Hello!
I have just initiated my study plan for GMAT and would very much appreciate your comments on that please.
Just for you to have a preliminary idea: I had 400 on my Diagnostic Test, with 0 experience on the test mechanisms/timings and also unexpected anxiety.
My background is Law, although my Master was in Management. This meaning that I am lacking some of the Maths's foundations and feel very insecure about that. My GPA is very high, and studying habbits are not a problem at all to me.
My aim is to apply for the top 5/10 business schools in the world next summer, so I scheduled my first official exam within 3 months (end of June).
Bearing all this in mind, my plan is to study for 12 weeks intensively (6 to 8 hours/5 days a week), according to the following plan:
Weeks 1-4: Going through the 5 Quant. Strategy Guides, accompanied by Foundations of GMAT Math
(I am assuming studying 1,5 book / week. Is this doable considering I am 100% focus on this? Could this be enough considering by background?)
Is it a good idea to attack only Quant on the first month? Or should I mix it with other parts for motivation purposes?
How could I take care of my "Maths defficiencies" besides this?)
Weeks 5-6: Going through the 3 Verbal SGuides,
(Apparently when I pay due attention to questions, this part should not be a problem to me.)
Week 7: Going through the last SG on IR and Essay.
(Is this too little? On the Diagnostic Test, I got all stressed/nervous because of having to integrate such different infos on IR...
In relation to the essays, is there any way I could score them? Or someone/somewhere I could send them?)
Weeks 8-11: Practise, review, etc.
(This will obviously be adapted, depending on how the previous months go... But how do you think I should organise this last month before test day?)
What do you think about all this? Please let me know your thoughts.
Best regards and thank you very much!
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- AlexandreC246
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- StaceyKoprince
- ManhattanGMAT Staff
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- Location: Montreal
Re: Study intensive plan - 12 weeks?
Hello! You are very organized—I like that. 
I would be careful about studying 8 hours a day. Your brain can take in only so much new information before it starts to get fatigued—and when it gets fatigued, it doesn't learn as well. It's really easy to get yourself into a cycle where you're studying a ton, but your brain is tired and isn't taking it in...and you feel like the more you do, the less you learn.
It is possible to do an intensive study period. But I would do a max of 6 hours a day and I wouldn't do that for 5 days in a row. Maybe something like:
Mon: study 9-11a, break 11a-1p, study 1p to 3p, break 3p to 4p, study 4p to 5 or 6p (paying attention to my brain and stopping if I realize that I'm getting too wiped out)
Tue: same / full day
Wed: half-day, only study for 2-3 hours; could be all in a group or could be something like 9a to 10:30a plus 3p to 4:30p
Thu: full day
Fri: half day
Sat: half day
Sun: day off
You can of course rotate that around to fit your schedule (maybe you want Fridays or Saturdays to be your day off). You'll also note that I put big breaks after a couple of hours of study—your brain needs that recovery time to process what it just learned so that you can keep going with more. Studies have shown that your brain better processes newly-learned info into long-term memory when you are sleeping or exercising, so plan to take a nap or do something physical in those breaks between study sessions.
And do make sure to get yourself onto a regular, 8-hour-per-night sleep schedule (if you are not already). Your brain processes most of your new memories during your main block of sleep for that day, so you want to make sure you're giving yourself adequate sleep time.
Next, I would not "block" your studies out in the way that you have. Doing all of one thing at once and then later doing another thing is called "block" learning. It usually feels really good but studies show that you don't retain that material as well as when you use a more interleaved approach. Do some quant and some verbal every week. And, after a couple of weeks, start weaving in review / practice problems that come from earlier weeks of study. Interleaving, or weaving, things together more will help your brain to practice recalling the memories, and that's exactly what you need to be able to do on the test.
Likewise, I would do a little bit of IR each week starting maybe around week 4.
Think about your studies in three phases: (1) The first pass (fairly comprehensive / covering almost everything), (2) target your "medium" weaknesses to lift your score, and (3) solidify and review so that you peak on test day. Given that you will be studying full time, it may be the case that 7 weeks is enough time for your first pass through the materials, though I would give yourself the flexibility to adjust as you see how things go.
I generally recommend taking your first practice test (CAT) close to the beginning of your studies so that you have a good idea of your strengths and weaknesses. That helps you to prioritize as you study. Take #2 maybe mid-way through your first-pass and another at the end of the first-pass—so that's three tests spread out over the roughly 7-8 weeks of your first pass.
On that third test: you'll have a good handle on your strengths and weaknesses and you'll be used to the testing process enough that the score should give you a good idea of your current performance level (if you were to take the real test right then). You can use that to see how much farther you still have to go towards your goal score—and then you move into phase 2, targeting your medium weaknesses to try to lift your score further. This will involve going back around to the books, Official Guide problems, and so on—but specifically targeting the areas where you have a good opportunity to improve. (Don't try to tackle the big weaknesses. Those are the hardest ones to improve. Just guess on those and move on.) When you get to this phase, come back and talk to us to figure out how to structure things.
Finally, when your practice test scores are in the range that you want on the real thing, you can move to a final review / solidify everything for test day. For that, take a look here:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2016/09/ ... mat-part-1
I would be careful about studying 8 hours a day. Your brain can take in only so much new information before it starts to get fatigued—and when it gets fatigued, it doesn't learn as well. It's really easy to get yourself into a cycle where you're studying a ton, but your brain is tired and isn't taking it in...and you feel like the more you do, the less you learn.
It is possible to do an intensive study period. But I would do a max of 6 hours a day and I wouldn't do that for 5 days in a row. Maybe something like:
Mon: study 9-11a, break 11a-1p, study 1p to 3p, break 3p to 4p, study 4p to 5 or 6p (paying attention to my brain and stopping if I realize that I'm getting too wiped out)
Tue: same / full day
Wed: half-day, only study for 2-3 hours; could be all in a group or could be something like 9a to 10:30a plus 3p to 4:30p
Thu: full day
Fri: half day
Sat: half day
Sun: day off
You can of course rotate that around to fit your schedule (maybe you want Fridays or Saturdays to be your day off). You'll also note that I put big breaks after a couple of hours of study—your brain needs that recovery time to process what it just learned so that you can keep going with more. Studies have shown that your brain better processes newly-learned info into long-term memory when you are sleeping or exercising, so plan to take a nap or do something physical in those breaks between study sessions.
And do make sure to get yourself onto a regular, 8-hour-per-night sleep schedule (if you are not already). Your brain processes most of your new memories during your main block of sleep for that day, so you want to make sure you're giving yourself adequate sleep time.
Next, I would not "block" your studies out in the way that you have. Doing all of one thing at once and then later doing another thing is called "block" learning. It usually feels really good but studies show that you don't retain that material as well as when you use a more interleaved approach. Do some quant and some verbal every week. And, after a couple of weeks, start weaving in review / practice problems that come from earlier weeks of study. Interleaving, or weaving, things together more will help your brain to practice recalling the memories, and that's exactly what you need to be able to do on the test.
Likewise, I would do a little bit of IR each week starting maybe around week 4.
Think about your studies in three phases: (1) The first pass (fairly comprehensive / covering almost everything), (2) target your "medium" weaknesses to lift your score, and (3) solidify and review so that you peak on test day. Given that you will be studying full time, it may be the case that 7 weeks is enough time for your first pass through the materials, though I would give yourself the flexibility to adjust as you see how things go.
I generally recommend taking your first practice test (CAT) close to the beginning of your studies so that you have a good idea of your strengths and weaknesses. That helps you to prioritize as you study. Take #2 maybe mid-way through your first-pass and another at the end of the first-pass—so that's three tests spread out over the roughly 7-8 weeks of your first pass.
On that third test: you'll have a good handle on your strengths and weaknesses and you'll be used to the testing process enough that the score should give you a good idea of your current performance level (if you were to take the real test right then). You can use that to see how much farther you still have to go towards your goal score—and then you move into phase 2, targeting your medium weaknesses to try to lift your score further. This will involve going back around to the books, Official Guide problems, and so on—but specifically targeting the areas where you have a good opportunity to improve. (Don't try to tackle the big weaknesses. Those are the hardest ones to improve. Just guess on those and move on.) When you get to this phase, come back and talk to us to figure out how to structure things.
Finally, when your practice test scores are in the range that you want on the real thing, you can move to a final review / solidify everything for test day. For that, take a look here:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2016/09/ ... mat-part-1
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
- AlexandreC246
- Students
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2018 10:40 am
Re: Study intensive plan - 12 weeks?
Thank you very much Stacey!
That was tremendously helpful at this stage!
I will certainly keep you posted, and will need to comment on what's happening with me/my plan within the next weeks.
Regards
That was tremendously helpful at this stage!
I will certainly keep you posted, and will need to comment on what's happening with me/my plan within the next weeks.
Regards
- AlexandreC246
- Students
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2018 10:40 am
Re: Study intensive plan - 12 weeks?
There is just one thing that I would need to understand now, if possible:
I am doing all your books, as explained, and with less/more difficulties, I manage to understand and sucessfully answer all your problem sets/drills.
However, when it comes to mid/final-quiz within the OG, it happens this way:
I try the moderate set, struggle with answering within time constraints, and then do the easier set (even though nrever achieving 100% right).
Is this normal at this stage? Should I start worrying?
Because, to be honest, I feel quite sad when everything seems ok/understood when I go through your books, and then feel absolutely "destroyed" by the OG questions... it's hard!
What would you tell from your experience?
Thanks,
All the best.
I am doing all your books, as explained, and with less/more difficulties, I manage to understand and sucessfully answer all your problem sets/drills.
However, when it comes to mid/final-quiz within the OG, it happens this way:
I try the moderate set, struggle with answering within time constraints, and then do the easier set (even though nrever achieving 100% right).
Is this normal at this stage? Should I start worrying?
