Exam preparation or better GMAT warm up

Question

Hi everyone,

I would like to ask you something. I have bought the Manhattan book bundle (9 books I think) and I am going through them. I have started reading them mainly on the train during my commute time to work and I tend to spend a week on it (I often read them twice) and I started in January. Bear in mind that I have not done a single exercise or any GMAT prep exam because I know that I need to brush up my math basics. As a result I am using Khan Academy to go over the entire high school math curriculum. I usually spend 1+ hours in the evening and quite a few hours in the weekend.

The thing is that almost two months have passed and I feel I am going nowhere, I mean, I have learnt and re-learnt a fair bit but I feel that I have not really improved for the rigour of the GMAT. My question is, should I still carry on with Khan Academy as a warm up before I start my real 'game' in the GMAT or what ?

I know that the founders of this website have published a math book and a verbal book and they are both great. However, reading the math book is kinda frustrating because there as so many concepts that I do not know. Are we required to know everything in that book ?

Thanks for your guidance!

GhostA · Answer

Hello Mill,

I certainly can relate. I know how one can be busy and not find the time to work on the prep. However, math can't be read. You might learn something on the verbal side by reading the books on the commute home however for math, you have to do the problems to learn the concepts.

If you have all the MGMAT series of books, I would suggest going over the MGMAT Math Foundations book thoroughly first, and solve the problems contained in the book. That'd get you some basics in place. If a particular topic is not clear, then you should check out videos on that topic on khan academy. Spend no more than a month on this.

After this, I suggest you take a practice exam to see what your baseline is and how far from your target score you are. 
Usually, people are better on the verbal or the quant side. I'd also suggest taking a GRE practice exam to see how you do there. you should go for the test that you feel more comfortable with, whether the GMAT or GRE.

Believe me, I started just like you and I'm still at it. However, unless you commit to it, you're really not getting anywhere.

alexau · Answer

I think this is great advice from GhostA. While I do think you should take your time (and if you are applying for R1 this upcoming fall, you have plenty of time), at a certain point you do need to jump in and start to hone in on weaknesses and go beyond the high level material.

Whether it is taking a prep class or doing all of the prep on your own, I think it could be beneficial to sit down and take a full length CAT to see what the baseline is. Then you can start to plan your strategy. Do you want to seriously prep for 2 months? 3 months? Even longer? There are tons of prep schedules here on GMAT Club for your reference and there is no one right way to prep.

The main thing is to set a timeline and commit to it. The easiest thing to do is just push off prep for some other time and before you know it, you have a month until your exam and are not prepared. I think if you maintain a consistent pace over a few months it will be more manageable than you think.

Other things that helped me (and still do):
Keep some sort of error log. Whether on your computer or in a notebook, make sure to jot down the key points you missed as well as topic and subtopic for more detailed analysis of your mistakes.

Once you make a mistake, do everything in your power not to make it again. If you can eliminate silly errors, your score will skyrocket. If you can commit to eliminating a weakness once you see it, your score will only go up.

Maintain your pace. It's easy to get burnt out and remember, this is a marathon not a sprint.

If you are getting down on yourself after a bad section or exam don't be afraid to take an afternoon or day off to clear your mind. There is no point in doing prep when you are not in the right mindset.

It is just an exam. While it may seem like much more, at the end of the day this is just one part of your application to business school. There are so many other factors that will influence the admission committees and don't lose track of that. If you score a 760 while blowing off your actual job, its probably not worth it since you won't find anyone to write a positive recommendation. This is just one part of the application and many would argue this is not even the most important part.

Best of luck studying!

sarahrs · Answer

Found it hugely helpful to work on my basic maths skills. So time is not wasted. Good you've read the books to get a feel of the GMAT.

Agree with previous poster; best stage is sitting a practice test. Then based on that work out a study plan. Your next challenge is applying your refreshed maths schools to the GMAT.

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi mill99,

Since you've been at this now for at least a month, the 'warm-up' is over and it's time to take everything a bit more seriously. As such, It's time for you to take a FULL-LENGTH practice CAT. If you don't have any, then you can download 2 for free from www.mba.com. A FULL CAT takes about 4 hours to complete, so make sure that you've set aside enough time to take it in one sitting.

There will likely be some challenging aspects to taking this CAT, but that's okay. Part of your training is to learn how to face the FULL Test. You might not even score all that well on this first CAT, but that's okay too. Once you have those score results, you should post back here and we can talk about your study plan.

I'd also like to know a bit more about your overall timeline:

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

JTuquero · Answer

Hi Mill,

I agree with the advice you've been given, you should definitely take a full length practice exam. From there, it should be clear which sections you’ll need to work on the most, making it easier for you to devise an effective study plan for the weeks to come.

