Study Strategy Guidance

[WhartonHopeful]

Hello all!

This is my first post on this forum. Several months ago I began contemplating getting my EMBA which led me to MGMAT and this forum.

I began studying for the GMAT in June. At that point I had not researched the whole "world of GMAT" that exists. I had completed the entire OG problem set (Ed. 12) but without timing myself. I took my very 1st GMATPrep CAT 3 weeks ago and was shocked to get only a 600. I soon realized I needed to move from 1st to 5th gear!

I have since done much research online on GMAT testing and studying strategies and have put together a rigorous study plan (2-3 hrs. study in AM and 2 in PM). I would like to get advice from the forum member instructors however on what my study strategy should be so I can give myself the best chances for success.

A little more background: Regarding my first GMATPrep CAT, my low score was mostly the result of poor timing. I only completed 25 Quant. questions (did not even have time to guess the remaining) and 35 Verbal questions (guessed the remaining 5 and ran out of time on last problem). Also, I scored an 8 on IR even though I did not even enter a guess for the last question.

I just completed my first MGMAT CAT (#1) Saturday. I performed the CAT under test conditions; i.e., timed with 8 minute breaks and I wrote the essay. I scored a 670 (70%Q, 85%V) and a 4.64IR. I managed my time much better and did at least answer all the questions.

I have historically been VERY strong in math (Engineering BS and MS); however, it became quickly obvious that I am "rusty." I can typically get most problems on my own but it is taking me too long. 1 week ago, I purchased the MGMAT book set 0-9, the new OG Ed. 13 and also, sorry to admit here, Kaplan's GMAT800 book. I have read books 0, 2 (Algebra) and 5 (No. Props) so far. I also did ALL of the problems in books 2 and 5.

I have 5 weeks to my scheduled GMAT. I could postpone it but prefer not to. My score goal is 720 min. although admittedly I would prefer a 740 or over. Thoughts? Can I "get there from here" in 5 weeks?

My plan was to cover 1 topic a week starting with a complete math review using the MGMAT books (3 weekdays per week x 2 weeks). I would do 2 days of OG problems a week on OG Archer and include a careful review of all the ones that I got wrong or that took more than 2 minutes. I plan to take a CAT every Saturday for the next 4 Saturdays (My GMAT is scheduled for a Monday so I would not take a CAT the Sat. prior to that). I will review those each Sunday afterwards, again going over incorrect or over-time problems.

I would greatly appreciate your thoughts and guidance. Thanks!

[StaceyKoprince]

It's possible to get where you want to be in 5 weeks, but it's going to be a challenge. Most people would need more time. You don't need to decide anything right now. Just see where you're at about 10 days before - if you're not in range to hit your goal, then you postpone.

(Note: whatever you're scoring about 10 days before - on practice CATs taken under 100% official conditions, including essay and IR - is about what you should expect to score on the real test. Don't expect to make big changes to your score in the last 10 days.)

Next, taking a CAT every Saturday is overkill. Practice CATs are really good for (a) figuring out where you're scoring right now, (b) practicing stamina, and (c) analyzing your strengths and weaknesses. The actual act of just taking the exam is NOT so useful for improving. It's what you do with the test results / between tests that helps you to improve.

It also takes days to thoroughly review a CAT (if you're doing it right!) and typically at least 2 weeks to make significant improvement on the weaknesses you've identified from that CAT - and it's not worth it to take another CAT until you've actually tackled those weaknesses.

Here's how to find those strengths and weaknesses. Use the below to analyze your most recent MGMAT CAT(s):

http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/

Then use that to figure out what to do and how to do it - and feel free to come back here and tell us the results of your analysis. (Note: do share an analysis with us, not just the raw data. Part of getting better is developing your ability to analyze your results - figure out what they mean and what you think you should do about them!)

Next, when you review practice questions, analyze them ALL, not just the wrong or slow ones. If you want to hit a 720+, then there are an enormous number of things you need to learn even from the questions that you answer correctly in the normal timeframe (or faster).

