Study intensive plan - 12 weeks?

[AlexandreC246]

Hi Stacey

That’s true, I’ve been having some problems with posting, let’s see if it continues (hopefully not!).

I understand how the cycle(s) should work from now on. But should I just return to SG once reviewing specific items identified on CATs errors? Because assuming that I have learned all the content in the SG is quite a challenge... Is this ok, or should I read them again in whole?

In relation to setting concrete goals for myself:
I have concluded my analysis on V section and would have to work on this:
(Remembering the scores were: SC – 79% correct, CR – 60% correct, RC – 25% correct)

SC (+/-20%): Comparisons (Pronouns Verbs), Modifiers (Meaning), Concision (Meaning)
CR (+/-30%): Describe the Role, Strengthen/Weaken the Argument, Except questions
RC (+/-50%): Specific Detail, Inference, Except questions (the first 2 very problematic on this last exam)

General: Time management: figure out how to best manage time along the V section, because of problems with target cumulative timing (in the beginning); Learn to decide when to guess immediately, to free time to increase # of RC correct

How should this work now? Should I just recover what the SGs say about these specific topics along with practising/reviewing OG sets? Is there anything else?

Another important question: should this be done together with the review of Q and IR topics (mixed up in a 1/2 days), or should I just first review V topics, then Q topics and then IR topics? Because I remember that when I was going through the SG you advised me to not segment as mixing up subjects would be beneficial to our brain…

I will do the same with Q and come back to you.

[AlexandreC246]

Completing my last message with conclusions / list of to dos in relation to the Q section:

Priorities would be:
Remainders (Divisibility & Primes) - memorize rules / understand how a remainder works, practise
Quadratic Equations (and also Linear) - practise factoring and simplifying
Odds & Evens - memorize basic rules, practise
Memo FDPs equivalents list

Other things to review:
Algebra: Functions (Formulas), (Negative) Exponents, (Eliminate) Roots - by squaring both sides of an equation
FDPs: Fractions' logic (understand N/D relations)
Number Properties: Probability & Combinatorics
Word Problems: Rates&Work (multiple / together), Consecutive integers (memorize rules & practise algebraic representation

General:
Review strategies: working backwards, pick numbers etc
Practise DS: building cases
Read articles on tricks (besides math)

[StaceyKoprince]

Don't re-read all of the SGs, no. Only go back to look at what you need, based on what your analysis tells you. Some things you already know. And other things, you'll decide you want to bail on, so you don't need to study those things.

Except questions are pretty rare (usually no more than 1 on the test), so I wouldn't prioritize those in verbal.

On SC, note that concision and meaning are two separate things. Meaning is important—the meaning of a sentence should be logical and unambiguous. Don't focus on concision or confuse concision with meaning—sometimes it does actually take more words in order to be able to say something clearly (logically and unambiguously). I know the official explanations sometimes say something is "wordy" but that's not a real reason. Usually, when they say something is wordy or awkward, there is actually a Meaning error behind it but the explanation just doesn't dig into that reason. (We have a ban against calling anything wordy or awkward in our own explanations—that description just isn't useful!)

Yes, you're going to study and you're going to do problems—and then you're going to analyze problems. That last part is where you really learn how to get better. Use this to help guide your analysis:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/arti ... roblem.cfm

Everything listed is to drive yourself towards the last bullet under the last item (so, item 3 bullet 3).

On verbal, add this to your analysis:
(1) Why was the wrong answer so tempting? why did it look like it might be right? (be as explicit as possible; also, now you know this is not a good reason to pick an answer)
(2) Why was it actually wrong? what specific words indicate that it is wrong and how did I overlook those clues the first time?
(3) Why did the right answer seem wrong? what made it so tempting to cross off the right answer? why were those things actually okay; what was my error in thinking that they were wrong? (also, now you know that this is not a good reason to eliminate an answer)
(4) Why was it actually right?

The above is what will take most of your time. That analysis will help you to realize other things that you need to go study or practice.

And, yes, mix up Q, V, and IR. You might spend one 2-hour study session only on V, but then do Q for your next study session. Or you might spend 1 hr doing Q and 1 hr doing V. Just depends on what you're doing right then!

Quant:
Remainders are not very common. You might not see even one remainder question on the test—not everybody sees this topic.

Probability and combinatorics: chances are you will see 1 across these two topics. So if you don't like these, you can just decide that these will be on your "bail" list.

Rates & Work and Consec Int are also not super common—these could go on your bail list too. Often, for these, people feel more comfortable if the problem gives real numbers and less comfortable if it's pure algebra. If that applies to you, then you could decide just to study the real numbers problems and bail when the problem has a bunch of variables or otherwise looks really complicated.

Looks like you've got a plan! Let me know if you have any other questions.

