Seeking advice on GMAT strategy

Question

Hi all, I just started on this GMAT prep journey not long ago (3 weeks ago) and have booked the exam on 18 Dec 2020 (91 days out from time of writing). I'm looking to score 700+ especially since I do have quite a bit of time to prep for GMAT.

Resources : GMAT OG Bundle 2021 (as my only resource for now)

Study Plan : For the past 3 weeks, I have been working on the GMAT OG 2021 to familiarise myself with exam format and style.

I typically spend about 4 hours to study (2 hours in the afternoon and 2 hours at night) but will likely be reducing time spent once it hits October upon the start of my final year studies in University.

Moving forward, I will complete quant and verbal review from the bundle before taking another test on other test sites. 
I'm saving the GMAT Practice Test 2 for closer to my Exam, to accurately determine where I stand prior to the actual.

GMAT Practice Test 1 Score - 17/09/2020 
480 / Q34 /V23

Need advice on things I should do or even recommendations on resources that I should get. 
91 days seems like a very long time, and I'm afraid of complacency.

Thanks in advance!

Edit: After my first mock by GMAT (and realising I'm severely substandard), will start with doing up an error log!

Russ19 · Answer

Official materials are undoubtedly the best ones, but for concepts, Mprep strategy guides are second to none. PowerScore bible is the best option to do well in CR.

homersimpsons · Answer

https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-self-pr ... tml?f=menu

SohGMAT2020 · Answer

Yes, I would suggest that you first build your concepts. Practicing official questions and looking at the solutions will not help much. Go through books or a good course to boost your concepts first. Then practise with the OG's.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi seventydays,

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.

Also, would you like some general advice on how to improve your verbal and quant skills?

You also may find it helpful to read this article about  how to score a 700+ on the GMAT .

Good luck!

seventydays · Answer

ScottTargetTestPrep

Hi Scott, I would appreciate some general advice on improving verbal and quant skills.

I do intend to run through my mistakes from the OG with intent of re-learning the concepts, while I wait for the arrival of additional resources (MGMAT Strategy Guide)

Not sure it sounds good, feeling lost at the moment.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi seventydays,

To start, raising a 480 to the point that you can consistently score 700+ will be a challenging task (and you'll have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections) - but you've given yourself a nice block of potential study time, which is good. In addition, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level. The OG books are great sources for practice questions, but they're not designed to teach you Tactics, patterns or the little 'secrets' behind the GMAT - for those, you'll need Course-oriented materials. As such, you might want to work on those resources a little later on in your studies.

Before I can offer you any additional advice for your studies, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on your timeline and your goals:

1) Once your University classes start back up, how much time do you think you will be able to commit to your GMAT studies each week? 
2) Are you planning to apply to Business School sometime soon - and which Schools/Programs are you interested in?

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

CAMANISHPARMAR · Answer

Many candidates start at a score below 500 and with three months of systematic study get to a substantial improvement.

Don't get demotivated with your practice score. Lay a strong foundation of basic concepts. You will soon realize that your scores will significantly improve just because you will start getting the simple questions right. Just do this and report back with your scores in practice test 2 so that experts can help you with the next step.

All the best!

seventydays · Answer

CAMANISHPARMAR

Thank you for nice words, I have been in a slug since scoring 480 yesterday. But knowing I'm not alone, will get me back on my feet again.

EMPOWERgmatRichC 
Hi Rich, after reviewing my error log from OG guide, I realised I do fall in some common pitfalls; which as you stated, made me realise OG is a good practise material.

