Taking the GMAT in 2 months

Question

I am planning to take the GMAT in 2 months. I have bought ManhattanPrep books for my studies. I am now familiar with the different question types that are asked on the GMAT (not necessarily know how to approach each question type yet).

I know for a fact that I will need to focus on the verbal section. My math fundamentals are clear and I had a perfect score in the quant section on the GRE when I took the test 10+ years ago. Below are the questions that I have and I will appreciate any help:

- What material can I refer to improve my verbal section, especially critical reasoning? (I do not have more than 10 hours a week to spare for my preparation. I think I need to aggressively go after the verbal section starting today.)
- I wouldn't call myself an avid reader but sometimes I do read the Scientific American or the Fortune magazine. Is spending time on reading everyday key to getting a good verbal score? If so, what should I focus on while reading? (The way I currently read the articles may not necessarily be the right approach if my intentions are to improve the verbal score.)
- I think I do need to work on difficult problems for Quant - what's the best resource available for the difficult questions?
- Is it recommended to take a base test? If so, from where? How can I evaluate my strengths and weaknesses after I take the base test? Is there someone in this community to help in reviewing the test results?

Thanks!

MahmoudFawzy · Answer

Hi  rebecca501

for Verbal:
If you are planning for self-study, "Thursday with Ron" ( https://gmatclub.com/forum/thursdays-with-ron-critical-reasoning-series-critical-140883.html ) and "GMATNinja" ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2nVgm4d8mQ&list=PLNLrXqEPa0dNu8quqoI4Sg5ASC5qP_guN ) series would be your best resources for verbal. ManhattanPrep book is a good resource for practicing GMAT verbal. Here is CR megatrend on GMATClub : ( https://gmatclub.com/forum/new-critical-reasoning-super-megathread-updated-243917.html )
If you would like to join an online course for faster outcome, MGMAT or E-Gmat verbal platforms are praised by most reviewers.
Beware that Reading comprehension questions on GMAT became more than before, so plan your strategy well. ( https://gmatclub.com/forum/p2088515 )

for Quant,:
If you are planning for self-study, I think the question bank of GMATClub is the best resource, especially because of Bunuel's follow-ups and explanations and the comprehensive guide prepared by the club ( https://gmatclub.com/forum/ultimate-gmat-quantitative-megathread-244512.html )
If you are searching for online course, I think Veritasprep is a excellent choice.
Beware to revise well your quant and don't rely on your 10 years ago score.

cfc198 · Answer

For verbal:

Powerscore CR Bible and Thursday with Ron are great sources to understand the fundamentals.

For quants-

Make use of the gmatclub tests and questions posted on this forum. You can redeem your kudos to get the tests for free.

Best wishes!

TheUltimateWinner · Answer

rebecca501 https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... +reasoning ManhattanPrep Challenge questions Review of Manhattan Prep Challenge Problem Archive

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi rebecca501,

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 take 2 for free at www.mba.com (and they come with some additional practice materials). 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 those scores, you should report back here and we can come up with a study plan.

You ask some good questions; the answers to those questions will be based - in part - to your overall plans. As such, 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?

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

rebecca501 · Answer

Thank you everyone for the responses!

EMPOWERgmatRichC  below are my responses:
1) My goal score is 750.
2) I am planning to take the GMAT sometime in August (I haven't booked the date yet. I will take a practice test as you suggested before booking a date - Is it ok if I take the test from another source or does it have to be from mbadotcom? I am not sure if I have access to the tests without booking the date.)
3) I am planning to apply to business schools this year end for 2020.

Radheya · Answer

I cannot agree less. Both the verbal and quant references mentioned above are on point. 
Just one more point,
As you are considering giving the exam in August, do make sure that you have enough time for your target schools application because many of them have deadlines mid-September for round 1 and if you are targeting round 2 then you have enough time.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi rebecca501,

You ask some really great questions. First off, I agree that since you are just starting out, you should take a full-length MBA.com practice exam to get a baseline score. Once you take that exam, you’ll get a better idea of how much time you need to put into quant versus verbal prep.

