Is there a particular order to study Manhattan GMAT Quant Guides?

Question

I am restudying and plan on retaking the exam by mid-March. I also have:

- CR Bible
- Manhattan SC
- GMAT OG Ed 13

Is there a particular order for the quants? And how do I get my other three materials into the mix?

Thanks!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Catalan7,

Since you mentioned that you were re-studying, I'm curious about how you were studying before and what the results were. Knowing those details should help me to give you the proper advice that you're looking for:

1) What was your original GMAT Score (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
2) How long did you study?
3) What resources did you use?
4) What is your goal score?

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

Catalan7 · Answer

Hi Rich,

I am actually going for my fifth attempt. I have been going at this for about a year and half. I don't really know how to describe my methods during that time as I was much more disorganized and inconsistent. I basically went through the Kaplan Online Anywhere. I didn't use the GMAT OG or any of the other resources I currently have. I can very faintly remember all my scores, but I've scored in this order: 380, 400, canceled, 450. None of these reflect my Kaplan CATs that that have been in the 500's, the highest being a Veritas CAT actually, which the last one I took back in November of a 600: Q 45 V 27. I flopped once again in mid-November with Q 16 V 27. I plan to retake in mid to late March.

I want to redeem myself. I have very gloomy past posts where I faced a lot of challenges and what not. I still have a fire burning inside and its telling me not to conform with a 600. I am aiming for 700 and above. I take my first CAT in a long time tomorrow.

I would love to hear your feedback. I am also going to get into the habit of giving updates here.

PS: any tip on how to integrate time and where to fit it for practice problems from the OG? I'm wondering if I should consider GMAT Prep's Question Pack.

Regards,

Miguel

Posted from my mobile device

manyatpr · Answer

Hi Catalan7,

Planning and following a strategy gives direction to your preparation and help you to assess your performance well. We would advice you to follow the below steps and see whether it helps you in improving your GMAT score or not.

1. Start with a mock test. This will help you identify your strong and weak areas
2. If you plan to do self study, get your hands on the best preparatory material available in the market. You can speak to your seniors, get feedback on forums like pagalguy to seek out the best in the market
3. Joining a coaching institute or a study group is recommended because it gives a structure to your preparation and keeps you motivated all the time. Remember cracking GMAT is not just about working hard but working smart as well
4. Make a study time table for yourself that suits you best. You can start with spending 2 hours every day and as you move closer to your test date, start increasing your study hours
5. Keep taking mock tests in real test taking situations. However, more important than taking a mock test is to analyse your performance in the same. If you spend two hours on a mock test, spend six hours in analysing the same.
6. Figure out ways by which you can continuously keep improving your score
7. Make sure you stay consistent with your schedule. This is extremely important

You can also check our GMAT online course on the link below

https://www.manyagroup.com/gmat-online

Try following the above steps and let us know if you have need any further advise regarding your GMAT preparations.
www.manyagroup.com

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Miguel,

Using your last Official GMAT Score as a gauge, there's clearly some kind of "disconnect" between how you practice and how you handle the Official Test. To go from a Q45 to a Q16 can really only be explained if we assume that one of the following is true:

1) Your practice was not realistic, so your scores were not accurate.
2) Something about Test Day itself was SO surprising that you completely lost the ability to perform at that level.

In most cases, it's the practice that was "off", so you have to put a lot of detail into how you take your CATs (to make sure that the experience matches up with Test Day in every way that you can make it).

Did you end up taking that practice CAT as planned? How did you score?

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

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

To answer your original question, our quant guides are actually numbered, and while you can study them in any order, it may help to go in the same order we use for class: 1) Fractions, Decimals, & Percents, 2) Algebra, 3) Word Problems, 4) Geometry, 5) Number Properties. If geometry is not a big problem area for you, you might actually want to push that last.

To get the most out of each book, you should start by making sure you have the basic idea from each chapter. Do the review problems at the end, and if those aren't going well, go back and review first. If those are fine, hit a few problems from the OG. (We list problems by type in the back of each guide.) Don't do *all* of the problems, though. Do a few and take some time to digest. Move on to other chapters, do some verbal, etc., and then return to the topic later on (days later) to consolidate and extend your learning.

On the verbal side, you definitely don't want to do all of our SC book (or Powerscore's CR book) in one short span of time. Stretch each chapter over a week or more. Read, apply what you've learned to some problems, and flag a few good problems from each set for later review. Then move on to the next chapter, while working in other things (quant, the rest of verbal) throughout the week.

Most importantly, whatever you're studying, take the time to review extensively!

Is there a particular order to study Manhattan GMAT Quant Guides?

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