[DukeM872]

OP, would like to learn from you. Is 12 weeks enough at the end or more time would be better?

[StaceyKoprince]

Hi! The poster started this thread in April. If you read through, you'll see that sometime in the past month (I forget the exact date now), the poster said that he has postponed his test until September.

[AlexandreC246]

Hello Stacey

I am back again and hope this email finds you well.

To sum up, I was on holidays for 3 weeks: during 1 week I did nothing at all related to GMAT, the next 2 weeks I just practised and reviewed OG Q/V problem sets (1-2h/day 4days/week – the idea was just to keep my brain active and not forgetting stuff).

So, I came back home, re-started studying where I left for 1,5 week and, although I still feel a little bit slow and re-catching the rhythm, I decided to take a new CAT. And about this I have good and bad news, and would need your help to analyse:

Total: 520 (33%) – on the previous CAT after a full study I had 530 (34%)
Comment: although I dropped 10 points, I think that it is not bad after vacations and means things are consolidated. But I will need to revaluate all this in the next CAT to be taken in 2 weeks – to see if I get closer to 600 or would definitely need a course. (Remembering that I have now 2 months to official postponed exam!)

Integrated Reasoning: 5.2 (4 – 6) – on the previous CAT I had 3.1 (2-4)
Comment: I think this is good news, I will just continue practising 2/3 times a week, just like the essay. Because after all I think it will just reflect my progress on Q/V naturally. What would you say? How should I take care of this part?

Verbal: 28 (52 %) - on the previous CAT I had 32 (66%)
Comment: This is bad news, I will review it carefully. Anyway, I doesn’t correspond to something that I forgot or “de-learned” for sure. I didn’t answer 1 question, so I have to manage time better in here… In general, I think that as I feel more comfortable within this section, I don’t like to guess, and try to read and answer carefully every question, which clearly cannot be made. (On opposite, in Q, when I feel it is about something that I don’ t like/ feel comfortable with, I am now able to peacefully move on…For instance, I decided to simply bail on probabilities because I just can’t get them!)

Quant: 34 (26 %) - on the previous CAT I had 32 (22%)
Comment: I know this is still little, but at least I increased my score and I am starting to feel more and more comfortable within this section. But progression in here is still like a turtle, very very slow… I mean that there are still some exercises whose solutions I don’t understand, etc.
Anyway, we will need to revaluate all this in the next CAT to be taken in 2 weeks – to see if I get closer to 600 or would definitely need a course. (general or specific)

Other important data from assessment report for your information:
(By the way, to what other data should I pay close attention on these reports?)

Question Format (% Correct)
Problem Solving 35% (before 41%)
Data Sufficiency 57% (before 50%)
Sentence Correction 46% (before 79%)
Critical Reasoning 44% (before 60%)
Reading Comprehension 58% (before 25%)
Comment: I decreased in every type of question, with exception to: DS and RC. SC was bad, I am not sure if it was because I did not answer 1…. And I thought I was so much better at PS, cannot understand it… I will analyse it and come back on this.

Quantitative (By Question Format & Difficulty)
Problem Solving % Correct
300 – 500 80% (before 100%)
500 – 600 40% (before 38%)
600 – 700 / 700 – 800 0% (before 17%)
Data Sufficiency
300 – 500 50% (before 100%)
500 – 600 63% (before 50%)
600 – 700 50% (before 0%)
Comment: I cannot fail questions of 300-500, will go back to foundation on this (unless they are careless mistakes).

Verbal (By Question Format & Difficulty)
Critical Reasoning
500 – 600 100% (before =%)
600 – 700 67% (before =%)
700 – 800 20% (before 33%)
Reading Comprehension
500 – 600 100% (before 100%)
600 – 700 67% (before 40%)
700 – 800 43% (before 0%)
Sentence Correction
600 – 700 57% (before 88%) – this time I had no 500 – 600 questions
700 – 800 33% (before 33%)
Comment: I clearly got better in RC, which I practised in the last weeks. And I got worst on SC for no apparent reason.

The rest of the details, in relation to content areas / topics will come after.
I will now analyse carefully each section, and let you know my conclusions and next plans.

[StaceyKoprince]

This article talks about how to analyze the data in the test reports:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2018/05 ... ats-part-1

It's generally not super useful to compare just % correct overall, since difficulty level has an impact as well. Your % correct in PS, for example, might go down because you had a harder mix of PS questions this time. That article above talks about how to assess the multiple data points (% correct, difficulty, time) together.

Let's start with the easiest one: IR is great! Just keep doing what you're doing there.

Verbal: Yes, you will need to learn to bail on some of these, just as you do for quant. The fact that you ran out of time with one question to go indicates that timing / decision-making issues contributed to the drop in score on this side. So, as you said, you'll need to dive in and analyze to figure out why and how to make that better next time.