Regarding prep courses, in addition to seeking advice in this thread, take a look at the GMAT Club reviews for  the best quant  and  verbal courses, and also read through some   GMAT success stories  to see what materials have worked well for other test-takers.

If you’d like some more specific advice on how to study for quant and verbal, feel free to reach back out. In the meantime, you may find it helpful to read this article about 
 how to score a 700+ on the GMAT .

Good luck!

IanStewart · Answer

I'd also advise taking a test now, to see where you stand. There'd be very little value in taking an unofficial test, because it's very hard to guess what an unofficial score means, so I'd suggest you sign up at the official site and do one of the tests there - you don't need to book a test date to do that.

If your goal is 750, I normally would not recommend any kind of course. GMAT courses aren't aimed at that scoring level. If you had a perfect GRE Quant score, you'll likely be (or will be with a very quick self-study program) well above the level of any group class you could take. For Verbal, the situation might be different - if you're already above average there, a course is probably of no value, but if you did really need to focus on fundamentals, then there may be some reason to consider one.

Reading a lot of academic writing can be useful for GMAT RC, but it's much more efficient to use real GMAT RC passages for study. So if you have time, do both, but if you had to choose, work on GMAT RC problems, and abandon the Scientific American articles. For Verbal practice problems, prep company questions are a very poor substitute for the real thing (it's extremely difficult to develop high-quality Verbal questions, and GMAC invests thousands of dollars developing each question on the test -- prep companies can't afford to do that) so study only from official questions. Get the official books, the Question Pack from the official site, and other official resources if you need them. And for the same reason, prioritize official practice tests (you can buy additional ones if you need to), and if you use any company tests (not necessary), don't put too much stock in the results.

For hard Quant problems, Bunuel (from gmatclub) designs a lot of great problems that are truly in the style of genuine hard GMAT questions. Other 'hard' or 'challenge' resources I've looked at either aren't challenging, or are hard in ways the GMAT is not (often the questions are simply too long or too complicated, or they test specialized knowledge, and real GMAT questions aren't like that). Because I had trouble finding good problem sets to recommend to my high-level students, I prepared my own, and if you might be interested in any of those materials, feel free to send me an email. Good luck!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi rebecca501,

The most realistic CATs available are the 6 from GMAC (the 2 free CATs, and each of the 2 that come with Exam Pack 1 and Exam Pack 2). That having been said, the CATs from Kaplan, MGMAT and Veritas are all 'close enough' to the real thing that they will provide you with a relatively realistic score assessment (assuming that you correctly take the CAT in a realistic fashion). Thus, you can take a CAT from any of those sources and we can use that initial Score to define the type of Study Plan that you might need. Once you have that result, you should post back here (you can also feel free to contact me directly).

As an aside, the 750+ score is approximately the 98th percentile - so clearly most Test Takers never score that high (regardless of how long they study or the number of times that they take the GMAT). Thankfully, NO Business School requires a score that high - so it's important to realize that the score that you "want" and the score that you "need" (to get in to your first-choice School) are not the same thing.

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

TheUltimateWinner · Answer

Also, for difficulty level 700+ then try the following link: https://gmatclub.com/forum/search.php?s ... tag_id=180 you can use gmatclub smoothly by the following link: https://gmatclub.com/forum/search.php?view=search_tags

rebecca501 · Answer

Hi All - I finally took a diagnostic test. Before taking the test, I had familiarized myself with the GMAT content. I have still not covered all the content but I did spend 30 hours on both the Quant and the Verbal section before taking this test.

I scored a 660 - Quant: 45 and Verbal: 35.

I really struggled with timing on the test. I randomly guessed the last 6 questions on Quant and the 4th RC passage (didn't even get the time to read what the passage was about).
 
I see that starting from the 9th question on the Quant section, I was only working on high level difficulty problems.

On the verbal section, I was working on medium and high difficulty problems starting from the 7th Question till the 24th question after which I was mainly working on high difficulty level questions.