Because, to be honest, I feel quite sad when everything seems ok/understood when I go through your books, and then feel absolutely "destroyed" by the OG questions... it's hard!
What would you tell from your experience?
Thanks,
All the best.
- StaceyKoprince
- ManhattanGMAT Staff
- Posts: 9360
- Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:05 am
- Location: Montreal
Re: Study intensive plan - 12 weeks?
It's okay when you get something wrong. That just means you're about to learn how to get better.
The OG questions are another "level up" from what you learn in the strategy guides. They're not designed to test only and exactly what you learned in the guides. Don't think of this as a school test: I teach you something and then I give you a test that covers exactly what I taught you (so if you get it wrong, that means you didn't study enough). This isn't a school test.
So the first step here is just to reset your expectations. Expect to get at least some of these wrong. Every time! That's totally normal.
It's also normal to struggle with the time constraints, especially within a newer area. The ability to work at a faster pace comes with practice. If you find that it's happening every time, start by doing some of the Easier set first, just to build up more comfort witih the skills. Then move to the main set later.
Whenever you get something wrong, or get it right but feel like you should have been able to do it faster, or just feel like maybe there's something to learn about how to do that kind of problem better in future, use this article as a guide to help you analyze the problem:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -the-gmat/
I actually ask myself some of the questions listed in that article on every problem that I do, even if I got it right fast. Sometimes, there's still an even easier / better / faster way to do it!
The OG questions are another "level up" from what you learn in the strategy guides. They're not designed to test only and exactly what you learned in the guides. Don't think of this as a school test: I teach you something and then I give you a test that covers exactly what I taught you (so if you get it wrong, that means you didn't study enough). This isn't a school test.
So the first step here is just to reset your expectations. Expect to get at least some of these wrong. Every time! That's totally normal.
It's also normal to struggle with the time constraints, especially within a newer area. The ability to work at a faster pace comes with practice. If you find that it's happening every time, start by doing some of the Easier set first, just to build up more comfort witih the skills. Then move to the main set later.
Whenever you get something wrong, or get it right but feel like you should have been able to do it faster, or just feel like maybe there's something to learn about how to do that kind of problem better in future, use this article as a guide to help you analyze the problem:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -the-gmat/
I actually ask myself some of the questions listed in that article on every problem that I do, even if I got it right fast. Sometimes, there's still an even easier / better / faster way to do it!
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
- AlexandreC246
- Students
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2018 10:40 am
Re: Study intensive plan - 12 weeks?
Good afternoon Stacey.
After 1 month of intensive studies according to the plan previously discussed, and first pass of (i) Foundations of Math and (ii) half of MP Strategy Guides, I decided to took a 2nd exam, to measure the progression made (I believed!).
And to my absolute surprise and disgrace, I managed to get an even worst result than my diagnostic test (400, I am even embarrassed to comment the percentiles as you can imagine)...
After this, and to be honest, i just think I should give up right now, I cannot even understand what happened...
Anyway, and trying to put in words what i think might have happened / be happening, so that you can send me your thoughts/advices (and how much am I needing them today!):
I will now take more than the necessary time to review the exam, because I am aware of its utmost importance. Tomorrow that will be my only plan, to learn from my mistakes. (Although not being able to believe that this will ever take me to some place, to be honest).
In a sentence, I feel absolutely destroyed with this happening, with no motivation to keep going, and mostly to take the exam in the summer. How can I ever recover that? And believe me, I was full of it, everyday!
I have been studying everyday, in a very organised and diligent way, mixing up OG problems, and understanding each and every aspect of problems. As I have told you, I still need more time than what is supposed to complete the problems, but at this moment I was still (almost only) focused on understanding rather than on speed.
I think one of the things that happened is that I finally started to recognize the categories of problems, and with that tried to solve the problems, taking more time (rather then gessing), not being able to finish any section of the exam.
Besides that, I am feeling tremendous difficulties in not using calculator for Quant, although practising everyday on my scrap paper (nothing is as fast as a calculator!).
But the worst disaster is certainly IR - i haven't studied it until now, but will introduce a chapter once a week. What do you think?
I normally stand as one of the smartest (in college, work, and every other challenge that I have accepted until now), but in this case (GMAT) I have never felt so dumb or incapable to progress. After all, how can that be that after 1 month of studying, practising, understanding, etc, I manage to get an even worst result?!
Should I continue? give up? rearrange our studying plan? is this normal to happen? I am having millions of doubts right now...
Could you please send me some positive vibrations, advices, experiences, etc., whatever you think makes sense at this delicate moment?
Thank you very much for you help. Have a nice week.
After 1 month of intensive studies according to the plan previously discussed, and first pass of (i) Foundations of Math and (ii) half of MP Strategy Guides, I decided to took a 2nd exam, to measure the progression made (I believed!).
And to my absolute surprise and disgrace, I managed to get an even worst result than my diagnostic test (400, I am even embarrassed to comment the percentiles as you can imagine)...
After this, and to be honest, i just think I should give up right now, I cannot even understand what happened...
Anyway, and trying to put in words what i think might have happened / be happening, so that you can send me your thoughts/advices (and how much am I needing them today!):
I will now take more than the necessary time to review the exam, because I am aware of its utmost importance. Tomorrow that will be my only plan, to learn from my mistakes. (Although not being able to believe that this will ever take me to some place, to be honest).
In a sentence, I feel absolutely destroyed with this happening, with no motivation to keep going, and mostly to take the exam in the summer. How can I ever recover that? And believe me, I was full of it, everyday!
I have been studying everyday, in a very organised and diligent way, mixing up OG problems, and understanding each and every aspect of problems. As I have told you, I still need more time than what is supposed to complete the problems, but at this moment I was still (almost only) focused on understanding rather than on speed.
I think one of the things that happened is that I finally started to recognize the categories of problems, and with that tried to solve the problems, taking more time (rather then gessing), not being able to finish any section of the exam.
Besides that, I am feeling tremendous difficulties in not using calculator for Quant, although practising everyday on my scrap paper (nothing is as fast as a calculator!).
But the worst disaster is certainly IR - i haven't studied it until now, but will introduce a chapter once a week. What do you think?
I normally stand as one of the smartest (in college, work, and every other challenge that I have accepted until now), but in this case (GMAT) I have never felt so dumb or incapable to progress. After all, how can that be that after 1 month of studying, practising, understanding, etc, I manage to get an even worst result?!
Should I continue? give up? rearrange our studying plan? is this normal to happen? I am having millions of doubts right now...
Could you please send me some positive vibrations, advices, experiences, etc., whatever you think makes sense at this delicate moment?
Thank you very much for you help. Have a nice week.
- StaceyKoprince
- ManhattanGMAT Staff
- Posts: 9360
- Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:05 am
- Location: Montreal
Re: Study intensive plan - 12 weeks?
This is totally normal! The GMAT drives everybody crazy and lots of people go down on their 2nd practice test. You are not alone!!
This is the key:
If you don't finish a section, the exam pretends that you did get each of the questions you would have gotten—and that you got them all wrong. And you know what happens when you get stuff wrong? You get easier questions. So imagine what happens to your scoring trajectory when you get 5 or 10 wrong in a row. Straight down, right? The GMAT is a "where you end is what you get" test. So you go straight down, the test ends...and where you end is what you get.
The above happens a lot on test 2 for the exact reason that you stated. You learned stuff! You know how to do this now! So you're going to do it! But you're still learning / practicing / getting better, so you're slow with some stuff...and then you run short on time...and then...see above.
So this is totally normal. You've probably already gone back to start reviewing and I'll predict that you found exactly what I described above. Yes?
I'll also predict that you'll find that, earlier in the sections, you did answer some harder questions correctly that you weren't capable of answering a month or so ago. You were just too slow on answering some of them. So you have made progress! You just haven't made enough progress (yet!) for that to show up as a score improvement on the overall test.
Now, your task is two-fold:
(1) Point out to yourself where you really did get better. Do this for two reasons: First, to point out to yourself that you really are doing well, and second, to understand how to set your priorities for your next ~1 month of study or until you take your next CAT.
(2) Also figure out where you could be doing better and, specifically, how.
Here's how to classify things according into one of a few "buckets":
BUCKET 1. Good. I'm good here. I knew what I was doing, my timing was fine, etc. I've learned this!
BUCKET 2A. CM (Careless Mistakes). This is for "I knew that! How did I miss that??" or obvious careless mistakes, eg, I should have subtracted 3 but I added 3. I note the specific type of mistake I made, why I think I made the mistake, and what I could do differently in future to minimize a repeat of that type of mistake. For example: Write my work down differently (or write it down in the first place!), double-check certain things, whatever. This can also include things that I knew but forgot—and so "what could I do differently" involves "how am I going to review this thing so that it sticks next time?"
BUCKET 2B. ICLT (I can learn this). I didn't know it / I legitimately got it wrong, but it makes sense to me, I don't feel lost. OR I got it right but there's a better or faster way to do it than the way that I did it. I feel comfortable that I can learn how to do this and do it in a reasonable amount of time. (Note: reasonable is within about 30 to 60 seconds of the average time for that question type. So if I think I can learn to do this quant problem in 2.5 minutes, that's fine.) Here, I want to track two things:
(i) The major takeaways that will allow me to do something like this next time, in the form of flashcards; the front side fulfills the sentence "When I see _____" and the flip side fulfilles "I'll think / do _____." This could be at the level of a formula or math / grammar rule to memorize, or it could be at the level of a particular process or approach I should use when I see certain clues in a problem.
(ii) What I think I need to do to practice those things / make them a habit. This can include review of my flashcards, of course, but may also involve doing some drill work out of any of the strategy guides (including the Foundations books), doing some OG problems, re-doing this problem in future, etc. And then I go put those things on my study calendar.
BUCKET 3. Bail (at least for now). I looked at the solution and I still don't understand this. I hate it. It stresses me out. Other things (up above, in bucket 2) are better opportunities for me to learn. So, for now (and maybe forever!), I want to make another "When I see" flashcard that tells me what I should see to know that I want to bail (ie, guess quickly and move on).