To answer your question: 
1) On the weekdays I foresee study time to be halved, so 2 hours per day. Weekends, I will as best as possible work to keep it as it is right now (2x 2 hours study block per day) - That works out to 18hours per week

2) Looking to apply in about 3 year's time, taking GMAT now is to capitalise on my active learning patterns as a student 
Schools that I'm looking to apply to at the moment are: Cambridge Judge Business School, Saïd Business School - University of Oxford and University of Warwick

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi seventydays,

Studying for the GMAT now - far in advance of when you'll actually "need" your Score - is a smart choice. In that same way, since you are interested in some highly-competitive Schools, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall plans (even though they several years away). Those Experts should be able to answer your Admissions questions and help define the specific areas of your profile that should work on. There's a Forum full of those Experts here:

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

I want to reiterate that while the OG books are great sources for realistic practice questions, those books are NOT designed to teach you Tactics, patterns or the little 'secrets' about the GMAT that you'll need to know to hit 700+. As such, 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.

If you have any additional questions, then you can feel free to contact me directly at any time.

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

CAMANISHPARMAR · Answer

You are most welcome. As I said, get started with your prep with a positive attitude and you should be fine.

Wishing you all the very best and feel free to reach out anytime you need any help.

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi seventydays,

Looking at your mock score, I feel that there are certain conceptual gaps and that you might not be lacking the right approach to solve questions. To score a 700 on GMAT, it is important that you have strong conceptual understanding and use the right methodologies. Let me elaborate it to you. Before that, it is important that you understand what is actually tested on GMAT.

What GMAT actually tests? 
If you are in a misconception that understanding concepts will help you score well on GMAT, let me tell you the harsh truth. GMAT is a test of application of concepts and it would require a strong conceptual knowledge and the right use of strategies to ace the test. You might not like this, but GMAT doesn’t just give you questions which require you to solve them using a formula. It goes far beyond that. To solve a particular question, it is important to understand what is it that the question is asking, identify the underlying concept and then apply that conceptual knowledge to get the solution. The reason why students take a lot of time to prepare for GMAT is because 
  they do not understand what is it that is actually tested on GMAT 
 so, they start their preparation by practicing questions from OG or a few random materials 
 When they take a mock, they get shattered on seeing the score as months of preparation could only get them the average score a beginner will get. 
 So, they start seeking advises regarding the study strategy and start their preparation from scratch.

As you see, a lot of time, effort and money gets wasted in the process. GMAT is a test which requires a considerable investment of all three parameters. So, it is important to make sure to invest them in the right manner and get the desired result.

What should be the right way to prepare: 
As you have just started your preparation, I recommend you to take an official GMAT prep mock and see where you stand. Identify your stronger and weaker areas based on the result. Once you do this, the ideal plan has to be to:
  Learn the concepts – one topic at a time (Start with your stronger area) 
 Learn the right methodologies to solve the questions of that particular topic  (most important)  
 Start taking sectional quizzes and make sure to solve the questions using the methodology learnt 
 Make sure to move to the next topic, only when you get at least easy-medium questions right. 
 If you have less than 60% accuracy in any topic, identify the reason behind the struggle and work on improving it. 
 Once you move to the next topic, it is important to maintain the momentum that you had in the previous topics. Many students tend to forget the concepts they learnt once they start focusing on new topics. This is the time when OG comes into picture. You can practice a minimum of 5 questions of a particular topic everyday so that you do not lose touch with that topic 
 Once you are done with all the topics, start taking mocks at regular intervals and see the score pattern 
 Once you start getting a consistent score, you are good to book a slot.

There are various strategies that are needed to solve GMAT questions. For example, DS questions in Quant have a separate strategy, SC, CR and RC each require different strategies to solve questions. You can go through the   series of webinars   to understand various methodologies used to solve GMAT questions.  If you wish to know more about the strategy and methodology, you can actually enroll for a crash course that is going to start on October 3rd . Crash course included 50 hours of live sessions with the tutors who help you understand the advanced application of concepts. To know more about the course, you can go through the   course brochure   or you can connect with me over a call and discuss the same.

Hope it helped! If you wish to know more about the study strategy or wish to know any more details regarding the course, you can schedule a free consultation call using the below link.

Click here to schedule a call

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