Here's the performance summary provided by Kaplan:
 Quant 
Algebra: 43% (3 out 7 correct)
Arithmetic: 67% (4 out of 6 correct)
Geometry: 67% (2 out of 3 correct)
Number Properties: 60% (3 out of 5 correct)
Proportions: 25% (2 out of 8 correct)
Statistics: 100% (2 out of 2 correct)

Verbal 
Critical Reasoning: 22% (2 out of 9 correct)
Reading Comprehension: 50% (7 out 14 correct)
Sentence Correction: 85% (11 out of 13 correct)

I still haven't booked the test date because I have not been consistent with my studies. My workload is going to decrease going forward and I will be able to spend about 12 hours/week starting next week.

It's clear that I need to work on several concepts but I would really appreciate if someone can provide guidance on how to proceed with my studies - what should I focus on immediately? When should I take the next test?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi rebecca501,

To start, a 660 is a fantastic initial CAT Score (the average Score on the Official GMAT hovers around 550 most years). That having been said, raising a 660 to the point that you can consistently score 750+ will likely require at least another 2 months of consistent, guided study - and you'll have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

"Review" is an exceptionally important part of the GMAT training process; your ability to define WHY you're getting questions wrong is essential to defining the areas that you need to work on (and the specific things that you need to 'fix'). As such, I'd like to know a bit more about your last CAT. While a full Mistake Tracker would provide a lot more information, there are some basic questions that you should be able to answer (and the more EXACT you can be with your answers, the better):

After reviewing each section of this CAT, how many questions did you get wrong....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some math/verbal that you just could not remember how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?
4) Because you were low on time and had to guess (this includes any questions in addition to the 6 Quant questions and the RC prompt that you noted)?
5) How many Verbal questions did you 'narrow down to 2 choices' but still get wrong?

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

rebecca501 · Answer

EMPOWERgmatRichC  you have been incredibly helpful. Thanks for your quick response. Below are my answers

1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
Q: 3 Qs (Algebra, Proportions, a Geometry + Combination q)
V: 1 Q because of a silly mistake (RC q)

2) Because there was some math/verbal that you just could not remember how to do?
Q: 2 Qs that I just didn't know how to approach (both were qs on Proportions)
V: 2 Qs (both were SC qs)

3) Because the question was too hard?
Q: Found 2 Qs hard/tricky (Number Properties and Algebra) and in addition, I didn't understand what 2 other Qs (Number Properties and Arithmetic) were trying to ask.
V: Found 6 CR Qs hard - I have read up on how to approach CR qs. I clearly need to spend time on CR, but I thought I was following the approach recommended in the Manhattan Prep book. Either I am not reading the stimulus carefully or I am getting lost in the answer choices.

4) Because you were low on time and had to guess (this includes any questions in addition to the 6 Quant questions and the RC prompt that you noted)?
Q: 6 Qs
V: 1 CR Q, 5 RC Qs

5) How many Verbal questions did you 'narrow down to 2 choices' but still get wrong?
I definitely noticed this was an issue with some of the CR questions. I am still reviewing the CR qs - I want to solve them without looking at the answers.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi rebecca501,

Earning a 750+ on Test Day requires a lot of consistent, efficient, organized work on your part; in simple terms, you can't afford to get any questions wrong because of little mistakes AND you have to take a reasonable shot at all of the questions (including the ones at the ends of each section). Between the Quant and Verbal sections, there are only 67 questions in total - and if your analysis shows that you had to rush through at least 12 questions, then that's approximately 18% of the Exam. Since you're relatively early-on in your studies, having a pacing issue isn't that surprising. There's a reasonable chance that your pacing will improve over time (as you become more familiar with the question types and patterns that appear in the Exam). However, most GMAT questions can be approached in more than one way - and if you're approaching questions in an 'inefficient' fashion (including the questions that you correctly answer), then 'your way' might be the 'long way.' In this case, the 'fix' is to learn new ways to approach the Exam (again, including the questions that you can already correctly answer).

