should be to finish them in 1-1.5 months. However, prioritize quality over speed here. Make notes if you would like to and review them throughout during the prep phase. Post that, you should take a mock test to see where you stand. I would advise the user Veritas material to refine the preparation for the topics you are weak in.

In the final 1-1.5 months before the exam, use OG material to get into the exam mode and streamline the thought process to the official qns.

Good Luck!

V31 on the very first test is very good. You'll have to work hard on your quant though. It's way below your verbal.

HI Omegan,

First take a mock test so that you should know where you stand up.
Analyse your weak area and work on them one by one.
General study plan:

1- Start with OG Solve all OG questions.

2- Read Manhattan books. In quant , pay attention on advance level quant.
3- Use GMATCLUB quant CAT's: best resource available to improve your score
4- Read manhattan SC book multiple time . Once you finish each chapter then solve questions from OG referenced in each chapter end of manhaatan book
5- for CR , please read power score CR bible.

Thanks

Hi

It is better to start with taking a CAT exam know starting point
3 month is pretty enough time so you can start with Best comprehensive material

1. Manhattan GMAT Quant Guides
2. Manhattan GMAT Verbal guides
or
Aristotle Verbal Guide
for CR critical reasoning bible is best book with 300+ pages of comprehensive Data

Start with quant, learn the concepts tested on GMAT
After learning, practice your learned section with times practice
You can also take quizzes to meet the pace of GMAT

1 Month for learning concepts and 15 days of practice and same with the verbal
when completed all the concepts learning and handsome practice
Take full lenght CATs, know your estimated score

Analyze the result with Correct/incorrect questions, pacing analysis
trace your mistakes and learn from them, make an error log to know
your mistakes in the previously attempted questions

Best CATs

1. Official GMAC (50+50$)
2. Manhattan GMAT (49$)
3. GMAT Club Quant CATs (80$) (Best For Quant)
4. Veritas CATs (49$ but you can buy at 15-20$ During sale period)

above Mock exams are as important as ranked

Good Luck
Cheers

Hello Members,

I appeared for GMAT for the first time in October, 2016 and scored 550.
Too much procrastination and lack of a proper strategy lead to this dreadful score.

Now, I plan to reappear for the 2nd time on 23rd July (in 6 weeks).

Yesterday, after 2 weeks of preparation, I attempted the GMAT Prep Test 2 and scored a 600 (Q 44 V 28)

After updating the error log, I observed the following things :

Quant Section : Need to devote time to Combination, Probability, Geometry, DS Equation Questions.
I was stuck in 2 back to back Combinations questions and hence, ran out of time. Guessed the last 6 questions (Only 1 out of the 6 was correct)
With some more efforts, I can certainly pull up the Quant score to 48-50!

Verbal Section : Even though I am an avid reader, I zoned out reading the RCs. Guessed all RC questions after skimming through the passage. Almost all of them were wrong!
90% accuracy in SC questions and 60% in CR.

Study material used:

1. Completed the OG 2016 earlier. Now attempting the tough questions using GMAT Wiley.
2. Kaplan CD
3. GMAT Club question bank (Bunuel for Quant, Ron SC Tips, Idioms list and, several other for Verbal)
4. Princeton Review books for theory
5. MGMAT CAT and Practice Questions, still untouched.

Since, I do not have a high CGPA a really good GMAT score is needed to slightly offset the low CGPA.
I sincerely feel that my biggest issue is lack of concentration (fidgety mind)

It would be very helpful if anyone can suggest me few RC strategies (how to make it less painful) and a definite road map which leads to the 700+ milestone!

Thank you in advance.

Best,
A

Hi omegan3,

Two of the reasons why I asked about the Schools that you plan to apply to are:
1) Schools often provide 'class profile' information, so that you can get a sense of what your application might "need" to make you a strong applicant to that School (including the type of GMAT Score).
2) Scholarship options will likely vary from School-to-School (and potentially from Program-to-Program within each School), so if you're looking for specific Scholarship information, then you need to define which Schools/Programs you want to apply to.

With 5-6 months of potential study time, you have a lot of flexibility in terms of how you choose to study (and the materials that you use). If you want to begin with the MGMAT books, then that's fine. You should plan to take a new FULL-LENGTH CAT (with the Essay and IR sections) in about 2-3 weeks, so that we can get a sense of how well you're studying and whether any adjustments should be made or not. Once you have that next score, you should report back here and we can discuss the results.

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

Thank you for the feedback! I found it to be helpful.

Dear Rich,

You are incredibly helpful. I can just say that I wish you much success in life.

You've given me some good pointers that should be helpful to me, provided I follow them. I will attempt to do, God willing.

Thank you!

Follow-up:

I've completed Manhattan Foundations of Quant and Verbal.

How should I go about using the remaining 10 Manhattan books and OGs?

I'd appreciate any help with a study plan/structure.

Thanks.