*NOTE* You do *not* need to study everything. You can pick certain categories of things that you hate and only learn the basic / low-level stuff (and, for some areas, maybe not even that!) and then never learn the higher-level material. If you're ever not sure whether something might be too broad to put it in your bail category, just ask!
Over time, you can move stuff between buckets. Something in category 2a or 2b can move up to 1. And something in 3 can move up to 2, as you get better. And some things will stay in bucket 3 forever. I've been doing this for 20 years and 3D geometry is still in bucket 3 for me. A cube or box, fine. Cylinders—no!
Now, you have your study plan set up for the next few weeks at least: Prioritize things in bucket 2. Ignore things in bucket 3 (at least for right now).
Come back and tell me what you think when you've done that analysis.
This is the key:
I think one of the things that happened is that I finally started to recognize the categories of problems, and with that tried to solve the problems, taking more time (rather then gessing), not being able to finish any section of the exam.
If you don't finish a section, the exam pretends that you did get each of the questions you would have gotten—and that you got them all wrong. And you know what happens when you get stuff wrong? You get easier questions. So imagine what happens to your scoring trajectory when you get 5 or 10 wrong in a row. Straight down, right? The GMAT is a "where you end is what you get" test. So you go straight down, the test ends...and where you end is what you get.
The above happens a lot on test 2 for the exact reason that you stated. You learned stuff! You know how to do this now! So you're going to do it! But you're still learning / practicing / getting better, so you're slow with some stuff...and then you run short on time...and then...see above.
So this is totally normal. You've probably already gone back to start reviewing and I'll predict that you found exactly what I described above. Yes?
I'll also predict that you'll find that, earlier in the sections, you did answer some harder questions correctly that you weren't capable of answering a month or so ago. You were just too slow on answering some of them. So you have made progress! You just haven't made enough progress (yet!) for that to show up as a score improvement on the overall test.
Now, your task is two-fold:
(1) Point out to yourself where you really did get better. Do this for two reasons: First, to point out to yourself that you really are doing well, and second, to understand how to set your priorities for your next ~1 month of study or until you take your next CAT.
(2) Also figure out where you could be doing better and, specifically, how.
Here's how to classify things according into one of a few "buckets":
BUCKET 1. Good. I'm good here. I knew what I was doing, my timing was fine, etc. I've learned this!
BUCKET 2A. CM (Careless Mistakes). This is for "I knew that! How did I miss that??" or obvious careless mistakes, eg, I should have subtracted 3 but I added 3. I note the specific type of mistake I made, why I think I made the mistake, and what I could do differently in future to minimize a repeat of that type of mistake. For example: Write my work down differently (or write it down in the first place!), double-check certain things, whatever. This can also include things that I knew but forgot—and so "what could I do differently" involves "how am I going to review this thing so that it sticks next time?"
BUCKET 2B. ICLT (I can learn this). I didn't know it / I legitimately got it wrong, but it makes sense to me, I don't feel lost. OR I got it right but there's a better or faster way to do it than the way that I did it. I feel comfortable that I can learn how to do this and do it in a reasonable amount of time. (Note: reasonable is within about 30 to 60 seconds of the average time for that question type. So if I think I can learn to do this quant problem in 2.5 minutes, that's fine.) Here, I want to track two things:
(i) The major takeaways that will allow me to do something like this next time, in the form of flashcards; the front side fulfills the sentence "When I see _____" and the flip side fulfilles "I'll think / do _____." This could be at the level of a formula or math / grammar rule to memorize, or it could be at the level of a particular process or approach I should use when I see certain clues in a problem.
(ii) What I think I need to do to practice those things / make them a habit. This can include review of my flashcards, of course, but may also involve doing some drill work out of any of the strategy guides (including the Foundations books), doing some OG problems, re-doing this problem in future, etc. And then I go put those things on my study calendar.
BUCKET 3. Bail (at least for now). I looked at the solution and I still don't understand this. I hate it. It stresses me out. Other things (up above, in bucket 2) are better opportunities for me to learn. So, for now (and maybe forever!), I want to make another "When I see" flashcard that tells me what I should see to know that I want to bail (ie, guess quickly and move on).
*NOTE* You do *not* need to study everything. You can pick certain categories of things that you hate and only learn the basic / low-level stuff (and, for some areas, maybe not even that!) and then never learn the higher-level material. If you're ever not sure whether something might be too broad to put it in your bail category, just ask!
Over time, you can move stuff between buckets. Something in category 2a or 2b can move up to 1. And something in 3 can move up to 2, as you get better. And some things will stay in bucket 3 forever. I've been doing this for 20 years and 3D geometry is still in bucket 3 for me. A cube or box, fine. Cylinders—no!
Now, you have your study plan set up for the next few weeks at least: Prioritize things in bucket 2. Ignore things in bucket 3 (at least for right now).
Come back and tell me what you think when you've done that analysis.
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
- AlexandreC246
- Students
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2018 10:40 am
URGENT Re: Study intensive plan - 12 weeks?
Hello Stacey!
I am writing you because 7 weeks have now passed, since the beginning of my study plan.
This means that I have already given a first pass of all strategy guides and corresponding OG sets, and also naturally targeted some of my weaknesses.
So, I now have 4 weeks until I take my exam, scheduled to 26.06.2018.
Here are my doubts/questions/plans, hoping that you could help me structuring things now:
1 - I was doubting whether I should stick to the plan, or move forward the exam, because it is quite obvious for me at this point that I will not be able to have a good score at first (remember that I started by reviewing maths basics, and although feeling I have made huge progressions, I am still very far from being good at this).
But the truth is that I think I should complete my whole plan for now and be confronted with the official exam, because otherwise we will always be postponing this first (difficult) moment forever, and not knowing my first real limit within this exam preparation.
What do you think about this? Do you agree with what I am saying, or believe that I should only take the test when my scores are nearer my goal? Do you believe that in the future having a bad score on my previous official GMAT scores could worsen my position within schools, or it would only be seen as a sign of perseverance? This is important.
2 – I have just taken my 3rd CAT today (from GMACPrep), and unfortunately the results were still these:
Score Percentile # Questions Wrong Correct % Correct
Verbal 23 30 41 20 21 51%
Quantitative 27 18 37 22 15 41%
Integrated Reasoning 5 52 12 7 5 42%
Total 440 19
I will now review all the problems, either correct or incorrect, to identify those I had no clue of the answer, those I had careless mistakes, etc. (according to the bucket list you have sent me before).
But would like to tell you the following, because it is certainly useful to plan this from now on:
A. My score in verbal makes no sense, because each time I practise problem sets I reach a very good rate of success (when compared to quant for example). I think that, what happens on official test, is that I know I am stronger on this and so I try to rush. And this is the result… So, I think I just need to practise these problems in official timings more, but I do feel comfortable around these, and do not feel a need to review much more.
B. Well, Quant is not my strength at all, as we all know. But progressions have been made, of course. Anyway, this should be the main focus right now I believe, although I am still not sure how to organise it now. And very important, still struggling not to use the calculator!
C. IR is normally very difficult to me, mainly when you have 3 questions (because I always get 1 wrong and because of that everything wrong!). But this is Ok I think, so it seems to that I should just practise, like Verbal.
D. About the writing, I have no clue what would be my score, but I would say I should be able to have an average score. Talk about this later.
3 - So the big real question is (if not postponing the exam for now!): how to organise these 4 weeks? I have some ideas, but not that well-planed still. This is what I’m thinking:
A. Take 1 or 2 exams per week, and review them thoroughly, keeping track of type of errors.
B. Complete all the problems contained in: GMAT Official Guide 2018, GMAT Official Guide Verbal 2018, and GMAT Official Guide Quantitative 2018.
a. But how should I organise this practise? Does it make sense each day creating problem sets containing x problems of each verbal/quant type of questions? Or should I only focus on quant?
b. As you can imagine, because of completing your strategy guides and the indicated problems by topic, I have completed many of the problems from the GMAT Official Guide 2018, but still I think I should repass them all now. Is it ok?
c. I have no clue what would be the most effective way to go through all of them…
C. Also, I have seen that GMATPrep software offers question banks, like you do too. How should I plan/coordinate my practise with all these materials? I haven’t gone through them until now.
D. In relation to IR, I have done your practise in student center. I still have to do the practise from GMAC. What should I do more? Is there anything else in here I could do?
E. In relation to the essay, do you think I should buy some kind of review? Or just developing a template, keep practising 1 or 2 per week and see how it goes?
F. I have not tried until now any of the free classes I have included on by books. How should I choose them? Does it make sense at this moment to take a few?
G. I assume I should just forget my biggest weaknesses, as combinatorics for instance, but please let me know.
4 - So basically, the plan would be something like this:
WEEK 1:
- answer/review x problem sets containing y problems per day, each of them containing all (?) quant subjects (only quant?)
- answer/review question banks and others on quant (only quant?)
- review relevant strategy guide/foundations of math when necessary
- take 1 or 2 full exams per week and review
- (how to coordinate verbal/quant, knowing that I am stronger at the first but still have margin to lift my score)
WEEK 2
- the same? Or return also to verbal/IR/essay specifically?
WEEK 3
- the same? Or return also to verbal/IR/essay specifically?
WEEK 4
- the same? No clue about this…
Thank you very much.
Best,
I am writing you because 7 weeks have now passed, since the beginning of my study plan.
This means that I have already given a first pass of all strategy guides and corresponding OG sets, and also naturally targeted some of my weaknesses.
So, I now have 4 weeks until I take my exam, scheduled to 26.06.2018.
Here are my doubts/questions/plans, hoping that you could help me structuring things now:
1 - I was doubting whether I should stick to the plan, or move forward the exam, because it is quite obvious for me at this point that I will not be able to have a good score at first (remember that I started by reviewing maths basics, and although feeling I have made huge progressions, I am still very far from being good at this).
