Newbie: Need help with planning GMAT Prep.

Hi makshinde,

At certain points in the study process, we really need the most accurate score assessment available - and the best option is to take one of the Official GMAC CATs under realistic conditions (meaning that you should take the FULL CAT - with the Essay and IR sections, take it away from your home, at the same time of day as when you think you'll take the Official GMAT, etc.). There are SIX Official CATs available, so 'saving' all of them until (what you believe is) the end of your studies is not necessary (nor is it a good idea). Beyond those Official CATs, there are other 3rd party practice CATs that are 'close enough' to the real thing that they'll give you reasonably accurate score results (assuming that you use them correctly) - so you can use those throughout your studies.

All of that having been said, we really have NO idea what your actual ability level is yet. Working through a random bunch of practice problems out of a book is not a practical way to assess your skills, so you really MUST take a FULL CAT soon. Until you have that initial score result, we have no way of knowing whether you're actually studying in an effective way or not.

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

yes, take Manhattan's free CAT, at the end of the test it will give you a detailed report called assessment report.

Quant:
Study material:
If you want to brush up your basics really well then Manhattan's Foundation book is great!
Magoosh is great value for money for all of gmat quant, they also offer excellent email support.
But if you aren't too bad with math then you can check gmatclub's theory book, it is a free and useful resource: https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-math-bo ... 30609.html
Workbook:
Use gmatclub's OG guide: https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-club-gu ... 29823.html
it offers you topic wise/difficulty wise questions of all of quant. Finish any one OG and a quant review. start with medium level questions, if you aren't solving them correctly, then review relevant lessons from magoosh, solve more questions of those type and then move on to next topic.
solve gmatclub tests questions, buy their CATS, it's really worth. make sure you review each question, if you have doubts, post it on the forum.

Verbal:
sc:
you need to be well versed with parallelism/idioms-you can learn this egmat(there are free videos and blog posts available)
also check their meaning based approach, very useful to improve accuracy. (stick to og questions)
cr:
check egmats blog posts on specific subtopics tested on the gmat.
you can use this technique while solving questions: Picture one person who you really enjoy disagreeing with, or simply someone you listen to with a lot of disapproval, the kind you want to prove wrong. Whenever you attempt a question, think that the CR prompt is being spoken by this person. When you do this, apart from grabbing your full attention, you will also be able to instantly find faults in the said person's argument. After that, read the question and pre-think the answer without checking the options, you will be able to eliminate answers more easily and this should also help in spotting the correct answer.

rc:
check this magoosh article to understand different rc question types: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2016/strategie ... ion-types/
try to understand the big picture of each passage. how? summarize every paragraph in a sentence or two, reword it in your head in a language you're most comfortable with. then summarize each of these 1/2 line paragraph summaries, into 1/2 sentence passage summary- this is the big idea/primary message of the passage.
observe shifts in tone of the author, and note them down or anything that the author stresses in the passage.

As I have mentioned above, you can study fundamentals using Manhattan's Foundations book.
For other video lessons you can buy Magoosh's subscription access their video lessons, and drop them emails too with your doubts, in case you fail to understand something. They are very helpful.
But if you aren't too bad with math then you can check gmatclub's theory book, it is a free and useful resource: https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-math-bo ... 30609.html

It would be advisable to tackle your weaknesses first. So take Manhattan's free CAT and check the assessment report and then dive into studies accordingly.

Hi makshinde,

No worries!
You can surely increase your speed and eventually hit at least 49 or above just like 90% of our students as long as you follow our study guide properly​.

Based on the fact that you got 40 questions out of 230, your basic math skills are quite good.
However, it takes too much time per question. When it comes to GMAT, you need to solve 37 questions within 75 minutes. Hence, time management is critical.

In fact, GMAT Math is logic math test, rather than math skill test. You should learn 'logic' to solve GMAT math. With our unique approaches of ​Variable approach for DS and IVY approach for PS, you can significantly save time, and will have 10 minutes to spare on exam.

For instance, with our approaches​, you can solve questions that normally take 4 minutes in 1 minutes and 30 seconds, and 2-minute question in 30 seconds. Also, You can solve DS questions 100% with Variable approach and 30-40% of PS questions with IVY approach.

If you would like to try our approaches, Please try Trial Pack (4 hour lesson) that reveal our secret approaches of DS+PS core theory that you have never seen. You can test whether you like them or not before you enroll.

​Since GMAT takers are busy for their work and don't have enough time to study, you don't need to learn all about general math skills including the ones that don't appear on actual exam.
We teach 'must-know' math skills that are required for GMAT math. We don't teach something else. ​

​Regarding your question, we highly recommend taking verbal and quant from a specialised prep company respectively.
If your verbal skills are good, you can complete quant first and then move on to verbal.
If you are to study both at the same time, you can focus on equally or more on verbal or quant like ratios of 1:1, 2:1, 3:1 depending on your current skills.

Additionally, the below is useful article featured in GMAT Club for your reference. This will be helpful for you.

· Most Updated Math Trend : https://gmatclub.com/forum/overview-of-g ... 11809.html

Also, we would like to share the link below.
This is not testimonial but just comments of our students' real voice after they take an exam.
https://gmatclub.com/forum/math-revoluti ... 24118.html
You can also do the same if you study with us!

Come visit our website for further information!
www.mathrevolution.com

Happy Studying!