I mean that there are still some exercises whose solutions I don’t understand, etc.

There always will be some. (Like probability! ) So expect to have other things that you also set aside and decide not to study, on both Q and V. That's just how this test works!

I agree with your comment that you need to prioritize lower-level problems. You don't need to answer 600+ problems correctly to get a 600 on the test. You want to do well enough that you earn some in the first place...but you don't actually need to get them right.

Overall, you were able to maintain your level even while on vacation, so that's good news. Let me know what you find when you analyze the rest!

[AlexandreC246]

Hello Stacey,

After individual analysis of each of the sections:

1 Some interesting conclusions

Verbal
8 out of 13 wrong answers correspond to careless mistakes - SC (2) CR (2) RC (4) – which means I can do much better
My 3 only bails are on CR (700-800) – sometimes I just do not understand the harder ones
ICL section contain SC (4) CR (0) RC (1)
Small timing problem on RC and SC

Quantitative
9 out of 17 wrong answers correspond to careless mistakes (this includes the 300-500 incorrect questions)
No bails (because probabilities were easy!) – my understanding is getting better on this finally
My guesses were good, as they are now on the ICL section

IR
4 out of 5 wrong correspond to CM, which means that I need to figure out better where to guess, because I am really having fun in here…

2 My next study plan – please comment

DAY1

MORNING: (Q)
Start general review of geometry, including:
- correction of last question bank
-slope formula
- common right triangle with side ratio 3: 4: 5 (and other common ratios), + learn where to put letters to name sides

AFTERNOON: (Q/AW)
Continue with geometry
Review essay writing and prepare template

DAY2

MORNING: (V)
Practise RC, in particular
- inference
- specific questions
remembering specific traps

AFTERNOON: (Q/G)
Finish geometry review
Time management / guessing rules on V and IR

DAY3

MORNING: (Q)
Quadratic equations: memo and practise 3 special products

AFTERNOON: (Q)
Practise solving/simplifying equations, eliminating denominators/multiplicators

DAY4

MORNING: (V)
Practise SC, in particular:
- modifiers
- subject/verb agreement
Review characteristics of consecutive integers' sets (average, median, etc)

AFTERNOON: (IR)
IR problem set

DAY5

MORNING: (Q)
Practise choose smart numbers with different characteristics:
even/odd, positive/negative, fraction/decimal

AFTERNOON: (V)
Practise CR in general and Negation Technique on Find the Assumption in particular

DAY6

MORNING: (Q)
Memo roots and practise taking (in/out) roots (of integers and decimals);
Review decimals/percents conversions

AFTERNOON: (V)
Practise SC, in particular:
-comparisons
- countable/uncountable (much/many, few/less)
- whether/if

DAY7

MORNING: (Q)
Manipulate average formula and practise translation

AFTERNOON: (V)
Practise RC, in particular
- primary purpose
- passage structure
remembering specific traps
CR problem set

DAY8

MORNING: (Q)
Memo Odds/Evens rules (without needing to test numbers/compute)
Practise multiple variable inequality problems (and remember adding two inequalities to solve)

AFTERNOON: (IR/AW)
IR problem set
Essay writing

DAY9

MORNING: (Q)
Practise DS in general, paying attention to traps

AFTERNOON: (Q)
Practise test numbers/work backwards/combination of 2variables

[AlexandreC246]

Hi

I am trying to post something since yesterday and cannot make it (although the system my message was sucessfully posted.
Should I create a new conversation?

[StaceyKoprince]

Hi! I've asked our tech team why your posts are getting flagged as spam for me to approve manually. Your little one went through so I'm suspecting that it might be the case that the system flags really long posts? Not sure—I'll let you know if our tech team has any suggestions.

Okay, this analysis is very interesting! So careless mistakes are the big common denominator. What can you do to minimize these going forward?

Here's an article that talks about that topic:
blog/2012/10/24/how-to-minimize-careless-errors-when-taking-the-gmat/

After you read it, tell me some concrete steps you are going to take to try to minimize the same types of careless errors that you saw on that test.

It's been the better part of a week since you posted, so I assume that you have already gotten through a lot of what you listed for your study plan. How has it been going?

[AlexandreC246]

Hi Stacey

I think it could be because normally I write down the message on a word document and then copy... I will try to avoid it.

In relation to CM, I listed the following steps:

- on Q:
write down what the question is asking for (with a circle around) and most importantly check in the end
do not guess without giving it a 30sec try ('cause some of them I thought were hard for me, and didn't even try, and in the end I realised they were super easy)

- on V:
pay special attention to these traps: 1 word off; extreme; true but not right.