But the truth is that I think I should complete my whole plan for now and be confronted with the official exam, because otherwise we will always be postponing this first (difficult) moment forever, and not knowing my first real limit within this exam preparation.
What do you think about this? Do you agree with what I am saying, or believe that I should only take the test when my scores are nearer my goal? Do you believe that in the future having a bad score on my previous official GMAT scores could worsen my position within schools, or it would only be seen as a sign of perseverance? This is important.
2 – I have just taken my 3rd CAT today (from GMACPrep), and unfortunately the results were still these:
Score Percentile # Questions Wrong Correct % Correct
Verbal 23 30 41 20 21 51%
Quantitative 27 18 37 22 15 41%
Integrated Reasoning 5 52 12 7 5 42%
Total 440 19
I will now review all the problems, either correct or incorrect, to identify those I had no clue of the answer, those I had careless mistakes, etc. (according to the bucket list you have sent me before).
But would like to tell you the following, because it is certainly useful to plan this from now on:
A. My score in verbal makes no sense, because each time I practise problem sets I reach a very good rate of success (when compared to quant for example). I think that, what happens on official test, is that I know I am stronger on this and so I try to rush. And this is the result… So, I think I just need to practise these problems in official timings more, but I do feel comfortable around these, and do not feel a need to review much more.
B. Well, Quant is not my strength at all, as we all know. But progressions have been made, of course. Anyway, this should be the main focus right now I believe, although I am still not sure how to organise it now. And very important, still struggling not to use the calculator!
C. IR is normally very difficult to me, mainly when you have 3 questions (because I always get 1 wrong and because of that everything wrong!). But this is Ok I think, so it seems to that I should just practise, like Verbal.
D. About the writing, I have no clue what would be my score, but I would say I should be able to have an average score. Talk about this later.
3 - So the big real question is (if not postponing the exam for now!): how to organise these 4 weeks? I have some ideas, but not that well-planed still. This is what I’m thinking:
A. Take 1 or 2 exams per week, and review them thoroughly, keeping track of type of errors.
B. Complete all the problems contained in: GMAT Official Guide 2018, GMAT Official Guide Verbal 2018, and GMAT Official Guide Quantitative 2018.
a. But how should I organise this practise? Does it make sense each day creating problem sets containing x problems of each verbal/quant type of questions? Or should I only focus on quant?
b. As you can imagine, because of completing your strategy guides and the indicated problems by topic, I have completed many of the problems from the GMAT Official Guide 2018, but still I think I should repass them all now. Is it ok?
c. I have no clue what would be the most effective way to go through all of them…
C. Also, I have seen that GMATPrep software offers question banks, like you do too. How should I plan/coordinate my practise with all these materials? I haven’t gone through them until now.
D. In relation to IR, I have done your practise in student center. I still have to do the practise from GMAC. What should I do more? Is there anything else in here I could do?
E. In relation to the essay, do you think I should buy some kind of review? Or just developing a template, keep practising 1 or 2 per week and see how it goes?
F. I have not tried until now any of the free classes I have included on by books. How should I choose them? Does it make sense at this moment to take a few?
G. I assume I should just forget my biggest weaknesses, as combinatorics for instance, but please let me know.
4 - So basically, the plan would be something like this:
WEEK 1:
- answer/review x problem sets containing y problems per day, each of them containing all (?) quant subjects (only quant?)
- answer/review question banks and others on quant (only quant?)
- review relevant strategy guide/foundations of math when necessary
- take 1 or 2 full exams per week and review
- (how to coordinate verbal/quant, knowing that I am stronger at the first but still have margin to lift my score)
WEEK 2
- the same? Or return also to verbal/IR/essay specifically?
WEEK 3
- the same? Or return also to verbal/IR/essay specifically?
WEEK 4
- the same? No clue about this…
Thank you very much.
Best,
- StaceyKoprince
- ManhattanGMAT Staff
- Posts: 9360
- Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:05 am
- Location: Montreal
Re: Study intensive plan - 12 weeks?
Hello!
Many people take the official exam multiple times and schools either don't care or do see it as a sign of perseverance if you have a lower score on record but also achieve a higher score. (You can also take the official exam for practice but then cancel your scores, so the schools wouldn't even know you've taken it that day. That costs $250 and 3 hours of your life—but it can be a useful motivator if you need / want it.)
So I think the only drawbacks to just going in and taking it are time and money. And given how much b-school costs...I think both the time and money are very minor drawbacks.
It looks like you are using the old format of the GPrep exam (41 V questions and 37 Q questions). Did you see that they launched updated exams at the end of April? You can choose to switch your GPrep registration over to the new exams, which are now browser-based (not downloadable). You won't be able to carry over your data from the downloaded version—but you will be able to take the exams under the new (shorter) format.
Next, you have a hypothesis in terms of what's been happening—does your analysis bear that out? For example, you say that you think the problem is that you rush. That would lead to careless mistakes, which would pull your score down. Have you analyzed now? Did you find a number of careless mistakes? If so, that confirms your hypothesis and so your next step is to figure out how not to rush so much.
Are you currently using full time in the V section? If you are using less time than the full time, then you can just slow down without changing anything else. But if you are currently using the full time, then you'll have to bail immediately on a small number of questions to save up the time needed in order to avoid rushing on all of the others.
Next, in terms of what to do for the next 4 weeks:
PLEASE DO NOT take 1-2 exams per week.
PLEASE DO NOT do all of the problems in the OG.
Sorry to shout at you. But that's the opposite of what you want to do. Your goal is not to *do* lots of problems. Your goal is to learn how to get better—and you learn when you review problems, not when you do them. In fact, doing tons and tons of problems will actually prevent you from learning as much as you could, because you will not be able to do as much review, nor will you be able to remember all of the review (because you're doing too many problems).
Use your most recent practice test as your starting point. Use that to identify the specific areas that need more work (including why they need more work—as we discussed before, there's a difference between a careless mistake and an "I didn't know but I can learn this" problem). Wherever needed, review underlying material / strategies / lessons in your books or other resources (eg, the online Interact lessons), make flash cards etc. Don't limit yourself to just learning what you would need to answer that particular question. If you realize, for example, that you missed a problem because you messed up a particular exponent rule, go back and study all exponent rules...and maybe root rules as well. If you remember that you had done some other problems recently that tested similar things, go and look up those problems again and review them.
Then go try (and re-try, yes) OG problems. Try a couple in the area you just reviewed. Then try a mini-set, maybe 8 questions in a block, timed, taken under test-like conditions. In this set, choose half of the questions according to areas that you've been studying recently (could be specific content areas, like linear equations, or strategies, like smart numbers). Choose randomly for the other half, so that they serve as a more general review of everything. (This also mimics the real test more closely, where you don't know what you're going to get next.)
Every time you complete a set of questions, analyze it as though it's the test—analyze your timing and decision-making across the whole set, as well as the individual problems. And again allow that to drive your study / review—go back and look up whatever you need in your books, make flash cards, etc. (And, yes, forget about your biggest weaknesses. Everyone should. Just know how to recognize them fast so that you can guess immediately on the real test.)
If you want to do a set of entirely randomly-chosen questions, you can use the GMATPrep software (or the new official browser-based platform). I would do this maybe once a week.
If you do the above based on all of the data from a single test, that should easily take you 1-2 weeks. Don't take another practice test until you're done extracting everything you can from the test you already took. When you do feel ready, take another test and repeat the above process.
Your IR score is already a 5, above average, plus IR isn't as important as Q and V, so I would do much less work there. You will likely need to spend more time on Q (because it usually takes longer to study your weaker area), but you still have a decent amount of work to do on the V as well, so I would split your time maybe 50% quant, 40% verbal, 10% IR.
So one period might be something like:
Day 1: Take a CAT (you just did this)
Day 1: Analyze global data from CAT (overall sections, not individual problems)
Day 2: Analyze / classify individual Q problems; begin to study based on the results
Day 3: Analyze / classify individual V problems; begin to study based on the results
Days 4–7: Continue to work your way through the Q and V items you identified as needing further study
Day 8: Do a Q problem set (8 questions, at least half randomly chosen); analyze and study
Day 9: Do a V problem set (ditto)
Day 10: Do a Q set again
Day 11: Do a V set again
Day 12: Take a CAT and repeat the process
That cycle might take as little as ~8 days or as much as 14, depending on the details as you work your way through.
So over the next 4 weeks, you have time to do at least 2 complete cycles. If you decide to keep the real test as a practice run, spend the last 3-5 days doing just a general / global review of major rules, problem-solving strategies, time management strategies, etc. After you take that real test, analyze whatever you can remember. Then go back to the above cycle to continue to push yourself higher.
Many people take the official exam multiple times and schools either don't care or do see it as a sign of perseverance if you have a lower score on record but also achieve a higher score. (You can also take the official exam for practice but then cancel your scores, so the schools wouldn't even know you've taken it that day. That costs $250 and 3 hours of your life—but it can be a useful motivator if you need / want it.)
So I think the only drawbacks to just going in and taking it are time and money. And given how much b-school costs...I think both the time and money are very minor drawbacks.
It looks like you are using the old format of the GPrep exam (41 V questions and 37 Q questions). Did you see that they launched updated exams at the end of April? You can choose to switch your GPrep registration over to the new exams, which are now browser-based (not downloadable). You won't be able to carry over your data from the downloaded version—but you will be able to take the exams under the new (shorter) format.
Next, you have a hypothesis in terms of what's been happening—does your analysis bear that out? For example, you say that you think the problem is that you rush. That would lead to careless mistakes, which would pull your score down. Have you analyzed now? Did you find a number of careless mistakes? If so, that confirms your hypothesis and so your next step is to figure out how not to rush so much.
