Need advice on study plan

Question

Hi, i've just done my second mock test of Gmat on expert's global, i scored 400 (Q14, V31 IR7), my first mock test was at the beginning of my gmat preparation and i scored 490 (don't remember Q or V points), which is a bit disappointing since after that test i've started practising on Gmat OG for the Verbal section and i could get almost 85-90% of correct answers in SC, CR and RC. I know that i really suck on quant, anyway i would like to score 710+ on real exam which will probably be enough to enter my target schools (msc Finance HEC, EDHEC, ESSEC, St Gallen, Bocconi, LSE); i don't have any deadline because i'm still in undergrad penultimate year so i have plenty of time to prepare seriously for the Gmat. I have the Official Guide for practice on quant, but i think i'll take math review course. What would you suggest me to do from now on regarding the study plan?
Thank you and sorry if i posted in the wrong section

abhishekdadarwal2009 · Answer

Hi,

Below are some of the posts on Gmatclub.com that may be helpful for your preparation.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-study-p ... l#p1680625
https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-study-p ... l#p2216155
https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-study-p ... ml#p605856

Russ19 · Answer

In Mprep CAT, I have seen the first test doesn't mirror the real test whereas the second test does so. It might be the case for other CATs too.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi pm1798,

Studying for the GMAT now - far in advance of when you will actually 'need' your Score - is a smart choice. If you are concerned about your general 'math skills', then you might want to focus on those skills first before you commit to working on your GMAT Quant skills (since those require a mix of math along with Quant Tactics, pattern-recognition, etc.). For free math practice and help, I recommend that you set up an account at Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.org). The site is completely free and makes the learning a bit more fun and 'game-like' (as opposed to the dry academic approach taken by most books). While the site is vast, you should limit your studies to basic Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry. After spending a little time re-building those skills, you can jump back into your GMAT studies.

Before I can offer you any additional advice for your studies, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

1) How long have you studied so far? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) Have you used any other study materials besides the Official Guide? Which OG have you been working with?
3) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

pm1798 · Answer

hi, so far it's been 1 month in which i focused just on verbal; i've used only GMAC official guide, i can study up to 30 hours a week because in this university semester we have only online lessons and the subjects are pretty easy and i've already studied most of the topics back in high school, so i think i'll be able to dedicate even in the worst case at least 20-25 hours a week only for the GMAT

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi pm1798,

If you can consistently commit 20-30 hours a week to your GMAT studies over the course of the next several months, then you could potentially improve a great deal. That having been said, to raise your current Score to a 710+, you will have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. To reiterate a prior point, you would likely benefit a great deal from putting in some practice time at Khan Academy.

1) When you took this recent practice CAT Test, did you run out of time on any of the sections and have to 'rush' through some questions just to finish? If you did, then how many questions did you rush through (and did you leave any questions unanswered?)?
2) After you reviewed that CAT, how many questions did you get wrong in each section because of a silly/little mistake?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

pm1798 · Answer

No i didn't run out of time, in verbal i had about 5 minutes left, and in quant i had some left because i have to guess some answers because i was totally lost; i checked and i've done very few silly mistakes. Now i'm following math revolution lesson starting from the beginning, after each topic i do easy and medium PS and DS practice questions but i miss most of them, i feel like those are way harder than that of the Official Guide; i'm almost considering to shift to GRE because of the easier quant section

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi pm1798,

Before you change Exams, you should make sure that the Programs that you are interested in accept both the GRE and the GMAT as part of their respective application processes. You would likely find the Quant sections of the GRE to be easier than the Quant section of the GMAT (but you have less time per section on the GRE, so you have less time, on average, for those Quant questions). In addition, the GRE places a greater emphasis on your vocabulary knowledge (and knowing when to use certain words instead of others).

If you have already enrolled in a course, then I suggest that you study as you choose for the next 2-3 weeks, then take a NEW CAT/mock. Once you have your Score, you should post back here and we can discuss the results.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

egmat · Answer

Hi  pm1798

It seems like you are just beginning with the preparation. Before we delve into strategies to improve Quant and Verbal, you must

• Set a Target Score
• Make a study plan to reach that target score

Doing this will make your preparation focused on the target which is the most efficient way to study. A study plan would also help you estimate the amount of time you would need to study and thereby when to plan the test.

We have helped more than 25,000 people in last 1 year in achieving their target of a good GMAT score. Maximum people attributed their success to the structured process which we suggested them. I suggest you break your preparation into 3 stages and follow the below plan:

Stage – 1 --> Learn the concepts
Stage – 2 --> Cement the concepts by practicing a sub-section in Isolation
Stage – 3 --> Become test ready (practicing all the sub-sections together)

Prawee   (550 to 740) used all the books and local coaching classes but was unable to improve her GMAT score beyond a certain point. She changed her approach and finally scored 740 in her 5th attempt and got a $180,000 fellowship cumulatively from 3 top business schools. She is currently pursuing MBA from Kellogg. Kellogg was once not even on her radar.

7 Steps – How to score 700+ on the GMAT

You can start your preparation by giving a mock to test your current ability. 
Hope the above strategy get you to your target score

e-GMAT strategy Expert

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