Here's how:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/a ... roblem.cfm

And here are further examples using specific problems:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/GMATprep-SC.cfm
http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/CR-assumption.cfm
http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/a ... estion.cfm
http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/a ... roblem.cfm
http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/a ... roblem.cfm
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -question/

Next, for your timing problems, read these two articles and start doing what they say:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... to-win-it/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... nt-part-1/

It looks like you've already been making progress on timing - just FYI, it typically takes people a good 3 to 6 weeks to fix timing problems... longer if the problems are significant.

Be very sure that you are not falling into the "up and down timing" pattern that I see so many students using. They run out of time, so then they figure out how to finish each section on time - but they do so by using what I call "up and down" timing. That is, they still spend way too long on some problems, but they then go way too fast on others to make up for it. This allows you to finish the section on time, but you're still balancing your timing in a sub-optimal way that is going to bring your score down / make it nearly impossible to hit 700+.

[WhartonHopeful]

Stacey,

Thanks for all your diligence in responding to these forum inquiries and to mine in detail. This is very helpful!

I am not sure how you prefer to see my CAT analysis. I'll do my best. I read your blog article on analyzing the CATs and the MGMAT 9 page article, "How to Use CAT Assessment Reports." Here is my breakdown:

Wrong Questions in a Row
Max was 3. That only happened once in the Quant. section and 2 of those were 7-800 level.

"Way too slow"
8 in Quant.
Total time was 28:56.
Right:Wrong was 2:6.
All were PS. Problem type was all varied.

6 in Verbal
Total time was 16:30.
Right:Wrong was 4:2
All were SC.

"Way too fast"
1 in Quant. - I guessed.
3 in Verbal - 1 in RC, 1 in SC, Last question I guessed.

Take-Aways from Assessment Summary
Quant - DS is my worst area overall.
%s Right were 59% & 53% in PS & DS respectively.
Algebra & WP were the lowest at 29% & 50% respectively (which is why I began my MGMAT book studies with Math Books 2,3 & 5). WPs were also SLOWEST w/avg time right & wrong at 2:02 & 2:43 respectively.

Verbal - CR is my best area overall with a % right of 71% (avg difficulty of 690).
% Right was 53% in SC but avg. difficulty of right answers was 730.

My times overall were slow on wrong answers. I have not yet mastered the "Cut bait & move on!" skill but working on it. I did read both your suggested articles on timing problems.

I cut out this weekend's CAT (based on your comments) and replaced it with studying MGMAT Books 3 (WP) & 1 (FDP). I would appreciate your further suggestions on my study plan. Thanks!

[StaceyKoprince]

DS is my worst area overall.

Are you sure? Look at how much time you spent. From what you told me, I'd be willing to bet that the extra time you spent on all those PS questions came from DS - and naturally your DS performance would suffer if you tend to rush on DS...

It might not be any worse than PS. In fact, it might even be better, if you let yourself spend normal time on DS. :)

(And, as an aside, the way you gave me your analysis is perfect - you gave me the data highlights and then told me what you thought it meant. That allowed me to see how you drew the conclusions you drew and to disagree with you when needed - as I did above.)

Algebra at 29% is a big problem - Alg is very common, so you've got to go back and do a thorough review of that area.

The WP data is interesting. Did you notice that your average time is just fine on the correct ones but you're losing 43 seconds, on average, for each incorrect WP? The take-away there is that, when you know what you're doing, you're fine. And when you don't, you're being stubborn and not letting go when you should.

You're getting these "too long" Qs wrong anyway. Might as well just get them wrong faster and spend that time elsewhere, no?

SC 53% with avg difficulty of 730? I'll take those numbers. That's very good.

It looks like you're on the right track. You've made some good decisions (skip the next practice CAT, work on fundamentals instead). Also make sure to ask yourself WHY you missed the things that you missed. There are tons of possible reasons, from lack of knowledge to weak skills in some area (which could be actual math-solving skills but could also be test-taking skills - techniques that you use to work more effectively or efficiently on GMAT-format question) to careless mistakes to rushing because you spent too much time someplace else.

The WHY tells you WHAT to go do about it. Your analysis shows that you're already thinking critically about what the data is telling you - so just keep that pushing yourself on that.

[WhartonHopeful]

It's possible to get where you want to be in 5 weeks, but it's going to be a challenge. Most people would need more time. You don't need to decide anything right now. Just see where you're at about 10 days before - if you're not in range to hit your goal, then you postpone.