What resources are you considering to help you study? For example, if you continue to struggle with math, consider taking a class or meeting with a private tutor.

Looking forward to hearing how your practice exam goes!

Jessica

mill99 · Answer

Dear all,

Firstly I would like to wholeheartedly thank everybody who responded to my post. I really appreciated it very much!

As the consensus was that I needed to take an introductory CAT prep exam, I went for it and I will share my results in a bit and I will respond to all your comments.

Let me get back to basics first though, as I should clarify some parts of my original post:

1. I tend to spend 1+ hour per day and a few hours in the weekends on the Khan Academy program. Not on the Manhattan book bundle. I am taking notes when I follow Sal Khan, but I have not taken any notes or done any Manhattan exercises, because, I wanted to brush up my math basics first with Khan Academy. Otherwise I feel it would be a waste of material as the next time around I might remember the answer but now how to get to the right solution
2. I probably feel/felt a bit frustrated because I could not see any tangible results simply because there is no way to see that I am improving. I mean, I have learnt a lot through Khan Academy but of course I couldn't see any improvement in the GMAT because I have taken any tests.

My first CAT result:

I have enclosed a printscreen of Exam Practice #1 GMAT CAT by MBA dot com. If it doesn't load up properly here is the breakdown of my score:

Total: 510
Integrated Reasoning: 2 (2 correct answers out of 9)
Quant: 32 (24 correct answers out of 37)
Verbal: 28 (25 correct answers out of 41)

Clearly it is far from a good score, but it is also my first attempt and I am a long way from taking the actual exam. Question for the experts: what is the typical improvement for an average student with a similar score as mine ?

A bit of colour regarding the exam prep:

1. I skipped the essay as no score could be given
2. I did not use the calculator or return to any previous question even when I realised that I made a mistake
3. IR: It is the only book of the bundle that I have not read so I didn't know what to expect. I also didn't respond to the last three questions because I ran out of time. I think in one of the EconomistGMAT brochure, it says that you shouldn't worry about the time in the first CAT exams and I thought in my prep exam that time was only as a guide.
4: Quant: I really struggled with the Data Sufficiency questions and most of the times I didn't even jot anything on paper and I solved the question but what made more sense. I finished with 7 minutes to spare (I think or was that 4 ?)
5: Verbal: I had to rush the last six questions (2 turned out to be incorrect) as I almost ran out of time. Here I realised that I made many of the mistakes indicated in the GMAT bundle, such as re-reading the passage and re-reading the questions wasting precious time.

Responses to your questions:

GhostA:

Yes, I do agree that math can't be just read. What I wanted to clarify is that at times I couldn't really grasp what was written in the MGMAT books so going to Khan make it easier to understand. I have also not done any exercises because I wanted to get solid fundations before doing so.

The MGMAT bundle doesn't include the 'Math Foundations'. Is it beneficial and does it cover everything that is covered the the GMAT ?

alexau:

Yes I am aiming for R1 in the fall and I want to prep for 3/4 months so that I can take the exam in June/July. I will try to find the prop schedules on this website that you mentioned.

I don't have a problem committing to a timeline and to study according to the plan but the only issue is that I don't know what to study. I mean, if I go by the MGMAT and the Math book by GMATCLUB they seem two different worlds!

I will surely keep in mind your idea of an error log and I will put it in place down the track. Thx for the info! Thanks also for the other pièces of advice!

sarahrs:

Cool, I am to see that I am not wasting my time on Khan

Rich Cohen at EMPOWERgmat:

I think to 'take everything a bit more seriously' means that I need to be more GMAT-focused and perhaps one way to do so is through an appropriate study guide as alexau also mentioned. Is there is also a list of items that we should know for the GMAT ? For example, quant: simple équations, exponents, quadratic équations, etc... ?

In response to your questions:

1) My goal is 650-700. This seems like a massive achievement from a 510. Is that even possible ?
2) I am planning to take the GMAT something in June/July
3) I am planning to apply in R1 or R2 at the latest

Not to add any extra pressure but for me, as an older candidate, it's almost a one-shot opportunity. If I don't get accepted I don't know if I will apply again down the track

Jessica at The EconomistGMAT:

What resources am I considering ? I was thinking of subscribing to an online program (i.e. Veritas) but I also know the Economist has 'guaranteed X' point program that is perhaps also worth it.

Looking forward again to your feedback and thanks again for your wonderful support thus far!