Given your Score Goal, you would likely find it beneficial to invest in a GMAT Course of some type (either Guided Self-Study or instructor-led), so you should plan to look into the available options. Most GMAT Companies offer some type of free materials (practice problems, Trial Accounts, videos, etc.) that you can use to 'test out' a product before you buy it. We have a variety of those resources at out site (www.empowergmat.com). I suggest that you take advantage of all of them then choose the one that best matches your personality, timeline and budget.

If you have any additional questions, then just let me know (and you can feel free to contact me directly).

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

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi rebecca501,

Although I do not know your actual score goal, I’m guessing that you are looking to score above 700. If that is the case, then you’ll need to improve both your quant and verbal skills. To do so, you should follow a linear and structured study plan that allows you to individually learn each GMAT quant and verbal topic and then practice each topic until you’ve gained mastery. Let me expand on this idea further.

If you are learning about Number Properties, you should develop as much conceptual knowledge about Number Properties as possible. In other words, your goal will be to completely understand properties of factorials, perfect squares, quadratic patterns, LCM, GCF, units digit patterns, divisibility, and remainders, to name a few concepts. After carefully reviewing the conceptual underpinnings of how to answer Number Properties questions, practice by answering 50 or more questions just from Number Properties. When you do dozens of questions of the same type one after the other, you learn just what it takes to get questions of that type correct consistently. If you aren't getting close to 90 percent of questions of a certain type correct, go back and seek to better understand how that type of question works, and then do more questions of that type until you get to around at least 90 percent accuracy in your training. If you get 100 percent of some sets correct, even better. Number Properties is just one example; follow this process for all quant topics.

When you are working on learning to answer questions of a particular type, start off taking your time, and then seek to speed up as you get more comfortable answering questions of that type. As you do such practice, do a thorough analysis of each question that you don't get right. If you got a remainder question wrong, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not properly apply the remainder formula? Was there a concept you did not understand in the question? By carefully analyzing your mistakes, you will be able to efficiently fix your weaknesses and in turn improve your GMAT quant skills.

Each time you strengthen your understanding of a topic and your skill in answering questions of a particular type, you increase your odds of hitting your score goal. You know that there are types of questions that you are happy to see, types that you would rather not see, and types that you take a long time to answer correctly. Learn to more effectively answer the types of questions that you would rather not see, and make them into your favorite types. Learn to correctly answer in two minutes or less questions that you currently take five minutes to answer. By finding, say, a dozen weaker quant areas and turning them into strong areas, you will make great progress toward hitting your quant score goal. If a dozen areas turn out not to be enough, strengthen some more areas.

Follow a similar routine for verbal. For example, let’s say you start by learning about Critical Reasoning. Your first goal is to fully master the individual topics: Strengthen the Argument, Weaken The Argument, Resolve the Paradox, etc. As you learn about each question type, do focused practice, so that you can track your skill in answering each type. If, for example, you get a weakening question wrong, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not recognize the specific question type? Were you doing too much analysis in your head? Did you skip over a keyword in an answer choice? You must thoroughly analyze your mistakes and seek to turn weaknesses into strengths by focusing on the question types you dread seeing and the questions you take a long time to answer correctly.

When practicing Reading Comprehension, you need to develop a reading strategy that is both efficient and thorough. Reading too fast and not understanding what you have read are equally as harmful as reading too slow and using up too much time. When attacking Reading Comprehension passages, you must have one clear goal in mind: to understand the context of what you are reading. However, you must do so efficiently, so you need to avoid getting bogged down in the details of each paragraph and instead focus on understanding the main point of each paragraph. That being said, do not fall into the trap of thinking that you can just read the intro and the conclusion and thereby comprehend the main idea of a paragraph. As you read a paragraph, consider how the context of the paragraph relates to previous paragraphs, so you can continue developing your overall understanding of the passage. Furthermore, as you practice, focus on the exact types of questions with which you struggle: Find the Main Idea, Inference, Author’s Tone, etc. As with Critical Reasoning, analyze your incorrect Reading Comprehension answers to better determine why you tend to get a particular question type wrong, and then improve upon your weaknesses. Keep in mind that GMAT Reading Comprehension passages are not meant to be easy to read. So, to better prepare yourself to analyze such passages, read magazines with similar content and style, such as The Economist, Scientific American, and Smithsonian. 
 