Are you currently using full time in the V section? If you are using less time than the full time, then you can just slow down without changing anything else. But if you are currently using the full time, then you'll have to bail immediately on a small number of questions to save up the time needed in order to avoid rushing on all of the others.
Next, in terms of what to do for the next 4 weeks:
PLEASE DO NOT take 1-2 exams per week.
PLEASE DO NOT do all of the problems in the OG.
Sorry to shout at you. But that's the opposite of what you want to do. Your goal is not to *do* lots of problems. Your goal is to learn how to get better—and you learn when you review problems, not when you do them. In fact, doing tons and tons of problems will actually prevent you from learning as much as you could, because you will not be able to do as much review, nor will you be able to remember all of the review (because you're doing too many problems).
Use your most recent practice test as your starting point. Use that to identify the specific areas that need more work (including why they need more work—as we discussed before, there's a difference between a careless mistake and an "I didn't know but I can learn this" problem). Wherever needed, review underlying material / strategies / lessons in your books or other resources (eg, the online Interact lessons), make flash cards etc. Don't limit yourself to just learning what you would need to answer that particular question. If you realize, for example, that you missed a problem because you messed up a particular exponent rule, go back and study all exponent rules...and maybe root rules as well. If you remember that you had done some other problems recently that tested similar things, go and look up those problems again and review them.
Then go try (and re-try, yes) OG problems. Try a couple in the area you just reviewed. Then try a mini-set, maybe 8 questions in a block, timed, taken under test-like conditions. In this set, choose half of the questions according to areas that you've been studying recently (could be specific content areas, like linear equations, or strategies, like smart numbers). Choose randomly for the other half, so that they serve as a more general review of everything. (This also mimics the real test more closely, where you don't know what you're going to get next.)
Every time you complete a set of questions, analyze it as though it's the test—analyze your timing and decision-making across the whole set, as well as the individual problems. And again allow that to drive your study / review—go back and look up whatever you need in your books, make flash cards, etc. (And, yes, forget about your biggest weaknesses. Everyone should. Just know how to recognize them fast so that you can guess immediately on the real test.)
If you want to do a set of entirely randomly-chosen questions, you can use the GMATPrep software (or the new official browser-based platform). I would do this maybe once a week.
If you do the above based on all of the data from a single test, that should easily take you 1-2 weeks. Don't take another practice test until you're done extracting everything you can from the test you already took. When you do feel ready, take another test and repeat the above process.
Your IR score is already a 5, above average, plus IR isn't as important as Q and V, so I would do much less work there. You will likely need to spend more time on Q (because it usually takes longer to study your weaker area), but you still have a decent amount of work to do on the V as well, so I would split your time maybe 50% quant, 40% verbal, 10% IR.
So one period might be something like:
Day 1: Take a CAT (you just did this)
Day 1: Analyze global data from CAT (overall sections, not individual problems)
Day 2: Analyze / classify individual Q problems; begin to study based on the results
Day 3: Analyze / classify individual V problems; begin to study based on the results
Days 4–7: Continue to work your way through the Q and V items you identified as needing further study
Day 8: Do a Q problem set (8 questions, at least half randomly chosen); analyze and study
Day 9: Do a V problem set (ditto)
Day 10: Do a Q set again
Day 11: Do a V set again
Day 12: Take a CAT and repeat the process
That cycle might take as little as ~8 days or as much as 14, depending on the details as you work your way through.
So over the next 4 weeks, you have time to do at least 2 complete cycles. If you decide to keep the real test as a practice run, spend the last 3-5 days doing just a general / global review of major rules, problem-solving strategies, time management strategies, etc. After you take that real test, analyze whatever you can remember. Then go back to the above cycle to continue to push yourself higher.
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
- AlexandreC246
- Students
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2018 10:40 am
URGENT Re: Study intensive plan - 12 weeks?
Hello Stacey.
First of all, thank you very much for answering in such a short period.
Commenting some of your points:
1. I will just confirm cancellation/postponement policies and make a decision.
Anyway, and from your experience, how much more time should I need to get something like a 650? Another period of 2/3 months, or even more? Just to manage expectations and even professional life. I imagine that after this intensive period, another one could be counter-productive, because I think I could not emotionally handle it...(See analysis in 3. below if it helps to anwer this)
2. I will now try to switch my GPrep registration over to the new exams - I thought it was not that important, but you are right.
3. In relation to my analysis to the last CAT:
a. I had to use the complete time for each section, having to make guesses in each of them (mostly in RC), because I did not want “not to finish the test” as before.
b. The specific answers can be divided as following:
BUCKET 1 – GOOD
V: 12SC, 5CR, 4RC – this meaning that I am stronger in SC than in CR/RC
Q: 10DS, 5PS – this meaning that I am stronger in DS than in PS (not new to me)
BUCKET 2A – CARELESS MISTAKES
V: 3SC – those when I rush (less than I thought yesterday, so this is not the important thing in managing this part of the test)
Q: 2DS, 2PS – on exponents, profit, areas, ratios
BUCKET 2B – I CAN LEARN
V: 2SC, 3CR, 9RC – note that I made 7 guesses on RC to save time, most of them failing (because they were not educated)
Q: 9PS 5DS – too many things, including: exponents, roots, NP, WP, inequalities, remainders, etc.
BUCKET 3 – BAIL
V: 3CR – without explanation, very difficult to understand
Q: 3PS 1DS – the same
c. From these I take the following conclusions:
i. V: I am stronger in SC, so I should practise more the other (CR/RC). (How much should I guess/bail? Only RC?)
ii. Q: I am stronger in DS, and have difficulties in PS in a wide variety of subjects
iii. Did not include IR, because with that I am not too worried (will just continue to practise)
4. I understand from your message that I should practise OG according to the failures I have identified in my last CAT. And only after that first review having another CAT. Is that it? So I only take 2/3 CATs maximum in this next month?
5. I only have access to the “categorisation” of problems contained in GMAT OG 2018, made available in your website. Is there any “categorisation” of problems contained in GMAT OG V / Q Review 2018? Or should I just look through the problems and try to identify/divide?
6. And what about the essay? Do you think I should buy some kind of review? Or just developing a template, keep practising (1 or 2 per week?) and see how it goes?
To sum up, I would say that my plans now per week would be something like that:
WEEK 1 (THE PRESENT)
DAY 1, 2 AND 3 - Analyse individual Q problems; begin to study based on the results, reviewing strategy guides, OG, etc. on the subject errors where I failed
Day 4 AND 5: Analyse individual V problems; begin to study based on the results, practising, practising, practising.
WEEK 2
Alternate between Q and V problem sets (2 to 3 times)
Take 1 CAT
WEEK 3/4:
Repeat procedures mentioned in WEEK 1 and 2 in respect to this last CAT
All this accompanied by question banks, online lessons, flash cards and error log, + doing a set of entirely randomly-chosen questions.
Thanks!
First of all, thank you very much for answering in such a short period.
Commenting some of your points:
1. I will just confirm cancellation/postponement policies and make a decision.
Anyway, and from your experience, how much more time should I need to get something like a 650? Another period of 2/3 months, or even more? Just to manage expectations and even professional life. I imagine that after this intensive period, another one could be counter-productive, because I think I could not emotionally handle it...(See analysis in 3. below if it helps to anwer this)
2. I will now try to switch my GPrep registration over to the new exams - I thought it was not that important, but you are right.
3. In relation to my analysis to the last CAT:
a. I had to use the complete time for each section, having to make guesses in each of them (mostly in RC), because I did not want “not to finish the test” as before.
b. The specific answers can be divided as following:
BUCKET 1 – GOOD
V: 12SC, 5CR, 4RC – this meaning that I am stronger in SC than in CR/RC
Q: 10DS, 5PS – this meaning that I am stronger in DS than in PS (not new to me)
BUCKET 2A – CARELESS MISTAKES
V: 3SC – those when I rush (less than I thought yesterday, so this is not the important thing in managing this part of the test)
Q: 2DS, 2PS – on exponents, profit, areas, ratios
BUCKET 2B – I CAN LEARN
V: 2SC, 3CR, 9RC – note that I made 7 guesses on RC to save time, most of them failing (because they were not educated)
Q: 9PS 5DS – too many things, including: exponents, roots, NP, WP, inequalities, remainders, etc.
BUCKET 3 – BAIL
V: 3CR – without explanation, very difficult to understand
Q: 3PS 1DS – the same
c. From these I take the following conclusions:
i. V: I am stronger in SC, so I should practise more the other (CR/RC). (How much should I guess/bail? Only RC?)
ii. Q: I am stronger in DS, and have difficulties in PS in a wide variety of subjects
iii. Did not include IR, because with that I am not too worried (will just continue to practise)
4. I understand from your message that I should practise OG according to the failures I have identified in my last CAT. And only after that first review having another CAT. Is that it? So I only take 2/3 CATs maximum in this next month?
5. I only have access to the “categorisation” of problems contained in GMAT OG 2018, made available in your website. Is there any “categorisation” of problems contained in GMAT OG V / Q Review 2018? Or should I just look through the problems and try to identify/divide?
6. And what about the essay? Do you think I should buy some kind of review? Or just developing a template, keep practising (1 or 2 per week?) and see how it goes?
To sum up, I would say that my plans now per week would be something like that:
WEEK 1 (THE PRESENT)
DAY 1, 2 AND 3 - Analyse individual Q problems; begin to study based on the results, reviewing strategy guides, OG, etc. on the subject errors where I failed
Day 4 AND 5: Analyse individual V problems; begin to study based on the results, practising, practising, practising.
WEEK 2
Alternate between Q and V problem sets (2 to 3 times)
Take 1 CAT
WEEK 3/4:
Repeat procedures mentioned in WEEK 1 and 2 in respect to this last CAT
All this accompanied by question banks, online lessons, flash cards and error log, + doing a set of entirely randomly-chosen questions.
Thanks!
