Long journey (with few fallbacks) -not over yet- GMAT 01.04.

Question

Hi, 
as everyone can probably see, i am not a new member to gmatclub but want to share my experience, fallbacks and motivation settings; even though i have not taken the test yet. My test date is scheduled for April 1st and i am really looking forward to doing the test (however even a bit scared by now).

I want to give you my test prep motivation and want to share some experience over the last 2 years and will also update the post after my test day.

I roughly joined gmatclub 2 years ago which was also the time starting my GMAT prep. I am 28 years, a non native English speaker (as you can see i am from Germany) and i have currently 4+ years WE in Consulting (specialized in Project Management) after graduating in Business and Management (low GPA 3.1).

I decided to apply for a MBA program but only if i can reach for a Top30 Business School (which mostly depends on the GMAT - even more for me as i have a low GPA). I did all the back round checks, gathered information about what the relevant requirements are and finally stopped by the gmatclub when my test prep has begun. I am normally not a forum guy who stays and registers, but that was different with this one. I have got much information about the prep materials (and still do) and was able to get an full overview about timing, error logs and strategies.

So, why did i start my preparation 2 years ago and still does not have completed the test (at least once)? That is a good question, which i ask myself over and over again. But the explanation is simple and of course only an excuse. I started when my project faced almost finished the implementation phase and therefore I was able to reduce time on work related issues and increase time for the GMAT. After 1 month of doing so (1h a day before work and approximately 10h a weekend) I got a new project and was not able to cope with both workload and GMAT prep. That was the time when I decided to apply in October 2011 and shifted my preparation for a year. I started again with my materials and read through all the strategy book (will list my materials later) and started with the quant part of the test. Unfortunately I lost motivation and did decide to go skiing instead before my new job started (I switched jobs beginning of last year). However over the last year my motivation came back and the dream of studying again and doing an MBA had never gone out. Shortly before Christmas I talked to my direct supervisor about my plans and he totally supported me so that I am now totally motivated and got the support from my employer. I will switch projects beginning of April and got an assistant to help me during the last 2 months (which allows me to reduce work time to 10h/day).

What have I done so far? 
I worked through all MGMAT Strategy books and die the GMATPrep Cat (scored 620 at the beginning of my prep). I have probably done hundreds of questions out of the OG12 and here at the forum and identified CR and RC as my bottleneck. So if anyone has good ideas to get the correct answer rate up within 1 month, I highly appreciate it.

I am able to spend 3-5 hours on the prep material during the week and 8h each day on the weekend. Additional to that I will take 2 times one week off. The week after next one will be the first one and then 2 weeks before the test date is scheduled.

Prep Material 
- OG12 (+OG V 2nd and OG Q 2nd)
- All 8 MGMAT
- Kaplan 800
- 1000 GMAT Questions (do not know the name right now)
- Kaplan Crack the GMAT
- English Grammar books (from my sister as she is a English teacher) to brush up the fundamentals

What is planned for the next 2 months? 
Mostly use the 6MGMAT Cats and identify weaknesses so that I can stable this part.

What has helped me best (so far) from gmatclub 
- The contribution of each and every one and the explanations of some freaky guys (in a positive way) in particular
- Even though it is a tiresome topic, but the errorlog is key to success. I did not believe it at the beginning of my prep in 2010 but do now. It is easy to identify weaknesses and whether it is a minor mistake or whether I do not understand the concept. I mean it is not mandatory to use an error log in Excel, but I do use one on paper and have some notes (more or less key facts) next to each question
- Questions over questions over questions, prep materials, gmatclub App, School reviews, and and and

Any tips what I should do in the next 8 weeks until my test day?

rajeevrks27 · Answer

It's always good to prepare with material that is recommended by 700 + scoring clubbers and that is best known in the forum for the great result. I will recommend you to go through Powerscore CR bible for CR and Aristotle 99 for ur RC prac...i am yet to find one guy who says that these two books are not good, rather every second guy who has scored high recommends these books. do them at the earliest so that u can apply the concepts in ur practice esp CR. all the best

MSoS · Answer

Thanks rajeevrks27, i have read a lot about both Powerscore and Aristotle 99. Guess it is the best to just buy them and add the two books to my pile.

