Starting my preparation right now.

MartyTargetTestPrep and EducationAisle,
Thank You very much for the suggestions. I think since I am just starting my preparation, I will focus entirely on strengthening my basics in the Verbal Section.

I have a few more questions:
1. I believe, quality plays a more significant role as compared to the number of questions solved per day. However, on average how many questions should I aim to solve per day.
2. Also, I usually solve the RC questions in a certain manner. For every RC question that I solve there are 2 things on which I really stress myself out. First, I always write the reason(s) (in my rough notebook) as to why I selected a particular option as my answer, and 2nd I also write the reasons as to why I rejected the other 4 options. This method really works wonders, but the downside is TIME. Even after pondering on the RC for about 3-3.5 minutes I sometimes have to return back to the passage to read it again and answer a particular question. Is there any way to solve this problem?

Agreed, but even before you start solving questions, please make sure that the theoretical concepts are in place.

Obviously this strategy (of writing why you rejected 4 options) is not feasible, purely from a time perspective. So, you would have to come out of this mindset of scribbling everything down.

It's hard to say how many you should answer each day because it depends on how much time you spend each day preparing and how much time you spend on each question. A reasonable number may be 15 to 20 questions, but on some days you may answer more than 20 questions, and on other days, if you are carefully analyzing challenging questions, you may not answer more than 5.

Speed will come with skill, and the more you practice, the less you'll find necessary to write down. So, the solution is to continue to learn strategies and develop skill.

Hi SSeng,

To start, if you're interested in advice about how to build-up a strong Overall profile, then you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your current profile and plans. Those Experts should be able to answer your Admissions questions and help define the specific areas of your profile that could use some improvement. There's a Forum full of those Experts here:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admissio ... tants-124/

Many GMATers find the Verbal section to be challenging, so you're not alone. Thankfully, the Verbal section is as consistent and predictable as the Quant section is, but Verbal questions have no 'safety net' - meaning that if you make a little mistake or miss a vital piece of information, then you will convince yourself that one of the wrong answers is correct (and not realize it). It takes time to hone all of the necessary skills to consistently score at a high level in that section - and that includes making mistakes along the way so that you can learn NOT to make those same mistakes in the future. At this point, you should not be concerned about the number of questions that you should be completing each day - your focus has to be on learning and mastering the knowledge and Tactical skills needed for the Verbal section. It sounds as though you have given yourself plenty of potential study time though - which is great!

Since it sounds like you're just beginning your studies, then it would be a good idea to take a FULL-LENGTH practice CAT Test; you can access 2 for free at www.mba.com (and they come with some additional practice materials). If you want to do a little studying first, so that you can familiarize yourself with the basic content and question types, then that's okay - but you shouldn't wait too long to take that initial CAT. That score will give us a good sense of your natural strengths and weaknesses and will help provide a basis for comparison as you continue to study. A FULL CAT takes about 3.5 hours to complete, so make sure that you've set aside enough time to take it in one sitting. Once you have that Score, you should report back here (or you can feel free to PM me directly) and we can come up with a study plan.

I'd like to know a bit more about your timeline and goals:
1) What is your goal score?
2) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

Contact Rich at: Rich.C@empowergmat.com

Hi SSeng,

You can go through this article to understand the right way to prepare for GMAT.

https://www.mbacrystalball.com/blog/202 ... L6b4hafmwA

As far as the prep is concerned, it depends on a lot of things such as -

1. Your target score and target month
2. Your target colleges
3. The time you can devote to studying each day
4. Resources being used by you for prep, if any
5. The structure and study plan being followed by you

Answers to these questions will help me guide you in a better way. And I personally suggest to go for the exam only after you prepared well and are 100% confident.

Coming to time management, it is one of the most important skills for competitive exams that most students struggle with. There is a significant penalty for failing to complete any section of the GMAT exam, so it is also important to develop pacing skills. Once you hone your time management skills strategically, you will be confident about not missing out on any questions on the test day.

The possible reason for struggling with time management in case of Verbal:

Talking about the reason behind struggling with time management, you are likely taking more time to solve RC questions. The reason for this might be you are taking too long to read a passage or you might be going back and forth to the passage for every question. This happens when you don’t use the right reading strategies. Students often read the passage from a detail perspective and stuff themselves with the details. And once they come across an inferential question or a main point question, they cannot answer it and they read the passage again to find the answer. This would often lead to the wastage of time.

For GMAT Verbal, it is very important that you follow the right methodology and the logical approach. Your focus has to be on eliminating four incorrect choices rather than choosing the right one. The key is to develop a solid understanding of the concepts that are typically tested on the GMAT and master the process skills that are required to solve GMAT questions. Only then, you will be able to smartly avoid the traps set by the test makers and avoid taking too much time in solving questions.
• For SC – Follow the meaning based approach.
• For CR – Focus on Scope Analysis and Framework driven Pre-thinking.
• For RC – Involve yourself in the passage and understand why the passage is written and not just on what’s written.
This should help.

Feel free to reach out to me in case you have any queries.

You can always write back to me here or if you wish to discuss this over a call, you can schedule a free consultation call using the below link.

Hi SSeng
What material are you going through for verbal? You might five the link useful:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/study-plan-f ... 98342.html
Good Luck!

Hi SSeng,
You can have some useful stuff for verbal in the link;
https://gmatwithcj.com/resources/critic ... questions/

Thanks!

I am really sorry to everyone for not being able to reply back. Thank You very much for the suggestions. I think it will take me 1 or 2 weeks to really study every resource that I have been provided with.
I will keep everyone in the loop so that I can judge myself better with respect to everyone.

EMPOWERgmatRichC
Good Evening,
So for the questions, I can summarise the answers as :

1. My goal score right now is to get above 730. Since I have not taken any mock exam before, it will be difficult for me to judge how far I am from my objective.
2. I am planning to take my GMAT next year in the month of March (probably in the 2nd week).
3. Right now I am in my final semester of undergrad (4th year). I will begin applying to B-Schools from 2025 onwards (this is still very little as compared to the average Work-ex, but I will begin my application procedures from 2025).
I have still not decided on my schools, but most probably I will pick those schools that have a strong presence in the Consultancy or Financial Field.

Hi SSeng,

I've sent you a PM with some notes and additional questions.

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

Contact Rich at: Rich.C@empowergmat.com