How to proceed from here? 610 Q40 V34

Question

Some background:

Took first GMAT Prep test cold in December, scored 570 Q31 V38
  Bought MGMAT 4th ed books and OG12 guides
  Studied on and off from Jan. - May, started hitting it harder in June
  Took MGMAT practice exam today, scored 610 Q40 V34

So my question now is how do I proceed from here?

I have been through the MGMAT math books, but have not done any OG or advanced problems.  I have not touched any verbal, essays, or IR stuff yet

I would like to take my test within the next month or two and am shooting for 700+

I was not able to answer the last math question because I ran out of time, even though I knew the correct answer. I was rushing through the last 10ish math questions. I spent way too much time towards the beginning.

I finished my verbal portion with 18 minutes remaining.. probably could have put some more effort into those questions... especially seeing as how I dropped from a Q38 on GMAT Prep to a Q34 on MGMAT (with a supposedly easier verbal section, right?)

What should I do now? Should I begin verbal? Or continue prepping math? Or some mix of both? IR? AWA?

I am just looking for some guidance on how to most effectively use my time from here on out. I am completely free for the next 3-4 weeks so I can put some solid time in. Any advice?

Thanks!

narangvaibhav · Answer

Please focus on basics.. and pratice lots n lots of real GMAT type questions

macjas · Answer

Looks like you're progress has been similar to mine. I too started out with a MGMAT CAT 1 570 Q36 V33 with no study. After about two months of regular study I'm up to 670 V45 Q36. I consider myself better in Verbal than Quant even though I have an engineering background. But I strongly believe that the key here is to do a bit of both, Verbal and Quant in order to keep both 'sides' of the brain active.

For quant, I would strongly reccommend the GMAT Club tests. They're painful and hard. So far I've done 10 of them and they helped me in the following ways:

1. The tests really helped me solidify the concepts. 
2. For some reason, I after doing the first 5 tests or so, I got much, much better at Inequalities and Odd/Even type problems
3. You learn some very useful tricks/ ways to do word problems more efficiently.
4. After I did these I actually found the MGMAT Quant section easy (although I did have timing issues)

I would also recommend the Manhattan Challenge Sets in the Gmat Club Test Section. They're not as hard as the GMAT Club tests but still make for a great learning experience overall.

Some people say its better to focus on the concepts than do a ton of problems. For me, doing a ton of math problems worked out better (practice makes perfect!) You will have to figure this one out on your own.

Don't overdo the CATS; remember they are meant to:
1. Help you see shere you stand
2. Help you build stamina.

For instance I don't think the Princeton CATS are a good estimator of performance but they make for good stamina practice because you can go into it knowing that you're not focusing on the score but rather your endurance.

For SC, make your own flashcards for all the grammar rules that you learnt. This has been VERY helpful to me in improving my SC performance.

And lastly, I agree with you on MGMAT Verbal; I found it super tough compared to the practice questions that I have attempted thus far. I feel the GMAT and Kaplan verbal is way easier.

Good luck!

okay · Answer

Thanks for the advice.

When going through the OG12. What is the best order to do the quant questions? Just straight through and then review? Or review while I am working through?

I am currently about half way through the questions in the PS section and I am finding the questions are getting pretty tricky.

Any advice?

macjas · Answer

okay, I would suggest doing a problems topic wise as listed in the MGMAT guide. Keep your error log and after a day or two repeat questions that you got wrong.

This is atleast how I did it. Also my error log is nothing fancy; just sheets of paper. For example, my V1 error log kept track of my frist round of OG questions. Then on a seperate piece of paper, I listed problems that I got wrong/took too much time to do. I did the second sheet of problems V.2 and marked wrong problems.. proceeded on to V.3 until I pretty much got all questions right in the OG book. In between versions of the error log, there was reviewing, taking notes, making flash cards etc....

In the beginning I used Manhattan OG Archer Lite during round 1 of OG questions just to know my general weak areas...

So basically my process:

1. Do OG problems
2. Mark on error log V.1 and OG Archer
3. Review weak areas, study, flashcards, etc
4. Re do wrong problems error log V2
5. review, review, study study...
6. re do OG problems error log V3
7. rinse, repeat.. 8-)

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How to proceed from here? 610 Q40 V34

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