Magoosh study plan

Question

Hey guys,

I've been in contact with your customer support/student help lately, but I thought it would be good to get a second opinion here. I am a 23 year old male from the Netherlands, currently working 32 hours a week (with two afternoons off). Last August I got my Bachelor of Business Administration, and decided I want to start a Pre-master programme at the Erasmus University Rotterdam in September '15. For this Pre-master programme I need a 600+ GMAT score. I've been prepping since January, but my progress seems to stall. I have one more try left before the application deadline, and I'm planning to retake the GMAT the 11th of May. This gives me 30 days.

A short history of exams and CATS

02/07/2015: GMATprep1: 600, Q40, V37
02/28/2015: GMATprep 2: 500, Q36, V26
03/09/2015: GMAT 1: 570, Q33, V35
03/17/2015: GMATPill CAT: 460 Q28, V26
03/22/2015: The Economist CAT: 560 Q37, V31
04/04/2015: MGMAT CAT: 590 Q39, V33
04/09/2015: GMAT 2: 580 Q35, V35

So, as you can see, I am not really improving a lot. This makes me wonder whether I am autodidactic enough. As I said, I've been in contact with Student Help. They reffered to:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/30-day-gma ... -schedule/

I do have about 100 hours available for studying the coming weeks, and I am willing to put int he required work. I am wondering what your advice would be on what plans to buy (I'm thinking of the Premium ($99) plan, would that work in combination with the 30 day schedule?).

Edit: And about the money back guarantee: There are about 250 videos to watch, averaging about 10 minutes in length and questions. Will those 100 hours I have available be enough to complete the requirements for the money back guarantee?

Kind regards,

Savage

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear Savage, My friend, I have many things to say. First of all, do not, DO NOT, necessarily assume that your practice test scores are strictly predictive. Many people see a big drop when they go from practice tests to the real GMAT. For more on this phenomena, and what you can do about it, see: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2014/lower-on-t ... ice-tests/ Next, I will say: recognize the danger of aiming for a 600. I realize you don't need more than 600 necessarily, but don't "aim" for 600. Strive for excellence. Strive to bring the absolute best of yourself to this task. Don't hold yourself back in any way. In that vein, see this blog: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2014/gmat-study ... 0-or-more/ Aiming for 600 and falling short would be a problem for you, but aiming for the absolute best you can do, then falling short, probably still would put you over 600, if you see what I mean. The Magoosh 30-day plan is a good one to follow. I would strongly recommend getting the Premium, and working on both math and verbal. With the Magoosh videos, I would recommend being a little selective. For example, some of our earlier videos are basic, say, for folks who haven't thought about math in 10 years. For some of the earlier videos, you might jump to the end, watch the summary, and only watch the whole video if there are points you don't understand. If you click through a few videos in a module in this way, and then perform well on the quiz at the end of the module, that's a very good way to demonstrate that you have mastered the material in the module, and that would "count" toward the score-guarantee total. That will also allow you to go back and watch some of the more advanced videos more than once. For practice tests, the MGMAT tests are very good, and you still should have more of them. You still should have a couple more tests in GMATPrep: you can take each of those tests twice. Also, at the mba.com store, you can purchase the GMATPrep Exam Pack 1 , which will give you access to two more tests. Frankly, other than the official GMATPrep tests and the MGMAT CATs, I would recommend avoiding the other practice tests. Finally, I will say: some of preparing for the GMAT is learning content. Certainly up to a point, folks have to learn math and learn grammar. Someone who masters all the individual factoids would get a score in the neighborhood of your scores. To advance, you need to think as the test-maker does. I talk about that in many lesson videos. It's less about learning individual facts and more about developing a mindset, the mindset that the test is testing. I hope all this helps. Let me know if you have further questions. Mike :-)

SavageBrother · Answer

Hi there Mike,

In advance, thank you for your detailed reply. I do understand that my practice scores will not 100% correctly tell what my real score will be, I use them as an indicator. Also, I'm aiming for 600+ (I would love to score 630/640), I am aware of the dangers that come with aiming for just the bare minimum.

About the 30 day plan, my weeks are almost all the same and my plan is as follows:
Monday: 2 hours (study)
Tuesday: 5 hours (study)
Wednessday: 2 hours (study)
Thursday: 5 hours (study)
Friday: 2 hours (reviewing errors of past week)
Saturday: 5 hours (CAT + review of cat)
Sunday: 5 hours (reviewing errors and try them again)

This would be my global plan.

In the coming weeks, I do have some extra days of, which I will devote to studying. I'm really edging towards obtaining the premium package. What do you think, the combination of the 30 day plan, the premium package and about 100 hours of studying, will that be enough to increase my score to a 630?

Thanks in advance.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear Savage, I don't know whether you read this post, https://magoosh.com/gmat/2014/gmat-study ... 0-or-more/ but I will reiterate some of that advice here. If you follow the one-month plan, purchase Magoosh premium, watch all the lessons, answer all the practice questions, and watch the VE of each and every practice question you miss, then definitely all the information you need to perform well above 700 will pass in front of your eyes. That I can absolutely guarantee. Will it mean that you yourself will increase your score to 630? Hard to say. You see, my friend, the biggest variable, the variable I don't really know, is you . How well do you focus? How dedicated are you? How intent are you on improving? How well do you retain information? How deeply do you understand? How deeply do you care? How well do you remember and learn from your mistakes? How agile are you in adopting new perspectives? I will say the the score increase you see is relatively modest, compared to the wild increase that others on this forum are trying to achieve. Magoosh guarantees a 50-point increase if students do that, because almost everyone who does all this work in good faith does wind up seeing at least an increase that big (some see increases much larger). If I were a betting man, I would bet your chances would be awfully good. In fact, in a way, by offering the score-guarantee, Magoosh is taking "a bet" on this, and historically, Magoosh has won this bet upward of 99.99% of the time. The odds are good, but I want you to understand very deeply why I am so hesitant to tell you, at the outset, that it's a sure thing. That is a supremely unhealthy state of mind with which to approach this task. Yes, know that all kinds of students in all kinds of situations have used the Magoosh material, fulfilled the terms of the score guarantee, and have seen an increase of 50 or more points. Know that, but DON'T take anything for granted. Don't in any way think that success is automatic. Instead, I want you to devote blood, sweat, and tears as if your life depended on it. I want you to act as if there is a 1-in-a-1000 chance that Magoosh can help you, and success entirely depends on your making the most heroic effort possible. I am saying this only because I want you to bring every last drop of your excellence, your dedication, and your commitment to the task. I want you to be bring your very best to each and every moment of your studying. That is the stuff of success and excellence, not the passive trust that if I follow this step-by-step plan, then success will be automatically guaranteed. Does this subtle distinction make sense? You see, my friend, I am very ambitious for you. I want the very best for you, and that entirely depends on your ability to bring your very best to the task at hand. Mike :-)

SavageBrother · Answer

Mike,

Thank you for your reply, I shouldn't have asked the question, because I already knew the answer. Thank you for your motivating words. I went from a 'let's improve quant and be done with it'-state of mind to a 'let's improve quant and verbal as much as I can in the coming 30 days'-state of mind. I'm going to put in as much work as I can, without deriving myself from sleep or some social activities (and gym ofcourse :d).

There are two things that bother me about the 30 day schedule though, that is: taking GMATprep test 1. I took a mock exam (MGMAT) the 4th of April, which gave me loads of information on weaknesses I guess. Do I really need to take the GMATprep test 1? I feel it will be a waste of time, since I did one just a week ago. And also, I do not own the OG '12/'13 edition, I do actually own the OG '15 edition, will this be sufficient?

Edit:

Mike
Mike November 13, 2014 at 5:03 pm #
Dear Dip,
Good question. Those two editions, OG13 and OG2015, are identical except for the covers. See:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2014/the-offici ... uide-2015/
Mike :-)

Saw this reply, thanks

.

Saw this reply, thanks

.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear Savage, I'm happy to respond. :-)

I'm glad you saw the note about the OG13 and OG 2015 editions. As concerns the 30-day plan, remember that this was designed for someone starting from scratch --- no knowledge of the GMAT, has never taken it, etc. If you have just taken a mock GMAT recently, then there's no need to rush to take another. I realize that you have already taken a couple GMATPrep tests, but I would like you to fit one more in before the end of your studying: after all, the official GMAT Prep tests are more "GMAT-like" than the MGMAT tests. In the big picture, Savage, remember: this is your life. You have all the responsibility. You have all the initiative. Decide what is best for you and do it. The study plan is a guide, and in general, it has helped many people. It's a guide but not a bible. As you move through and see that it would more helpful to do more of this or less of that, take the initiative and do so. Trust your own deep instincts about what you need to be successful: if you can't trust that, there's no point in trusting anything else!! Presumably you are taking the GMAT so you can earn an MBA and be a manager. A good manager is skilled at seizing the initiative when the moment is ripe. A good manager has unshakable confidence in his instinct and intuition for success. You can be practicing that right now as you study for your GMAT. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

SavageBrother · Answer

Hi Mike, To answer your question: Yes, it does make sense

!. I'll decide later this week whether I'll do a Mock this Saturday. Maybe I'll do a MGMAT mock or something and keep the GMATpreps for later in the schedule. As to the guide, I am aware of the fact that it is designed to help people who have 'are just getting started with the GMAT'. I've altered some points, for example: moving some of the lessons to work brakes where I won't be that focused as when I am at home (where I'll be watching the lessons on topics I really need to improve on). Well, I am off to watch some video lessons!

SavageBrother · Answer

I thought it would be nice to let you guys (Magoosh and the people reading this) know how I am doing and what my experiences are with the 30 day schedule. I started about 1,5 weeks ago, and I followed it rigorously, which means I'm pretty much right on schedule. Altough the schedule is ment for starters, people who do not have a lot of experience with the GMAT or just started studying for it. On some occasions I did speed up the videos and started looking for concepts/idea's I didn't know yet. I really like the program, the videos are clear and the occasional joke keeps it 'light'.

I do have some questions though, concerning my accuracy.

Average accuracy PS Magoosh 62.50% (out of 80 questions)
Average accuracy DS Magoosh 57.50% (out of 40 questions)
Aveage accuracy SC Magoosh 57.50% (out of 40 questions)
Average accuracy RC Magoosh 58.33% (out of 9 questions)
Average accuracy CR Magoosh 70.00% (out of 40 questions)
 
Average accuracy PS OG '15 76.25% (out of the first 80 questions)
Average accuracy DS OG '15 78.33% (out of the first 60 questions)
Average accuracy SC OG '15 95.00% (out of the first 20 questions)
Average accuracy RC OG '15 94.29% (out of the first 36 questions)
Average accuracy CR OG '15 90.00% (out of the first 60 questions)

I tend to be pretty strict on time on both Magoosh and OG questions, I can't really find a good reason why my scores differ so much. What do you guys think? (Of course, the first OG questions are more easy than the mixed up Magoosh questions, but still). I think I'll start working on some additional RC Magoosh questions and see what scores I get. If those are good, my plan is to put some extra effort into PS/DS/SC and a bit less in RC/CR. Also, I plan to take the first GMATprep CAT this Saturday and adjust my schedule according to the outcome (by the way: I'll watch some video lessons on math/sc before taking the cat, not to do some last minute studying, but to mimmick the fatique I'll have to deal with on test day, since it's almost a two hour drive to the test center). I didn't do a CAT last Saturday, I used the Saturday and Sunday to reviewing all the incorrect quant questions of the past week (although that did not really improve my performance on Magoosh questions in the next week). I'm pretty hyped for the CAT this Saturday.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear Savage Brother , I'm happy to respond. :-)

Keep in mind, my friend, learning is a funny thing. It's not just that + = . Everyone learns differently. Furthermore, with any particular concept, there is not just vs. --- rather, there are many different levels of understanding. See: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/understand ... rformance/ It's good to ask yourself, with each individual concept: I am at what level of understanding with this concept? and how can I make my understanding deeper. In the design of our Magoosh product, we hope that a student watches the lesson video, understands at a certain level, then later encounters a question, and understands that at a deeper level because of the video explanation of the question. I know all this material inside-out, and there are still times that I get a flash and have an even deeper understanding of something. There is really no end to the process of learning. I like the rigorous dedication you are bringing to your studies, and I will also challenge you: are you bringing every last bit of your capacity for excellence? Are you learning so well from each mistake that you know that you will not make that same mistake again? Are your intuition and your imagination fully engaged in your studies? Einstein said that imagination is more important than knowledge, and while knowledge is clearly crucial for GMAT success, that ability to think flexibly and creatively is even more essential for an elite performance. How well are you able to relax and de-stress in between your study periods: that healthy rhythm of intense focus on the material then completely relaxing the brain are essential for deep learning. Notice that TV & movies & video stimulation of any kind do NOT relax the brain: they may feel like fun, but these are not experiences that encourage the profound relaxations states of the mind and body---and again, those relaxation states are essential for deep learning and deep understanding. See this article and the rest in this series: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/overcome-g ... y-breathe/ As for the difference between your performance on Magoosh questions and your performance on OG questions --- yes, the OG questions at the beginnings of the sections are easier. It may be that, on average, the Magoosh questions overall are slightly harder than the OG questions: that's not at all a completely straightforward thing for us to determine (among other things, GMAC has no interest in sharing its data on question difficulty with us!) It may be that your brain operates a little differently when you are looking at a printed book vs. looking at a screen. It's hard to say. The important thing is keep reviewing, keep learning from your mistakes: if you can turn each mistake into an optimal learning experience, then you will progress like wildfire. Does all this make sense? My friend, I wish you phenomenal success on this weekend's CAT, on your real GMAT, and on everything beyond that in your future! Mike :-)