- StaceyKoprince
- ManhattanGMAT Staff
- Posts: 9360
- Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:05 am
- Location: Montreal
Re: Study intensive plan - 12 weeks?
Progress on this test is usually not linear. It comes in jumps. There are periods of time when you don't see much change in the overall score, but other times when you can see big jumps—usually because you have fixed some fundamental issues, such as timing, making lots of careless mistakes, fixing holes in your foundational knowledge (necessary to be able to answer lower-level questions), and so on.
Let's look at your analysis first.
One thing: When you tell me that you're good at something, you're basing that on # right (in the data you cited). It's important to look at time spent and difficulty level as well (which our practice tests will give you, but the real practice tests will not). For example, I often see that someone does better on one type of problem vs. another...but they spent a lot more time on that problem type and rushed the "worse" problem type. Are you really better at that one type? Or did you just do better because you spent more time? Ditto difficulty level—sometimes you happen to get harder questions, on average, of one type. When you take our exams, you'll have this data, so factor that into your analysis.
Next, broadly from what you put for Verbal, it looks like SC is a strength now and RC can be a strength—you labeled most of those "I can learn." So, when you do bail, you'll want to bail on CR, not RC. Make a note of that for your next practice test.
Next, ideally, try to identify the types of CR questions that you like the least. You can choose now to bail on those forever, so you don't even need to study them.
And then go study the specific types of things that you marked as "I can learn." Start with the individual problems, but extrapolate that to include other problems of the same type or sub-type.
Ditto, on quant. Figure out the "recognizable" characteristics for the 4 quant problems you put in bucket 3, so that you know NOT to study those things and you know to bail on similar ones when you see them on future practice tests. And then dive into the specific things you need to learn from the ones you put in Bucket 2B.
For careless mistakes, do this:
blog/2012/10/24/how-to-minimize-careless-errors-when-taking-the-gmat/
Let's talk a bit more about Quant. People who are a lot better at DS than PS usually have a pretty good grasp of the theory / rules, but they are struggling to do the necessary computations—that's the real difference between DS and PS. So it sounds like you need to work more on your ability to execute the necessary steps to solve all the way to the end.
There are a couple of levels here. First, it's important not to try to approach PS in the same way that you did math problems in school—what I call "textbook" math. That doesn't work as well on the GMAT as "test-taking" math. These are strategies that rely more on real-world, back-of-the-envelope math and "logical reasoning" about math concepts.
Some of that can be around what I call "Fast Math":
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... rt-1-of-5/
Some of it is around alternative strategies, which you can find in the various strategy chapters of your MPrep guides (eg, smart numbers, testing cases, working backwards, etc). We also have more about these strategies on our blog; here are some on translating and solving story problems:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... them-real/
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... ms-part-1/
And sometimes, this is about NOT doing math at all, even on PS:
blog/2016/01/12/heres-how-to-avoid-calculations-on-gmat-quant-problem-solving/
Take a look at that material and think about how to incorporate it into your studies as you try to learn from your bucket 2 problems in the next week or two (and longer!).
To your other questions:
4. Practice tests. Yes, I'm saying don't do more than about 2-3 practice tests in a month.
5. We don't, unfortunately, publish a categorization for the Q-only and V-only books, as we don't use these in our programs.
6. If you would like to check what your essay score would be, you can buy the GMAT Write program on the www.mba.com website. This service uses the same computer program that will grade your essays on the real exam. If you would like to see what kind of essays would earn a certain level of score, look in chapter 11 of your Official Guide book—it has examples of essays that scored a 2, 4, and 6. (6 is perfect and 4 is acceptable. Below 4 is probably too low.)
You can also use this as your template, if you like:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... no-thanks/
For your plan, I would make this edit:
--> practising, then analyse, analyse, analyse.
You learn when you analyze what you've done and think about what you want to do the same next time and what you want to do differently. Then you go practice to make that learning a habit. And then you analyze all over again in order to get even better.
Okay, let's go back to your first question. You're getting sick of this and just want to know that the end is in sight. Right? I understand.
Your current test is at 440. If you can fix the timing / decision-making, careless errors, and those sorts of things that are holding your score down, then in a month, you could see a jump to something like 550. You might then have a plateau, so yes, it might be another 2 months to get the next 100 points.
What I don't want is for you to just put your head down and GO for 3 months and then say, I'm still not making progress and I don't know why and I give up. So let's set some parameters that will help you to know that you need to do something differently—which may involve some outside / additional help in the form of a class or tutor. You'll have to decide exactly how far you're willing to continue to try to push yourself on your own vs. spending more money for outside help.
I would say that if, in a month, your score is not in the 500s, it's time to get outside help. If I were you, given the time already invested, I'd probably set that threshold at about 550—but again, this is your money, not mine, so you have to be the one to decide what your limits are.
You can also look at outside help that might not be a full course (which usually costs > $1,000). For example, my company recently launched a 6-hour program called Math in a Day (it's given over 1 or 2 days on weekends). It's basically all Foundations of Math-level work but helping you to learn both how various math things work and why they work they way the do—if you learn the why, it's often easier to remember the how. And if you know the why it's often easier, on a test like the GMAT, to know when to apply certain concepts or math procedures—since this test is really good at disguising what it's really asking. If you think that you could use that kind of help, then you might consider doing something like that.
I'm sure other companies are also doing similar things (full courses and smaller workshops / weekend things), so do some research to see what's available and you can decide what the right fit is for you.
And finally, I want to say this: studying for the GMAT does take a lot of time and commitment—but it's important to make sure that you are also still doing other things in your life that will relieve stress and just allow you to live a normal life. Doing things with family and friends, exercising, participating in hobbies, etc. I tell all of my students that they have to take at least one day a week to do nothing at all related to the GMAT—they're not even allowed to think about it!
This test can become all-consuming if you let it, but letting that happen will actually make it harder to study because you will be burned out. When you're burned out, your brain doesn't learn as well...and if you get into that cycle, it just gets worse and worse as you go. If that's what you're feeling right now, sit down tomorrow and figure out what you can do to keep going with your studies in a reasonable way while also getting some balance back into your life.
Let's look at your analysis first.
One thing: When you tell me that you're good at something, you're basing that on # right (in the data you cited). It's important to look at time spent and difficulty level as well (which our practice tests will give you, but the real practice tests will not). For example, I often see that someone does better on one type of problem vs. another...but they spent a lot more time on that problem type and rushed the "worse" problem type. Are you really better at that one type? Or did you just do better because you spent more time? Ditto difficulty level—sometimes you happen to get harder questions, on average, of one type. When you take our exams, you'll have this data, so factor that into your analysis.
Next, broadly from what you put for Verbal, it looks like SC is a strength now and RC can be a strength—you labeled most of those "I can learn." So, when you do bail, you'll want to bail on CR, not RC. Make a note of that for your next practice test.
Next, ideally, try to identify the types of CR questions that you like the least. You can choose now to bail on those forever, so you don't even need to study them.
And then go study the specific types of things that you marked as "I can learn." Start with the individual problems, but extrapolate that to include other problems of the same type or sub-type.
Ditto, on quant. Figure out the "recognizable" characteristics for the 4 quant problems you put in bucket 3, so that you know NOT to study those things and you know to bail on similar ones when you see them on future practice tests. And then dive into the specific things you need to learn from the ones you put in Bucket 2B.
For careless mistakes, do this:
blog/2012/10/24/how-to-minimize-careless-errors-when-taking-the-gmat/
Let's talk a bit more about Quant. People who are a lot better at DS than PS usually have a pretty good grasp of the theory / rules, but they are struggling to do the necessary computations—that's the real difference between DS and PS. So it sounds like you need to work more on your ability to execute the necessary steps to solve all the way to the end.
There are a couple of levels here. First, it's important not to try to approach PS in the same way that you did math problems in school—what I call "textbook" math. That doesn't work as well on the GMAT as "test-taking" math. These are strategies that rely more on real-world, back-of-the-envelope math and "logical reasoning" about math concepts.
Some of that can be around what I call "Fast Math":
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... rt-1-of-5/
Some of it is around alternative strategies, which you can find in the various strategy chapters of your MPrep guides (eg, smart numbers, testing cases, working backwards, etc). We also have more about these strategies on our blog; here are some on translating and solving story problems:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... them-real/
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... ms-part-1/
And sometimes, this is about NOT doing math at all, even on PS:
blog/2016/01/12/heres-how-to-avoid-calculations-on-gmat-quant-problem-solving/
Take a look at that material and think about how to incorporate it into your studies as you try to learn from your bucket 2 problems in the next week or two (and longer!).
To your other questions:
4. Practice tests. Yes, I'm saying don't do more than about 2-3 practice tests in a month.
5. We don't, unfortunately, publish a categorization for the Q-only and V-only books, as we don't use these in our programs.
6. If you would like to check what your essay score would be, you can buy the GMAT Write program on the www.mba.com website. This service uses the same computer program that will grade your essays on the real exam. If you would like to see what kind of essays would earn a certain level of score, look in chapter 11 of your Official Guide book—it has examples of essays that scored a 2, 4, and 6. (6 is perfect and 4 is acceptable. Below 4 is probably too low.)
You can also use this as your template, if you like:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... no-thanks/
For your plan, I would make this edit:
practising, practising, practising.
--> practising, then analyse, analyse, analyse.
You learn when you analyze what you've done and think about what you want to do the same next time and what you want to do differently. Then you go practice to make that learning a habit. And then you analyze all over again in order to get even better.
Okay, let's go back to your first question. You're getting sick of this and just want to know that the end is in sight. Right? I understand.
Your current test is at 440. If you can fix the timing / decision-making, careless errors, and those sorts of things that are holding your score down, then in a month, you could see a jump to something like 550. You might then have a plateau, so yes, it might be another 2 months to get the next 100 points.
