You've done real work here, and finishing the Official Guide untimed is a good place to build from. But before I answer your questions, I'd push back on the plan itself, because it's aimed at the wrong thing for where you are.
Solving OG questions untimed isn't the same as mastering the content. The OG is a question bank, not a course. It hands you problems, but it doesn't teach a topic from scratch, put the material in order, or track your accuracy so you can see what's actually shaky. So you can finish the OG and still have real gaps, because a question bank lets you get things half-right on partial knowledge without ever showing you what you don't know.
That's the piece you're missing, and it matters more than timing or mocks. What you want is a structured system that takes you one topic at a time: learn the concepts and techniques, then drill that single topic untimed until your accuracy is high and the approach is automatic. Every miss gets diagnosed (concept gap, misread, careless slip, trap), and you redo those questions a few days later to make sure the fix stuck. That's what builds real skill, and a good structured course with solid analytics does a lot of the tracking and blind-spot spotting for you, which is really what you're after with a mentor.
The rest sorts itself out from there. Timing comes after mastery, not before it. When you know a topic cold, speed follows on its own, and short timed sets just confirm it. Adaptivity isn't something to train separately; strong content is what lets you handle whatever the test throws at you. And when you're ready for official-like tests, the closest thing is the practice tests on mba.com, but hold those until your content work is mostly done so they measure a prepared version of you.
So, build the foundation first, master it topic by topic untimed, then add timing, and bring in the official mocks at the end to confirm you're ready.
quosperspiciatis
Hi everyone,
I’ve completed the basic question-solving from OG GMAT books (untimed) and now want to gear up my prep. I feel the next step is:
- Transitioning to solving questions in a timed environment
- Learning how to handle adaptive tests
- Practicing on tests that are closest to the official GMAT
I also think having a
mentor/coach could help me spot blind spots, refine pacing, and guide me through ESR analysis.
Could you please suggest the best options that fit all these boxes (official-like adaptive tests, timed practice, mentor support)? Also, am I missing anything important in my prep strategy that I should add at this stage?
Thanks in advance for your insights!