Also, today I was focusing on time management/guessing, etc and was wondering whether:

- there are any updates on MP SG related to the new format of the exam (such as benchmarks, number of guesses etc) that I could download

- is there any advice on guessing in V section (how many questions, where, when, which type, etc)?
this assuming that I am doing ok within guessing on Q (whenever after 30/60sec I have no clue), and IR (making 3/4 guesses to gain more time, but still have to make better decisions)

In relation to study so far, what I feel is that I am not learning that much, just by reviewing and practising, and reviewing and practising, and sometimes it is difficult to gain confidence just by doing this because it is kind of "non tangible"... I mean, I had to give a general review in geometry and there I felt like I was really consolidating stuff (some of them I had forgotten really!). But then, for instance on RC, I just reviewed strategy/typical traps and then practise, correct... And this does not make me feel more comfortable on RC,.
Did you thought the plan made sense? Was it too general? Any other clue on managing this progression?

Thanks!

[StaceyKoprince]

It could also be the length of the post—really long posts trigger the spam filter apparently. FYI!

Part 3 of this older series on time management has been updated for the timing for the new exam:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... rt-1-of-3/

I recommend bailing fast (within 30 seconds) on ~4-5 questions in your weaker section and up to ~4 in your stronger section. Note that this is "bail without engaging very much / trying to solve." You'll also have to guess on other questions that you try but you just can't figure out for whatever reason. But those don't count against your "bail fast" quota. (And there's no limit on these. If you don't know how to do something, you don't know how to do it. Continuing to spend more time on it won't help.)

Re: your comment about never bailing in less than 30 seconds, I do think you can still do this on something that you know is terrible for you. I hate cylinders, for example, and won't do those at all. I don't even check whether it's an easier one. For others, though, I'll take a little longer to decide because I'm reading it and realizing that it just contains too many annoying things. (I saw one the other day that was a Roman Numeral with absolute value, fractions, and three variables. And it talked about something with consecutive integers and something else now, I forget—and I was like Nope! Too many annoying things!)

People often find it harder to know when to bail fast on Verbal. It's hard to bail fast on SC, because it takes time to read the sentence...and SC is the shortest of the three types anyway. So I might bail on a hard SC, but I'm probably not truly bailing fast and saving a lot of time. But if I read an SC and the sentence is so weird that I can't even understand it, that's a pretty good bail opportunity.

On CR, I decide based on one of two things: (1) The question type (which is the first thing to figure out when you start the problem) and (2) The argument itself.

Some people, for example, really dislike Evaluate or Boldface questions, so you could just decide to bail any time you see one of those. Sometimes the argument itself is too weird to understand (though, again, the time it takes to figure out that you don't understand it might mean that you aren't bailing fast.

For RC, again it might be based on the question type (Except questions are especially annoying). It could also be based on the passage. Let's say that I thought the second half of paragraph 2 was really hard to understand. Okay, I'll guess if I get a question about that part. Chances are I'll only get one (and I might not even get any!).

For review / knowing that you're learning. You said that you did a general Geo review and that worked. I will guess that you feel comfortable doing the same for anything that's about "facts" (math, SC / grammar stuff). But CR and RC aren't about facts, they're about process and reasoning.

You can still do a general review there though. For example, can you articulate what kind of reasoning you want to be doing for each CR question type? For each one, can you say
(1) How to identify that type,
(2) The kinds of things you can expect to see in the arguments of that type (will it have a conclusion or not? will it have counterpoints / counterpremises? etc),
(3) What your goal is for that type (eg, for Find the Assumption, I need to find something that the author must believe to be true in order to make that particular argument), and
(4) What kinds of characteristics the correct answer should have and what kinds of traps they tend to set for that specific type (eg, for Find the Assumption, the correct answer is necessary for the argument to be valid; if you said that this answer was not true, you'd kill the argument; tempting traps include: something that might strengthen the argument but it's not necessary to the argument / doesn't have to be true; something that makes a false distinction (eg, the answer makes a distinction between older and younger women but the argument was talking about all women); an "opposite" trap—this thing is something the author most assume to be false in making the argument.

And that process review is something you can also do for Q and SC. What are the steps for Testing Cases on a DS problem? What are the variations? For example, you can test characteristics (like odd and even) instead of testing actual values.

On SC, what kinds of things can the First Glance tell you? Go look at 15 OGs right now. Don't read the original sentence and don't do the whole problem—instead, literally just take 15 seconds to look at the very first difference in the answer choices and try to articulate one thing that that problem could be testing, just based on that one set of differences.

I thought that the detail of your plan was good, yes. But maybe you aren't taking those things to the last step, which is "What are my takeaways? What did I just learn that I want to remember and use on the real test? How* am I going to remember that so that I can recall and use it on the test? And what did I just discover that I need to change in some way before I get to the real test?"

*This is the "Know the Code" pattern: You want to be able to get to the point where you can say "When I see ABC, I'm going to XYZ."