What I don't want is for you to just put your head down and GO for 3 months and then say, I'm still not making progress and I don't know why and I give up. So let's set some parameters that will help you to know that you need to do something differently—which may involve some outside / additional help in the form of a class or tutor. You'll have to decide exactly how far you're willing to continue to try to push yourself on your own vs. spending more money for outside help.
I would say that if, in a month, your score is not in the 500s, it's time to get outside help. If I were you, given the time already invested, I'd probably set that threshold at about 550—but again, this is your money, not mine, so you have to be the one to decide what your limits are.
You can also look at outside help that might not be a full course (which usually costs > $1,000). For example, my company recently launched a 6-hour program called Math in a Day (it's given over 1 or 2 days on weekends). It's basically all Foundations of Math-level work but helping you to learn both how various math things work and why they work they way the do—if you learn the why, it's often easier to remember the how. And if you know the why it's often easier, on a test like the GMAT, to know when to apply certain concepts or math procedures—since this test is really good at disguising what it's really asking. If you think that you could use that kind of help, then you might consider doing something like that.
I'm sure other companies are also doing similar things (full courses and smaller workshops / weekend things), so do some research to see what's available and you can decide what the right fit is for you.
And finally, I want to say this: studying for the GMAT does take a lot of time and commitment—but it's important to make sure that you are also still doing other things in your life that will relieve stress and just allow you to live a normal life. Doing things with family and friends, exercising, participating in hobbies, etc. I tell all of my students that they have to take at least one day a week to do nothing at all related to the GMAT—they're not even allowed to think about it!
This test can become all-consuming if you let it, but letting that happen will actually make it harder to study because you will be burned out. When you're burned out, your brain doesn't learn as well...and if you get into that cycle, it just gets worse and worse as you go. If that's what you're feeling right now, sit down tomorrow and figure out what you can do to keep going with your studies in a reasonable way while also getting some balance back into your life.
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
- AlexandreC246
- Students
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2018 10:40 am
Re: Study intensive plan - 12 weeks?
Hi Stacey.
You cannot imagine how your feedback has been important to me. Thank you so much for doing this job so damn well!
As discussed, I have passed the last 2/3 weeks examining all the questions on my last CAT and reviewing when necessary foundations/strategy guides, together with practising/analysing specific/general OG problem sets always as if it was an exam situation (that is, timed and with no calculator) -along with trying to solve my first “almost burn out”/lack of motivation in relation to all this.
And finally, I had a positive jump! I just took my 4rd CAT (from your system) and got 530! I know this may sound a little stupid as I am still too far away from an excellent score, but I got really really really happy, because finally results show that at least something I have learned and improved!
Basically, and to sum up, I started with 400 on 6April, and now got a 530. This means that I took +/- 2 months to improve +/- 150 points - which was against my initial expectations but seems now plausible/according to “normal references” in terms of progression on this exam.
I will now make a detailed analysis of the test and will get back to you again once I have finished it properly. But anyway, I send you right away the big picture:
T 530 (34%)
IR 3.1 (2-4)
IR – answered 8 in 12 problems, got 4 problems right (2 easy, 2 medium)
Q 32 (22%)
answered all 31 problems, got 14 problems right (all between 300-500 and 500-600)
PS – 41% correct
DS – 50% correct
V 32 (66%)
answered all 36 problems, got 20 right (all between 500-600 and 600-700)
SC – 79% correct
CR – 60% correct
RC – 25% correct (must work on this!)
My first thoughts on this are:
- IR decreased from 5 (52%), probably because I did not practise it in the last days and before the other test it was precisely the last SG studied. Let’s see now.
- Q improved from 27 (18%), as I was focused mostly on the last weeks on reviewing/fixing some fundamental issues. This included: exponents&roots, translations, rates&work, consecutive integers, absolute values/inequalities and divisibility/primes. I confess, however, that I expected to increase more on this, but I guess it will just take more time in my case…
- V improved amazingly from 23 (30%), not really because I have practised, but just because I analysed the previous test carefully and identified what I could do/not do:
SC Do not rush/fail what you know + Trust on original answers sometimes
RC Understand + Don't be afraid of size or lose patience on details + Don't guess that much
CR Guess/move on sometimes
Having said all this, I would ask you to please:
- Comment on all the above as usual
- Let me know what should I do in each of the following scenarios (your opinion normally helps a lot!):
I still haven’t made my mind about whether I should go and try the exam on 26June (as previously scheduled) – not believing in miracles but just doing what I intended and knowing how do I react under those circumstances. I will decide during this weekend… Anyway, I am almost certainly postponing the exam, because I think I would prefer not to pass through this now and just continue with my rhythm of studies, gaining confidence until that day arrives.
So, I would like to know what should I do in the next week if:
(A) I decide to take the exam in 1 week (on 26 july)
I imagine that I should just do problem sets and review them. But please let me know your opinion. (Or just analyse this last CAT)
(B) I decide to postpone the exam
I imagine that I would do the same process of reviewing this last CAT and then re-organize a new plan of studies with you. And in this case, assuming that it would take me another 2/3 months to get +/- 150 points… I would probably re-schedule it to September as I will be on holidays half of July…
Have a nice weekend! Thank you!
You cannot imagine how your feedback has been important to me. Thank you so much for doing this job so damn well!
As discussed, I have passed the last 2/3 weeks examining all the questions on my last CAT and reviewing when necessary foundations/strategy guides, together with practising/analysing specific/general OG problem sets always as if it was an exam situation (that is, timed and with no calculator) -along with trying to solve my first “almost burn out”/lack of motivation in relation to all this.
And finally, I had a positive jump! I just took my 4rd CAT (from your system) and got 530! I know this may sound a little stupid as I am still too far away from an excellent score, but I got really really really happy, because finally results show that at least something I have learned and improved!
Basically, and to sum up, I started with 400 on 6April, and now got a 530. This means that I took +/- 2 months to improve +/- 150 points - which was against my initial expectations but seems now plausible/according to “normal references” in terms of progression on this exam.
I will now make a detailed analysis of the test and will get back to you again once I have finished it properly. But anyway, I send you right away the big picture:
T 530 (34%)
IR 3.1 (2-4)
IR – answered 8 in 12 problems, got 4 problems right (2 easy, 2 medium)
Q 32 (22%)
answered all 31 problems, got 14 problems right (all between 300-500 and 500-600)
PS – 41% correct
DS – 50% correct
V 32 (66%)
answered all 36 problems, got 20 right (all between 500-600 and 600-700)
SC – 79% correct
CR – 60% correct
RC – 25% correct (must work on this!)
My first thoughts on this are:
- IR decreased from 5 (52%), probably because I did not practise it in the last days and before the other test it was precisely the last SG studied. Let’s see now.
- Q improved from 27 (18%), as I was focused mostly on the last weeks on reviewing/fixing some fundamental issues. This included: exponents&roots, translations, rates&work, consecutive integers, absolute values/inequalities and divisibility/primes. I confess, however, that I expected to increase more on this, but I guess it will just take more time in my case…
- V improved amazingly from 23 (30%), not really because I have practised, but just because I analysed the previous test carefully and identified what I could do/not do:
SC Do not rush/fail what you know + Trust on original answers sometimes
RC Understand + Don't be afraid of size or lose patience on details + Don't guess that much
CR Guess/move on sometimes
Having said all this, I would ask you to please:
- Comment on all the above as usual
- Let me know what should I do in each of the following scenarios (your opinion normally helps a lot!):
I still haven’t made my mind about whether I should go and try the exam on 26June (as previously scheduled) – not believing in miracles but just doing what I intended and knowing how do I react under those circumstances. I will decide during this weekend… Anyway, I am almost certainly postponing the exam, because I think I would prefer not to pass through this now and just continue with my rhythm of studies, gaining confidence until that day arrives.
So, I would like to know what should I do in the next week if:
(A) I decide to take the exam in 1 week (on 26 july)
I imagine that I should just do problem sets and review them. But please let me know your opinion. (Or just analyse this last CAT)
(B) I decide to postpone the exam
I imagine that I would do the same process of reviewing this last CAT and then re-organize a new plan of studies with you. And in this case, assuming that it would take me another 2/3 months to get +/- 150 points… I would probably re-schedule it to September as I will be on holidays half of July…
Have a nice weekend! Thank you!
- AlexandreC246
- Students
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2018 10:40 am
Re: Study intensive plan - 12 weeks?
Hi Stacey!
In addition to my last message, I just wanted to let you know that I postponed my exam to September, so that I can continue studying/getting better/increasing trust without exposing me in a rush to an official exam now (winning nothing in return).
Having said this, I will also need your help to plan these next 2 months, please. I just write down my ideas/doubts so that you can comment/suggest/add whatever you may think of:
JUNE – during these 2 last weeks, I suppose I should just review my last CAT in detail, categorising the problems into our buckets and then re-study some specific areas (as I have done before this last exam), and even taking a new exam in the end of this month.
JULY – during 2/3 weeks I will be out of the country, on vacations, as previously planned. And here, I have a huge doubt. Should I take the books and make some exercises, spending 1 -3 hours/day, or should I just relax and enjoy the vacations, so that when I get home again I have all the strength needed to the last phase of studies? Because I don’t want my brain to fall asleep or forget all that I have learned until now, but at the same time I also don’t want to miss the opportunity to have a break. What would you say?
End of JULY, AUGUST and SEPTEMBER– I will be fully dedicated to the GMAT again, hopefully dedicating 5/6 hours/day to this (depending on work from September on). But here, I have no clue how to plan all this…
Should this, from now on, consist only of making CATs and reviewing them, going back to books and other resources?
How can I plan this? How should set my goals per day/week, track my progression, etc? Because until now I just went through the foundations, then the strategy guides, and then started taking CATs… But what about now? Basically, how will pass from 550 to 700?
Should I take a course? And if so, what type?
To sum up, planning is super important for me, and I believe that only again with great planning can I get there. Could you help me to think about the best way to do this from now on?