Can you give two highlights of the two books in comparison to the MGMAT CR & RC books?

rajeevrks27 · Answer

and also take as many test as u can take in real time conditions...Stamina and Endurance are vital and the best tests are GMAT prep 1 and 2 ...u can take each atleast three times without many repeats MGMAT 1 to 6...second best to gmat prep Gmatclub tests...one diagnostic, 24 quant and 6 verbal a number of other free tests are also there incl kaplan etc but they are not as good as above three types.. ur confidence will surely hit sky high on the test day... hope this :idea:

helps.

MSoS · Answer

Thanks a lot...highly appreciated...Will do the MGMAT test in about 1 week, as soon as i will have vacation. Then i should know what i can achieve

sdas · Answer

Hi MSoS, I went through your situation in near past. But I made a mistake of deliberately opting for project than an already implemented project. in 5 months, I rectified, going back to operations now. Have lost a couple of months in the stress between project and studies. But next month on I will be set. I target May this year. I have completed MGMAT quant guides - now time for verbal. By next month I will hit CAT's. But one thing bothering me, just completing the MGMAT guides will not help me in itself. The strategies specific for this test, more for Quant PS, if anyone can recommend any guides or assistance for that, will be great. As knowing only the basics might not be of that help. Next month with verbal, I want to hit the strategies quickly. I know its an uphill task hereon, but cant help with the June changeover, I have to finish it by May. Your prep sounds quite complete currently, but as Rajeev says, the test environment is what we all need to get accustomed to. The endurance might be a key. Error log, the excels, I am still confused about. Sought help already. I want to use the logs too. I understand it is a very powerful tool. Another query, Jeff Sach' Total Math - is that only practice questions, or does it deal with some strategies as well? If yes, do you intend on using it. Came across some good reviews - but did not find complete content based reviews.

MSoS · Answer

Hi sdas, well, i face the same question at the moment. I have studied all the prep materials mentioned above and hit the first MGMAT test (scored 680), but do not know what to do next. I mean, of course i do review each and every questions and mostly understand the strategy behind it. However i am a little bit lost how to improve quant even more (Q48 in mock test) as i have already studies MGMAT book twice. From my point of view it is important to internalize all the formulas to hit questions faster without silly mistakes. I have spotted 3-4 (out of 12 quant mistakes) mistakes, which were just silly. Besides that it is always a benefit to can use all the formulas and basics up side down so that a long phase of thinking is not necessary. 
For verbal i have improved CR basically because of Critical CR Bible. If i am able to improve RC through practice, practice, and practice i am more than happy.

To make it short and answer your question: I haven read "Jeff Sach Total Math" and do not know the content. I always recommend to take gmatclub tests if you already in a good shape for quant.

Santanu76 · Answer

MSoS

I had faced the same problem with preps during my second attempt.

For quants, I had gone through the GMATClub Online Maths book - it was concise, precise and had all the formulas I required - I found it very helpful. Also, I found Bunuel's Top 50 DS and PS problems documents very very helpful. They have all the solutions as well. There's a long list of documents in Bunuel's signature - am sure there is a wealth of material there. You have the GMATClub tests as well, which contain a lot of 700+ level questions.

On verbal, I found the documents in whiplash's signature immensely helpful - the Brutal SC, CR sets and the SC guide. Also, I found the SC guides by spidey and Gayathri very helpful.

The GMATClub threads for CR, RC, SC and PS, DS (as you are already aware) are a great place to learn.

e-GMAT, mainly targeted at non-natives, seems to be a good value-add, from reports of many users here - you could have a look at their free stuff and see if they help, and then take a call on whether you would want to take their paid module.

All the best!

Santanu

Long journey (with few fallbacks) -not over yet- GMAT 01.04.

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