TTYL

Attachments

GMAT Practice Exam 1 MBA com.jpg [ 171.15 KiB | Viewed 2828 times ]

Rich Cohen at EMPOWERgmat: I think to 'take everything a bit more seriously' means that I need to be more GMAT-focused and perhaps one way to do so is through an appropriate study guide as alexau also mentioned. Is there is also a list of items that we should know for the GMAT ? For example, quant: simple équations, exponents, quadratic équations, etc... ? In response to your questions: 1) My goal is 650-700. This seems like a massive achievement from a 510. Is that even possible ? 2) I am planning to take the GMAT something in June/July 3) I am planning to apply in R1 or R2 at the latest Not to add any extra pressure but for me, as an older candidate, it's almost a one-shot opportunity. If I don't get accepted I don't know if I will apply again down the track Jessica at The EconomistGMAT: What resources am I considering ? I was thinking of subscribing to an online program (i.e. Veritas) but I also know the Economist has 'guaranteed X' point program that is perhaps also worth it. Looking forward again to your feedback and thanks again for your wonderful support thus far! TTYL

alexau · Answer

Hi Mill, Just wanted to add a bit more now that you took the exam. 1. ALWAYS take the full length CAT. Even if the essay isn't graded, the rest of your exam isn't a true representation of what you will be doing on test day when you skip the essay. Yes, its a quick 30 minute formulaic essay (see the template by chineseburned: how-to-get-6-0-awa-my-guide-64327.html), but you want your CAT exams to be as similar to what you will see on test day as possible. This means the full 4 hour CAT with zero distractions and two 8 minute breaks in between. 2. Now that you have done IR once, you know that this is the only section with a calculator, which can be a useful tool. Definitely learn how to use it but DO NOT become dependent on it. Also, you cannot go back to previous questions on the GMAT. It is a computer adaptive exam and thus the question you get next depends on whether you get the question in front of you correct. If you get it correct, expect to see a harder question next. You almost want the exam to be brutal and your brain to be mush at the end because that means you were getting the hardest questions (obviously you also want to be able to get them right). 3. IR can always be tricky with time. You get 2.5 min per question, but these tend to be much more time intensive problems (some exceptions, such as graphs). Some B-Schools don't even look at this score since it is so new. This doesn't require a ton of studying on its own, since if you study Quant and Verbal you are also studying for the majority of IR problems. 4. I think DS is the hardest for people to grasp. There tend to be two types of DS questions: Yes / No Questions (Ex. Is X>5?) and Specific Value Questions (Ex. What is X?). Learning this main difference helped me a lot. For the Yes / No Q's if you can definitively answer yes or no, the statement is sufficient, otherwise, no sufficient. For specific value questions, you need the exact value. 5. Verbal tends to be tough for some people with timing. As a general rule, I would try to shoot for under 1.5 minutes for each Sentence Correction question so you can have a little more time with Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension. RC tends to take the longest for most people (especially non-native English speakers). As you continue to practice, you will focus more on a "decision points" strategy for SC and then "predicting the answer" for SC and some RC. This will definitely help you get quicker and more accurate. Overall, you are just under the 50th percentile, but remember this is your FIRST CAT. I wouldn't worry too much about the score at this point since you are just getting started (and as you said, didn't finish 3 IR questions and really struggled with DS). You have plenty of time to boost this score and you seem very motivated and determined to do so. I think at this point it is important to focus on learning the core topics and really understand the fundamentals for each section (PS, DS, SC, CR, RC). I would definitely start to keep track of how you are doing on each type of problem (Excel is pretty good for an error log like this. I chose to make my own but there are tons of great ones on GMAT Club). I think you should identify what the subtopic is for each question you do (Ex. Sentence Correction --> Modifiers, e.g. book then chapter). I think it is good that you are using Khan Academy since it is a great free resource (he is brilliant). Make sure to identify the key takeaway from each question you get wrong and note not only why the correct answer is correct but also why the incorrect answer is incorrect. You want to think like the testmaker by the time you take the exam. That means understanding where the "sucker" answers are and where the "traps" are. Other points you brought up: 1. You absolutely CAN improve your score from a 510 to a 700. There are plenty of stories on GMAT Club of people who have boosted their score after working hard. It has been done multiple times and there is no reason to believe that you can't do the same. 2. With a planned exam time in June or July, you are fortunate to have quite a bit of time to learn the material and hone your skills. A little bit each day is much better than a few 5 or 6 hour studying blocks. Do a little each night (time permitting) and make sure to maintain your schedule. One missed day quickly turns into a missed week and before you know it the exam is a few days away. You seem to be pretty motivated which is great. 3. With the exam in June or July you can definitely make R1. Even if you want to retake to boost your score even higher, you should have ample time to take the GMAT and work on your profile for the apps. I used Veritas Prep with Ravi Sreerama and loved it. More than happy to talk about that with you if you want. I know they just updated their platform for the live online class if that interests you. Feel free to shoot me a PM if you want to discuss. Best of luck!

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