Thank you. Have a very nice day.
In addition to my last message, I just wanted to let you know that I postponed my exam to September, so that I can continue studying/getting better/increasing trust without exposing me in a rush to an official exam now (winning nothing in return).
Having said this, I will also need your help to plan these next 2 months, please. I just write down my ideas/doubts so that you can comment/suggest/add whatever you may think of:
JUNE – during these 2 last weeks, I suppose I should just review my last CAT in detail, categorising the problems into our buckets and then re-study some specific areas (as I have done before this last exam), and even taking a new exam in the end of this month.
JULY – during 2/3 weeks I will be out of the country, on vacations, as previously planned. And here, I have a huge doubt. Should I take the books and make some exercises, spending 1 -3 hours/day, or should I just relax and enjoy the vacations, so that when I get home again I have all the strength needed to the last phase of studies? Because I don’t want my brain to fall asleep or forget all that I have learned until now, but at the same time I also don’t want to miss the opportunity to have a break. What would you say?
End of JULY, AUGUST and SEPTEMBER– I will be fully dedicated to the GMAT again, hopefully dedicating 5/6 hours/day to this (depending on work from September on). But here, I have no clue how to plan all this…
Should this, from now on, consist only of making CATs and reviewing them, going back to books and other resources?
How can I plan this? How should set my goals per day/week, track my progression, etc? Because until now I just went through the foundations, then the strategy guides, and then started taking CATs… But what about now? Basically, how will pass from 550 to 700?
Should I take a course? And if so, what type?
To sum up, planning is super important for me, and I believe that only again with great planning can I get there. Could you help me to think about the best way to do this from now on?
Thank you. Have a very nice day.
- AlexandreC246
- Students
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2018 10:40 am
Re: Study intensive plan - 12 weeks?
Hi Stacey!
In addition to my last message, I just wanted to let you know that I postponed my exam to September, so that I can continue studying/getting better/increasing trust without exposing me in a rush to an official exam now (winning nothing in return).
Having said this, I will also need your help to plan these next 2 months, please. I just write down my ideas/doubts so that you can comment/suggest/add whatever you may think of:
JUNE – during these 2 last weeks, I suppose I should just review my last CAT in detail, categorising the problems into our buckets and then re-study some specific areas (as I have done before this last exam), and even taking a new exam in the end of this month.
JULY – during 2/3 weeks I will be out of the country, on vacations, as previously planned. And here, I have a huge doubt. Should I take the books and make some exercises, spending 1 -3 hours/day, or should I just relax and enjoy the vacations, so that when I get home again I have all the strength needed to the last phase of studies? Because I don’t want my brain to fall asleep or forget all that I have learned until now, but at the same time I also don’t want to miss the opportunity to have a break. What would you say?
End of JULY, AUGUST and SEPTEMBER– I will be fully dedicated to the GMAT again, hopefully dedicating 5/6 hours/day to this (depending on work from September on). But here, I have no clue how to plan all this…
Should this, from now on, consist only of making CATs and reviewing them, going back to books and other resources?
How can I plan this? How should set my goals per day/week, track my progression, etc? Because until now I just went through the foundations, then the strategy guides, and then started taking CATs… But what about now? Basically, how will pass from 550 to 700?
Should I take a course? And if so, what type?
To sum up, planning is super important for me, and I believe that only again with great planning can I get there. Could you help me to think about the best way to do this from now on?
Thank you. Have a very nice day.
In addition to my last message, I just wanted to let you know that I postponed my exam to September, so that I can continue studying/getting better/increasing trust without exposing me in a rush to an official exam now (winning nothing in return).
Having said this, I will also need your help to plan these next 2 months, please. I just write down my ideas/doubts so that you can comment/suggest/add whatever you may think of:
JUNE – during these 2 last weeks, I suppose I should just review my last CAT in detail, categorising the problems into our buckets and then re-study some specific areas (as I have done before this last exam), and even taking a new exam in the end of this month.
JULY – during 2/3 weeks I will be out of the country, on vacations, as previously planned. And here, I have a huge doubt. Should I take the books and make some exercises, spending 1 -3 hours/day, or should I just relax and enjoy the vacations, so that when I get home again I have all the strength needed to the last phase of studies? Because I don’t want my brain to fall asleep or forget all that I have learned until now, but at the same time I also don’t want to miss the opportunity to have a break. What would you say?
End of JULY, AUGUST and SEPTEMBER– I will be fully dedicated to the GMAT again, hopefully dedicating 5/6 hours/day to this (depending on work from September on). But here, I have no clue how to plan all this…
Should this, from now on, consist only of making CATs and reviewing them, going back to books and other resources?
How can I plan this? How should set my goals per day/week, track my progression, etc? Because until now I just went through the foundations, then the strategy guides, and then started taking CATs… But what about now? Basically, how will pass from 550 to 700?
Should I take a course? And if so, what type?
To sum up, planning is super important for me, and I believe that only again with great planning can I get there. Could you help me to think about the best way to do this from now on?
Thank you. Have a very nice day.
- StaceyKoprince
- ManhattanGMAT Staff
- Posts: 9360
- Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:05 am
- Location: Montreal
Re: Study intensive plan - 12 weeks?
Looks like the first time you tried to post, it got caught in our spam filter for some reason. I approved that post so that's why you're seeing the double post now.
June: sounds good.
July: Yes, I'd like you to have an opportunity to take a mental break. You can easily take 1-2 weeks off without really forgetting anything—you'll get back up to speed very quickly once you start studying again. You list your vacation timeframe as 2-3 weeks, so I would say plan to give yourself a full 2 weeks of GMAT-free time.
You might consider this plan, assuming your vacation is 3 weeks: Take a practice test just before you leave. Over the course of the first week, analyze your test, put everything in buckets, and come up with the study plan that you will follow after vacation. Then take 2 weeks completely off, secure in the knowledge that you know exactly what you're going to do when you get back.
After that: Once you have been through the guides and learned (most of) the underlying content, the cycle is generally to take a CAT, analyze / bucket everything, come up with a 2-3 week study plan based on that data, then follow that plan. When you feel you've made good progress on Bucket 2 and aren't sure what to do next, then you take another CAT and repeat the whole process.
Re: goals, set concrete goals for yourself based on what the analysis is telling you. For example:
– Learn how to apply exponent rules in different types of math problems. In particular, look for OG problems that deal with negative exponents. Use Navigator to see efficient solution paths, and even google the problems to see other paths that people have used that might work for me.
– Feel more comfortable testing cases on Data Sufficiency: Know the steps. Know how to pick good numbers to test. Know how to organize my scratch paper to minimize errors.
– Get better at deconstructing Critical Reasoning arguments: Articulate the conclusion, and the premises used to support that conclusion. Understand the assumptions that the author is making. Practice brainstorming those assumptions.
See how I took the more generic "get better at X" and really articulated specific things that I need to do to get better? That's what you're looking to do.
You asked about taking a class—yes, that is another good way to get overall help / direction from an expert teacher, as well as a specific syllabus to follow. (Though, even given a course syllabus, I strongly encourage everyone to customize according to their own needs / strengths & weaknesses.)
In general, since you're at about 550 and aiming for 700, you would want a comprehensive course (covering both Q and V, and lasting long enough to cover a lot of material). If you think a class may be useful to you, I would do some research right now into the various options to see what you think you would like. (In-person or online? Etc.)
Most companies hold some kind of free sessions (my company allows you to sit on class #1 for free), so take advantage of whatever free stuff is out there to help you make your decision. This can be another goal to figure out before vacation, or during that first week of vacation, so that you know your plan for when you return.
June: sounds good.
July: Yes, I'd like you to have an opportunity to take a mental break. You can easily take 1-2 weeks off without really forgetting anything—you'll get back up to speed very quickly once you start studying again. You list your vacation timeframe as 2-3 weeks, so I would say plan to give yourself a full 2 weeks of GMAT-free time.
You might consider this plan, assuming your vacation is 3 weeks: Take a practice test just before you leave. Over the course of the first week, analyze your test, put everything in buckets, and come up with the study plan that you will follow after vacation. Then take 2 weeks completely off, secure in the knowledge that you know exactly what you're going to do when you get back.
After that: Once you have been through the guides and learned (most of) the underlying content, the cycle is generally to take a CAT, analyze / bucket everything, come up with a 2-3 week study plan based on that data, then follow that plan. When you feel you've made good progress on Bucket 2 and aren't sure what to do next, then you take another CAT and repeat the whole process.
Re: goals, set concrete goals for yourself based on what the analysis is telling you. For example:
– Learn how to apply exponent rules in different types of math problems. In particular, look for OG problems that deal with negative exponents. Use Navigator to see efficient solution paths, and even google the problems to see other paths that people have used that might work for me.
– Feel more comfortable testing cases on Data Sufficiency: Know the steps. Know how to pick good numbers to test. Know how to organize my scratch paper to minimize errors.
– Get better at deconstructing Critical Reasoning arguments: Articulate the conclusion, and the premises used to support that conclusion. Understand the assumptions that the author is making. Practice brainstorming those assumptions.
See how I took the more generic "get better at X" and really articulated specific things that I need to do to get better? That's what you're looking to do.
You asked about taking a class—yes, that is another good way to get overall help / direction from an expert teacher, as well as a specific syllabus to follow. (Though, even given a course syllabus, I strongly encourage everyone to customize according to their own needs / strengths & weaknesses.)
In general, since you're at about 550 and aiming for 700, you would want a comprehensive course (covering both Q and V, and lasting long enough to cover a lot of material). If you think a class may be useful to you, I would do some research right now into the various options to see what you think you would like. (In-person or online? Etc.)
Most companies hold some kind of free sessions (my company allows you to sit on class #1 for free), so take advantage of whatever free stuff is out there to help you make your decision. This can be another goal to figure out before vacation, or during that first week of vacation, so that you know your plan for when you return.
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep