Wrong to skip verbal prep almost entirely?

This is hardly a decision to make on the spur of the moment or in a big hurry, but I trust that you know your circumstances best.

I would think about this in terms of return on investment. Sometimes people are constantly focused on remedying their weaknesses when there would be a greater return on investment by Shoring up their strengths.

It's most likely that if you have two hours a day it would make the most sense to spend that on Quant. You really need to have some time Reserved to put together some killer applications if you are backed into a corner with this.

And please make sure to do the reach school/target school/safety school system times 2 to make sure that you get into a program.

I realize that this probably doesn't relate to you but if you're open to European programs, you can remain a viable applicant for a longer period of time, hence, you might have more time to study for the GMAT.

Farrell Dyan Hehn, MBA
Admissions Consultant & Verbal Strategist MBAPrepCoach.com

I agree with everyone above, you should definitely take a full practice GMAT before you do more study planning.

I'll also add - please don't completely ignore Verbal! There are two good reasons to keep studying Verbal, even if you're much stronger with V than with Q:

- far fewer people get very high Verbal scores than very high Quant scores. Because your overall score (200-800) is effectively comparing you against other test takers, getting a very high Verbal score has a bigger impact on your overall score than getting a very high Quant score.
- 'interleaving' your studies improves retention. You should study multiple things in any given day or any given study session. If Quant is tough for you, switching to Verbal for a few minutes is a good way to take a mental break and energize yourself.

Hi harveypenguin17,

It looks like you need a study plan that you can stick to. Here is a customized 2-3 month study plan that can help boost your score: https://www.gmatpill.com/gmat-practice-t ... study-plan

Use this as a guideline. You don’t have to follow it exactly but the structure of the study plan should be the same structure that you take in your approach. This helps to optimize your retention and learning.

As you study, we recommend that you focus on one particular subsection for multiple consecutive days before moving onto the next. You can see this in our study plan where we recommend 5 days on nothing but SC -- before moving onto CR and then RC.

Here is a sample SC video to help you start your journey: https://www.gmatpill.com/sentencecorrect ... ythons.mp4

Best of luck - we are here to help.

And I'm back. Took the GMATPrep CAT today, including Essay and IR sections. Did it all in one sitting, two 8 minute breaks. The good news is that between these results and the OG Diagnostics, I'm getting a very clear picture of where my strengths and weaknesses are. After about 10 days of prep, almost exclusively math review, I got a 670, 38Q and 44V (5 IR - Hadn't really researched this section at all yet, so I feel ok about that).

Breaking it down further, 11 of the 16 I missed in Quant were Problem Solving, and 7 of the 8 I missed in Verbal were Sentence Correction. So I'm going to peruse through a few sample study plans, but knowing I have about 13 weeks remaining, and can hopefully pull off 1-2 hours per day 6 days a week, with one day of 3ish hours or so during that time, here's the broad overview of what I'm thinking:
1. Work through the entire MGMAT Quantitative Strategy Set (currently halfway through the Fractions, Decimals, and Percents), including all quizzes and problem sets.
2. Concurrently, spend one day a week on verbal and or IR, focusing primarily on sentence correction.
3. Once done with MGMAT, start doing 5 days of work exclusively on specific types of problems (number properties, algebra, etc) using OG, GMAT Prep CAT (retake sections of exam 1, save exam 2), forums, etc. Mark errors on error log, carefully review explanations. Spend the 6th day of those weeks working verbal problems.
4. Take MGMAT CATS sometime around Week 6 and Week 8.
5. Take GMAT Prep CAT exam 2 sometime around Week 10 or 11.

Obviously, need to get a bit more specific with myself about what problems I will work when, etc. But that's my overall thinking. Ultimately, I'm hoping I can sustain that Verbal score in the 43-45 range, then pull the Quant up closer to a 44 or so, and call it a day.

Hi harveypenguin17,

To start, a 670 is a fantastic initial CAT score (the average score on the Official GMAT hovers around 540-550 most years), so you're clearly a strong critical thinker. As such, I think that you have a very good chance to hit your score goal - and with the proper, focused study you could probably score 750+. You also won't necessarily need all of the study time that you've planned for.

Since you have plenty of time to study, I suggest that you proceed as planned. However, you should plan to take a FULL-LENGTH CAT (with the Essay and IR sections) every 1-2 weeks, instead of waiting 6 weeks to take your next CAT. Once you have that next score result, you should post back here and we can talk through the results and any adjustments that might need to be made to your study routine.

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

Terrific. Thoughts on whether to use the MGMAT CATs for these practice runs to ensure I'm encountering fully fresh material? Or would you recommend rotating the GMATPrep CAT's for greater accuracy and consistency in score prediction?

Hi harveypenguin17,

As you continue to study, you should plan to complete a 'mix' of the CATs that you currently possess. It's important to remember that taking lots of CATs will NOT make you a better Test Taker. A CAT is really a 'measuring device' - when used correctly, it will give you a realistic score and help define your strengths and weaknesses, but it will NOT help you to fix any of those weaknesses. To raise your scores, you have to put in the necessary practice and repetitions. The CAT will show you whether your studies are helping you to improve or not. As such, you really shouldn't take more than 1 FULL CAT per week.

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

Well now I'm lost and feel quite foolish.

As stated last time, after my initial GMATPrep CAT of 670 (Q38, V44), I have spent the past couple months working through the entire series of Manhattan GMAT quant guides, and mixed in some of the Manhattan recommended OG sets and some work on Sentence Correction. A couple weeks in, I took a very late night Verbal and Quant only Manhattan CAT. That was a 620, and I wasn't too concerned about it given the late night and what I had read about Manhattan CAT difficulty.

However, I finished the final Manhattan quant guide this week and took my second GMATPrep CAT this morning (same time as test, included AW & IR, 8 minute breaks), and scored a 650, with Q37, V42.

So I'm feeling immensely lost and discouraged at this point. 2/3s of the way through my prep, averaging a good 8-10 hours per week, with three weeks left until test day, and I've managed to go DOWN 20 points. 700 felt awfully attainable in September, and now I'm scared I'll even gain a net of 10 points to get to the 680 I identified as a minimum.

I don't have much reflection, other than that I think I am having difficulty applying the math principles I've picked up in a full timed CAT. Once I get to 600-700 level questions, I tend to spend too much time looking for an approach, struggling to piece something together, then frantically clock watching to keep from falling too far behind.

I'm trying to think of what I can do in these last three weeks that will have a bigger impact than what I've done so far. My initial plan was to identify problem areas and just do intensive focus on them in isolation, then do a few more timed drills (I'm going to do a CAT each of the next two weeks as well). But now I'm wondering if I need more practice facing mixed problems in timed settings and whether I should just be getting through as many problems as I can.

Blech.

Hi harveypenguin17,

To start, there are two immediate points to discuss:

1) GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in how your CATs function, your first CAT score and most result CAT score show that you essentially performed the same each time (+/- a few points). This is meant to say that you did certain things consistently well, but you also made certain consistent mistakes.
2) You haven't been taking realistic, FULL-LENGTH CATs as frequently as you should be taking them. We probably could have defined, and improved, these issues weeks ago if you had taken those CATs as recommended.

It's also worth noting that many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so it's likely that you just have not put in enough time and effort yet. Since you've been studying for about 1.5 months, you might naturally improve on your own. However, if you're concerned about how well that approach might work, you might consider investing in some new practice materials that emphasize Tactics, patterns and all the little 'secrets' to what you'll see in the Quant section on Test Day.

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

Would totally agree to the advise of JeffTargetTestPrep and EMPOWERgmatRichC