SavageBrother · Answer

Dear Mike,
Thank you again for your extensive reply. I am aware of the facts you stated, but I’ll be going through the articles you provided, just to make sure . About ‘bringing every last bit of my capacity for excellence’, I think I could and should do better. I sometimes tend to watch the explanations, be confident about my understanding, and then I’ll continue with my other tasks. But, as I’ve noticed, once I tried all the incorrect questions of week one, I still got about 20/25% wrong. There is room for improvement I guess. That’s something I’ll focus on the last 2,5 weeks, be 100% thorough in reviewing my mistakes, no rushing, no bs.

I’ll report back this Saturday, hopefully, with a good result!

SavageBrother · Answer

As promised, reporting in

. Took my GMATprep mock today, and boy I had a hard time. But, but, but, I scored a 680 (Q44, V39) which makes me very happy. I did a quick review and noticed that I might have recognised 2 questions (both Quant, none Verbal) from the last time I took the mock, but I never knew the answer right of the bat, so that's good. I had 9 incorrect on Quant and 12 on Verbal, which I will be thoroughly reviewing this afternoon (time for some reeeee-laxation now). I'm so glad my quant has improved, and even my SC, boy I was getting like 30% to 40% accuracy around my second try. I'll get back to you guys this afternoon, after I did my review.

SavageBrother · Answer

Still studying, took GMATprep CAT 2 today. 630, Q43 (:)) V34 (:(). Happy Q is kind of on par, very dissatisfied with Verbal. Had some serious timing problems and which led to some educated guesses on SC/RC. Performance was under par here, definitely.

Errors:
PS: 8
DS: 2
SC: 9 (DAMN)
CR: 1
RC: 5

Edit: just noticed that I had only 2 errors in DS, because this questions has the wrong aswer:
the-sum-of-the-integers-in-list-s-is-the-same-as-the-sum-of-127755.html

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear SavageBrother , I'm sorry to hear about your recent struggles. Here's what I will say. Knowing that you got, say, 9 SC questions tells me absolute zilch. Deep learning happens in the specifics, in the details. Step #1 : in the GMAT Prep software, for each question you got wrong, scour the explanations for concepts on which you are not 100% clear. If that doesn't give you a full understanding of your mistakes, then Step #2 : come here to GC. Do NOT post the questions as new threads, because chances are very good that material from GMAT Prep has already been posted here. Search for each questions, and for each one, read the thread, particularly the expert responses. You may find my responses among them. If there is anything you still don't understand, post your own question to those threads. If you want my input to such a thread, then come back to this thread and post a link here, with whatever you would like to ask me about it. The goal is to understand your mistake so well, so thoroughly, that you know that you never make that particular mistake again. It's one of the habits of excellence never to make the same mistake twice: a high idea, but insofar as you are always striving for this ideal, you will make tremendous progress. Finally, I will say: I don't know whether you are already a Magoosh member, but the Magoosh Lessons on SC could be a big help to you. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

SavageBrother · Answer

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the reply. Actually, I'm not really struggling I think, I just messed up my timing on verbal (which I've never experienced before, never ever), which I had to compensate for by guessing some SC questions. I'm already a Magoosh member, and the quant lessons are helping me a lot! (From Q35 to Q43/44 already, within 3 weeks)

One more week of studying and then the real deal again! I'm going to put some extra effort into SC the last week!

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