Jin
Math Revolution

There are actually 2 free tests from GMAC, and with 2 these free tests, you could take for 4 times. This means you could certainly have 4 free tests from GMAC. I think these tests should be saved for evaluate your preparing progress. At this point, you could take free CATs from Manhattan, from Vertias, and a free full CATs at GmatClub. Quant questions in Manhattan CATs are harder than the real ones. Quant questions in GmatClub CATs are also harder, but, I think, better for prepare.

So for question 1, you should take GmatClub Quant Test for evaluating your quant score. At this forum, there are a lot of topics with good and high quality quant questions for you to prepare and sharp your skill. You could also follow Brunuel, since he is an expert in Quant section and he is very active in GmatClub.

For question 2, as I've mentioned above, there are a lot of free resources you could take for prepare. In fact, there are some topics in this forum that listed every available resouces as well as full length CATs for test takers. You coud google them easily.

For question 3, which method better is based on each individual. In my opinion, no need to go through one book section by section. You could focus directly on the section that your skill's weak and try to improve it. For example, if you are very good at Verbal and get Verbal score V50, why on earth do you need to practice Verbal questions again?

Hello guys,
This is himanshu and planning to take GMAT in mid of June,2017. Recently took the GMAT prep and got a very very bad score - 300(Q23,V10).
I am a not native speaker of English and on analysis i found, i did lot of small/careless mistakes in Quant section.

Now, I am very confuse, how to start the preparation and see a result.

What material should i use for a better result? Start with Quant or Verbal or parallel?

Please help me plan?

Thanks

It seems that you just started preparing GMAT recently. Don't worry too much about low score, any new one might also have low score like you.

I think that you need to improve both Quant and Verbal scores. You could start with OG so you could know what GMAT questions test and how they are orgnized. Also, you could read many topics in this forum since there are a lot of useful posts here for any test takers.

Hi himanshu22,

I suggest that you start your own thread so that all of the responses/advice can be focused on your situation. In addition, before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied?
2) What materials have you used?
3) When you took this CAT, did you take the FULL CAT (with the Essay and IR sections)?

Goals:
4) What is your goal score?
5) Do you have an exact Test Date yet or are you currently just planning to take the GMAT in June?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
7) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

Hello Rich/npin2/nguyen,

I took the Manhattan Online Practice Test yesterday. Score:

610 (Q 44, V 31).

Quant: I made some silly mistakes in the 600-700 and 700-800 type questions. I think part of the reason was that I wasn't at all familiar with how to solve these questions within 2-3 mins and part of it was I didn't read and interpret them as well as I know I can. I shouldve scored 46-47.

Verbal: I was completely new to the type of questions and didn't take this part very seriously (Not a good way to take a test). But I am certain that I should reach 39-41 with practice. It is consistently good performance in Quant that I'm worried about.

I plan to do this:

Quant (20th March - 5th April)
1) Start doing DS from the 2015 OG that I have.
2) Do PS and DS from GMAT Club's material.

Verbal (7th April - 21st April)
1) Finish Verbal from the 2015 OG.
2) Use GMATClub Forums for clarifications of some concepts.

Tests (24th/25th April onwards)
1) Will start taking tests in the last week of April, analyze performance, make improvements in particular areas and take the test again after 5-7 days.

Suggestions?

Thank you.

I'm glad that some other people are asking similar questions - I am just now dipping my toe into the GMAT-prep ocean. There's certainly a huge variety of different choices to begin, so I appreciate all of the more experienced ppl/mods sharing their views of the best resources.

My main question at this point is should I take a diagnostic test or continue doing some prep work first beforehand? I have started doing some light prep work/study/review already (I haven't completed a full practice test yet).

I am torn between whether to take a full practice immediately so I know where I stand or to concentrate more on general review and then take a practice test in maybe 2-3 weeks once I have just a little bit more knowledge of the test and its content. The risk in my mind of taking a practice test right now is that I'll get an awful score and it will discourage my efforts and/or not be helpful.

Anyway, I just wanted to check and see if anyone had any suggestions or similar experience in the past. Thanks!

It depends on how much time you have. There is no need to take a diagnostic test right at the beginning, although I generally ask my students to take one as soon as possible.

I was in your shoes a couple of months back. I must add that if you are particularly looking to discover and improve on your weak areas in quant; taking a subscription to GMATCLUB tests is the best way to do that. They are indeed phenomenal and will not only pinpoint your weak areas but also help you improve on them. Further If you want to improve your verbal apart from the GMATPREP, Manhattan GMAT tests and Veritas Prep Tests in my experience have good verbal section and will certainly help you point out and improve your weak areas.

Further another advantage of taking many mocks is to build up your stamina. Apart from the GMATPREP tests, taking practise tests of any major GMATPREP company ought to do that.

Hope this helps.

Ok, thanks. I think I will just go ahead and try one. I have several months until I plan on taking it for real, so it seems like it would be best to take a practice test now just to see where I stand.

Bump!

Wanted to know:

1) How good/bad a score is it to begin with?
2) How is the study plan?

That's a promising score. A score from a GMATPrep would be more reliable, but a 610 is not bad at all. However, given that you're looking to get a 750, I suggest you spread your practice over a longer period, and try to incorporate a little more material. You seem to have budgeted one month for concepts, but that might be too little. Also, you should think about doing both quant and verbal together, rather than doing one and then moving on to the other.