Manhattan GMAT Study Plan - 19days left

Question

I'm applying to schools for a Master's in Accounting. Basically, I need an awesome GMAT score to offset my terribly low GPA. I have all the free-time I need to study until my test day. My minimum goal is 670, but cracking 700+ would most definitely assure me acceptance into my #1 school.

My test is on Jan 16 and before I found this website I was only using Kaplan Premiere 2010.

I was betting that Quant would be my weakest so I dedicated the most time to studying Quant. I looked over Verbal, tried a couple of questions, and would prefer to commit more time studying Verbal, but I need more Quant practice. I'm just horrible at math and answering questions in under 2 mins.

Quant Scores (after a 10 day review over Kaplan Premiere's Math Refresher, PS, DS, and WP chapters, ch8-11)
Kaplan 1: Q-23
MGMAT 1: Q-31

Quant Scores (after a 5 day review of MGMAT's Number Properties Guide)
Kaplan 2: Q-38
MGMAT 2: Q-43

Week 1
1. Finish MGMAT Number Properties
2. MGMAT Fractions, Decimals, %'s
3. MGMAT Equations, Inequalities, & VIC's

Week 2
1. MGMAT Word Translations
2. MGMAT Geometry
3. Kaplan Premiere Chapters for CR and SC - choosing Kaplan over MGMAT b/c they're shorter
4. Kaplan Premiere Chapters for Essays

Week 3
1. Kaplan CATs 3-6
2. MGMAT CATs 3-6
3. Powerprep 1&2
4. GMATPrep 1&2
5. OG 12
6. OG Quant Review

Resources I have that I don't think I will have enough time to use:
1. MGMAT Critical Reasoning
2. MGMAT Reading Comprehension
3. MGMAT Sentence Correction
4. OG Verbal Review

Questions:
1. Should I follow the MGMAT Chapters and do the OG12 questions they list for each book? Or should I wait do the OG12 questions until after I've gone through all the MGMAT guides?
2. Should I use one of my GMATPrep tests or save them for last?

At first, I was planning on doing a CAT every day, but now I'm thinking about waiting on the CATs until after I finish the MGMAT guides. Any suggestions or am I doing this all wrong? I could always reschedule my test and give myself another 3 weeks....

Dawgie · Answer

We're on the same boat buddy. Why are you taking yours so early though? The deadline is March 1st.

ael719 · Answer

I'm taking it early because I'm taking a section of the CPA in February.

The latest I was planning on taking it was Feb 1st, but decided on playing it safe and taking it 2 weeks early because it could take 20 days or more for GMAC to release official scores. I saw somewhere on the MPA website applications including all documentation must be delivered to them by March 1st and post marking is not allowed.

Also, I figure being early can't hurt me and can only increase my chances of getting accepted.

Are you applying as a traditional MPA student or integrated (ie you're currently an undergrad at UT)?

Dawgie · Answer

Oh crap are kidding me 20 days? I scheduled mine on Feb 13th, which gives me about 15 days. You think I am going to be okay? I am applying as traditional, also applying to the other Top 6 programs. I have the CPA passed, 3.6GPA, and 1 year of Big 4 experience. The problem is as I mentioned in the other post, I just scored a 490 on my gmatprep last Sunday. I need about a 650 to be safe. Looks like you are in a much better position than me on the GMAT

Good luck to both of us. I really hope the 15 days is enough.

I got a 35Q, any tips to raise this? It seems you are having success.

Good luck to both of us. I really hope the 15 days is enough. I got a 35Q, any tips to raise this? It seems you are having success.

ael719 · Answer

Dude, reschedule your GMAT ASAP, especially if you want to get into Texas. On the GMAT website it says it takes them about 20 days, so I doubt they will send it out within 15 days.

Honestly, I don't know how well I'm doing in Quant. My scores indicate improvement, but I still feel like I'm getting stumped and spending way too much time on every other question. Also, on my MGMAT CAT 2, I gave myself an extra 5 mins and I still didn't finish the last 3 questions.

I haven't even looked at Verbal! The most Verbal I've done is the Kaplan Online Diagnostic and got an encouraging 18/20 correct, but I'm horrible with grammar. I need to finish up quant and move on to verbal because right now my only verbal skill is picking the one that sounds better.

If you need work on quant, definitely go pick up any MGMAT book. Also, pace yourself, because after 5 days of cramming the MGMAT Number properties guide, I'm burned out.

ael719 · Answer

Update

So I've been studying, but not as diligently as before because I was thinking my practice tests scores are will get better once I finish the MGMAT books.

The last practice CAT I took was 12/27 from MGMAT and I got a 520 (Q43 V18**)
** I got lazy and did not finish verbal, only answered 16 questions (10 correctly) before exiting

Yesterday, I took my first GMATPrep CAT - 530 (Q35 V28). I have no idea what happened, I think I'm slowly starting to forget everything I learned from the MGMAT Number Properties book? Also, I learned I should have looked at verbal earlier. SC is tough! I think I missed just about every SC question. RC is easy and CR medium difficulty. I opened my MGMAT SC book and nothing is sticking. Even though I'm a native speaker, the truth is I never cared to figure out pronouns or subject verb agreements.