Sentence Correction is a bit of a different animal compared to Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning. There are three aspects to getting correct answers to GMAT Sentence Correction questions: what you know, such as grammar rules, what you see, such as violations of grammar rules and the logic of sentence structure, and what you do, such as carefully considering each answer choice in the context of the non-underlined portion of the sentence. To drive up your Sentence Correction score, you likely will have to work on all three of those aspects.

Regarding what you know, first and foremost, you MUST know your grammar rules. Let's be clear, though: GMAT Sentence Correction is not really a test of knowledge of grammar rules. The reason for learning the grammar rules is so that you can determine what sentences convey and whether sentences are well-constructed. In fact, in many cases, incorrect answers to Sentence Correction questions are grammatically flawless. Thus, often your task is to use your knowledge of grammar rules to determine which answer choice creates the most logical sentence meaning and structure.
 
This determination of whether sentences are well-constructed and logical is the second aspect of finding correct answers to Sentence Correction questions, what you see. To develop this skill, you probably have to slow way down. You won't develop this skill by spending less than two minutes per question. For a while, anyway, you have to spend time with each question, maybe even ten or fifteen minutes on one question sometimes, analyzing every answer choice until you see the details that you have to see in order to choose the correct answer. As you go through the answer choices, consider the meaning conveyed by each version of the sentence. Does the meaning make sense? Even if you can tell what the version is SUPPOSED to convey, does the version really convey that meaning? Is there a verb to go with the subject? Do all pronouns clearly refer to nouns? By slowing way down and looking for these details, you learn to see what you have to see in order to clearly understand which answer to a Sentence Correction question is correct.
 
There is only one correct answer to any Sentence Correction question, there are clear reasons why that choice is correct and the others are not, and none of those reasons are that the correct version simply "sounds right." In fact, the correct version often sounds a little off at first. That correct answers may sound a little off is not surprising. If the correct answers were always the ones that sounded right, then most people most of the time would get Sentence Correction questions correct, without really knowing why the wrong answers were wrong and the correct answers were correct. So, you have to go beyond choosing what "sounds right" and learn to clearly see the logical reasons why one choice is better than all of the others.
 
As for the third aspect of getting Sentence Correction questions correct, what you do, the main thing you have to do is be very careful. You have to make sure that you are truly considering the structures of sentences and the meanings conveyed rather than allowing yourself to be tricked into choosing trap answers that sound right but don't convey logical meanings. You also have to make sure that you put some real energy into finding the correct answers. Finding the correct answer to a Sentence Correction question may take bouncing from choice to choice until you start to see the differences that make all choices wrong except for one. Often, when you first look at the choices, only one or two seem obviously incorrect. Getting the right answers takes a certain work ethic. You have to take the time to see the differences between answers and to figure out the precise reasons that one choice is correct.
 
To improve what you do when you answer Sentence Correction questions, seek to become aware of how you are going about answering them. Are you being careful and looking for logic and details, or are you quickly eliminating choices that sound a little off, and then choosing the best of the rest? If you choose an incorrect answer, consider what you did to arrive at that answer and what you could do differently to arrive at correct answers more consistently. Furthermore, see how many questions you can get correct in a row as you practice. If you break your streak by missing one, consider what you could do differently to extend your streak.

As with your Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension regimens, after learning a particular Sentence Correction topic, engage in focused practice with 30 questions or more that involve that topic. As your skills improve, practice with questions that test you on skills from multiple Sentence Correction topics.

In order to follow the path described above, you may need some new quant and verbal materials, so take a look at the GMAT Club reviews for the  best quant  and  verbal courses . You also may find it helpful to read the following article about  The Phases of Preparing for the GMAT .

Feel free to reach out with any further questions. Good luck!

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