I just finished PowerPrep and the results are the same - 530 47%tile (Q34:44%tile) (V28:48%tile).

My plan is to do the OG books non stop now because I'm running out of time.

ael719 · Answer

Test day is Saturday and I'm screwed because I didn't stick to the plan posted above. I lost sight of my goals and stubbornly tried to tackle quant methodically with my MGMAT guides. This didn't work because I ran out of time. I thought it would work because this is the way I studied in college, but the GMAT CAT is nothing like a scantron test.

I can get high quant scores only on MGMAT CAT's (high-q46). PowerPrep, GMATPrep, Princeton, Knewton, 800 Score, and Kaplan are always 6-11 lower (high-q40). Although yesterday I got a q46 on a retake of GMATPrep1, I don't count this test because I've practiced most of the solutions on the forum.

I gave the GMAT Club Diagnostic Test a try and it destroyed any confidence I had in quant.

I skimmed most of the MGMAT math guides and practiced OG12 and GMATPrep/PowerPrep for my last 2 weeks. I briefly looked over MGMAT SC and CR guides, but didn't practice nearly enough and felt burned out while studying CR. The burn out came from 6++ days of 10hr++ study marathons.

I feel a little bit better about SC, but have no idea where I stand on RC and CR. I've gotten slower and less accurate on DS. DS was my strength and time saver for PS because I didn't have to calculate. I think I got slower because I've crammed too much math and overthink on most questions by forgetting its DS.

One mistake was not studying Geometry soon enough! I read in Kaplan that Geometry was one of the least tested topics and since I'm terrible at Geometry, I decided to put it off.

I'm about to take another GMATPrep Test and hope that I hit at least 40q and 30v as a sign of some progress.

Friday, my plan is to chill out and scope out the test center. Saturday, my plan is to not have a panic attack.

bb · Answer

Good Luck, and by the way, agree with your plan to chill the last day.
Looks like you've taken enough tests. One tip I can share - stop for a few seconds after reading the question - often helps avoid mistakes and sometimes leads to a much faster solution. Fingers crossed!

perseverance · Answer

Best of luck! Remember to be positive and confident. Go kill the GMAT!

bb · Answer

Also, helps to take one question at a time and not worry about the entire test, just one question at a time - 110%

ThomasD · Answer

Good Luck Tomorrow. Just watch a good movie tonight, no beer, not too much excitement and go to bed early ;-)

ael719 · Answer

I took my GMAT over a month ago and was pretty bummed by my scores which is why I haven't been visiting this forum. My real GMAT score 580 40q 28v and a 2 or 2.5 in AWA.

My plan was to finish my 8 MGMAT books. I never got close and eventually panicked. I kept flip flopping from math concepts to practice questions. I felt like nothing was working.

Things I learned and will implement for my re-take:
If time is not on your side, create a study plan and  stick to it . Make sure that your plan is realistic and gives you enough time to accomplish each task. Most importantly, do not deviate from the study plan. For some reason, I would spend a couple hours a day reviewing Geometry when I had budgeted that time for Verbal.

MGMAT CAT's aren't that great because the questions tend to focus on the material in their guides. In my sig, my MGMAT quant scores are highest.

I would do the first 75 questions for each section in OG and aim for 90% accuracy. Then redo them and aim for perfection. The OG books are numbered from easy to hard, so you need to be able to answer all the easy questions. I highly recommend walker's GMAT Toolkit for ipod/iphone. It's an error log with the answers to the OG books in them so you don't have to waste time grading.

Do not neglect verbal. If your practice tests are around 35Q and 28V, then focus on getting verbal up to 35. This will help your total score the most because a verbal score above 28 and closer to 35 will curve your total score more than improvements in quant. The best advice I can give native speakers is to not forget verbal. I think I probably would have cracked 600 if I worked on verbal and got a low 30ish.

ael719 · Answer

Quick summary of test day experience:
-Showed up 15 minutes early
-Got lucky and happened to leave near an excellent testing facility (40+ computers)
-Noise and other test takers were not an issue because there were only 5 other test takers and miles of space for everyone
-Brain fart #1: couldn't concentrate on first essay, kept re-writing the first paragraph and flip-flopped on which side to take
-Brain fart #2: for essay #2 I could only come up with 3 sentences even though I typed 1000 words, i kept flip flopping and deleting everything and couldn't choose which path/model to follow when i was diagramming
-Brain fart #3: took too long during cig break and started quant with 70 minutes

Everything after that is fuzzy because everything happened so quickly once I started quant. I was trying to get through every question in fear of the penalty for not finishing. I finished with seconds to spare, but I know I made at least 2 stupid errors where I accidentally picked the wrong answer.

Basically, do not let what happened to me on test day happen to you. Heck, based on my monumental screw ups on test day, you probably shouldn't even read my posts.

Before the GMAT, I was studying for CPA exam and now am back to studying on the CPA exam. I have 100% confidence in myself about passing the CPA exam. I messed up on the GMAT because I never planned on taking it or even applying to grad schools. It was a spur of the moment decision to take the GMAT. I plan on retaking the GMAT once I finish the CPA exam, hopefully in the summer/fall. I haven't figured out how I will study for the GMAT the 2nd time around, but I'm thinking about enrolling in Knewton. Also, I'm thinking about slowly accumulating that knowledge for SC by learning a new grammar rule everyday or something like that.

Hopefully, I can find a job once I finish with the CPA and then either apply to a masters in tax program in 2011 or get 3-4 years work experience to apply for for MBA schools.

TimeSquareDesi · Answer

great posts, dude. i wish you the best of luck on your retake. im in a similar situation: after kaplan '10 premier, i took a kaplan cat and scored a 490: Q11 and V30. I am working through the mgmat guides now and plan ton taking a ton of more cats before D-day.

are there any tips you have for quant? i see your scores jumped after doing the mgmat guides and im hoping they have the same effect on me :D

good luck on the retake,
 - tsd

ael719 · Answer

Study the MGMAT guides, but definitely do not rely on the MGMAT CAT exams for practice. Stick to OG12 and OG Quant. books for practicing actual GMAT-like questions.

Also, I bought a 5 pack of post-it notes (w/ "Super Sticky" adhesive) and wrote every formula or equation down and posted it on my wall. It was great for quick reference and eventually I began removing them as I started to memorize them. I used some sort of color coding system where green stickies were important and blue stickies were of medium importance. Sometimes I found myself re-writing the same stickies and having 3 similar stickies, which told me that I need to figure that concept out and commit it to memory.

It was very messy, but helped me out alot. I was horrible at math in high school and college, but after studying for the GMAT (and as of recent, working as a math tutor for HS students) my math skills have improved and I feel smarter and am able understand math based concepts a whole lot faster.

Spend the most time on Number Properties and get them down! Number properties are the most basic math skills which the rest of the MGMAT books will build upon. Also, the one on Rates and/or exponential functions (word problems?) and Geometry are good too.

Once you start hitting 35-40q on CATs, take a break from quant and start reviewing verbal.

I CANNOT STRESS THAT ENOUGH! Do not forget Verbal. You will feel like you need more work on quant, but the fact is you will eventually hit a wall and your quant comprehension/learning and score improvements will begin to slow down and even regress. Once this happens, STOP PRACTICING QUANT and move on to verbal. (Of course this is only if you are reviewing quant and verbal separately)

Also, do not schedule your test until you have gone through the MGMAT guides and OG12. Once you've completed OG12 and the MGMAT books, then schedule your test and practice with the OG Quant and Verbal guides in the months/weeks leading up to your exam.

Good luck to you and let me know if you have any questions or run into any problems!

ael719 · Answer

Q11 on Kaplan is a bit troubling, but definitely not impossible to improve to q40 with MGMAT. Kaplan CATs are also a bit screwy and nowhere near as good as MGMAT or GMATPrep CATs.

I bought the $250 set that came with OG12, OG quant + verbal, MGMAT 1-8, dry erase board, and their supplemental beginners math guide.

You might want to start out with their beginners math guide (not sure what its called), but there is an online diagnostic exam that you can take on their website. It will tell you whether you need the beginners math guide or not, depending on your diagnostic score.

Oh yeah, if you have an iPod or iPhone, DEFINITELY buy GMAT Toolkit. It will save you time and keep track of your progress.

TimeSquareDesi · Answer

+1 - kudos for your great advice. I actually have the exam scheduled for April 10th - about 43 days away... I am looking to break 500-550 (basically a 40th percentile in both Q and V)... since i am closer to 40th percentile on verbal (just basing that on my 1st practice test), my goal is to focus on quant for the next few weeks. I'm planning on doing 2-3 practice tests per week but only after I'm done with the MGMAT guides. When I'm in the 30s with quant, just like you, im going to jump over to verbal.

I think that's my plan for now. Thanks again for the great tips.
- tsd

I think that's my plan for now. Thanks again for the great tips.
 - tsd

TimeSquareDesi · Answer

I just realized - I said Q11 but I think I may be wrong.... Out of 37 quant questions on the practice exam, I got 11 right and 26 wrong. My raw score based on those figures is a 20 based on the chart in the Kaplan book. So wouldthat mean I had a Q20? Same with my verbal - I got 26 right and 15 wrong.... My raw score on that was a 19....

anyway, i'll figure it out in the morning. it's almost 3am and im working in a few hours :D thanks again for the tips.

anyway, i'll figure it out in the morning. it's almost 3am and im working in a few hours :D thanks again for the tips.

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Manhattan GMAT Study Plan - 19days left

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