Stacey,

I think I need to re-evaluate. I have studied quite rigorously for 2 weeks since my first MGMAT CAT, our analysis and your suggestions. I completed MGMAT books 0-3, 5 and 6 (CR) including ALL of the problems in the books and nearly ALL of the OG GMAT Review problems listed in the back of the books (on OG Archer). I have analyzed my wrong answers to understand them and many of my correct ones to try and hone a consistent and efficient process. I am tracking tips & tricks to remember on flash cards. Having said that, I am not sure what to make of my very disappointing 2nd CAT results from today. Here is the breakdown of CAT #2:

I performed the CAT under test conditions; i.e., timed with 8 minute breaks and I wrote the essay. I scored a 660 (66%Q, 85%V) and a shocking 2.4 IR.

In general, the positive things I noticed were that my average difficulty of questions has increased significantly on Quant with a good portion of questions now coming from 7-800 level on PS (13Qs this time vs 2 last time). Similarly on DS I had 7 questions from 6-700 & 6 from 7-800 levels vs 7 from 6-700 & 0 7-800 last time. I was given NO 3-500 level Quant questions on this 2nd CAT. Also on the positive, my times have improved significantly for both correct and incorrect answers on 6-700 level questions and below. On the other hand, I am now taking way too long to answer 7-800 level questions. Most of the OG questions are rated below 7-800 level in OG Archer. Admittedly, I noticed on OG Archer that it takes me consistently more than 2 min. to solve the fewer 7-800 level problems that I did solve. I have been able to get most other level problems under 2 minutes.

Wrong Questions in a Row
Quant: I got 5 in a row (QQ12-16) incorrect which swiftly brought my score from 87% to 68%. 4 were 7-800 level & 1 was 6-700 level. I also got 4 in a row incorrect (QQ32-35) at the end when I was rushing. All of those were 6-700 level.

Verbal: Max wrong in a row was 3 which happened only once at the beginning.

"Way too slow"
7 in Quant. (>3 min)
Total time was 22:47.
Right:Wrong was 5:2.
4 were 7-800 level, 3 were 6-700. 4 were DS & 3 PS. Problem type was all varied again.

4 in Verbal
Total time was 9:40.
Right:Wrong was 2:2
All were SC.
Also had 2 first questions in RC that took 5:01 & 4:59 which incl. time to read passages.

"Way too fast" & Incorrect
4 in Quant (<2 min) - 1 in middle of section and remaining 3 are last questions where I rushed or guessed.

0 in Verbal (<53 sec)

Take-Aways from Assessment Summary
Quant:
Percents Right are still frightening to me at 47% correct on DS with 650 avg difficulty (up from 560) & 45% correct on PS with 670 avg difficulty (up from 550).
Algebra "improved" to 50% and my lowest now are # Props at 33% & WP at 40%. 5 of the 8 questions were 7-800 level.
Algebra is now SLOWEST w/avg time right & wrong at 2:24 & 2:29 respectively. This is due to the 7-800 level questions.

Verbal:
I experienced a significant drop in performance on CR (from 71% to 43% right with an avg difficulty of right answers at 690 on both exams).
% Right was 67% in SC but avg. difficulty of right answers fell from 730 to 680.
I saw some good improvement on RC going from 58% to 75% right and increasing avg. difficulty of right answers from 640 to 670. Average times went down as well here.

Overall I had a bad feeling throughout this CAT today. I could tell I was getting higher level questions during the Quant section, which I know should be good but I panicked midway during the Quant section feeling the time slipping away from me. I am completely perplexed at some of the drastic score changes; i.e., IR and CR.

I am really unsure of what my next steps should be. I am quite dejected at this point. I have 3 weeks to my scheduled test. I have focused entirely on studying quant the past few weeks and my next 3 weeks were going to be spent on the Verbal MGMAT review books and the IR/Essay section. I have been scoring 85% overall on Verbal. Should I skip the Verbal review and continue trying to improve my Quant skills? Should I go ahead and postpone my exam now while I can still get a decent time/date another month or so out? I could use your guidance, Thanks.

P.S. Since this post had not been responded to yet I thought I would add another data point. Since writing this message I took my 2nd GMAT Prep test (today, 8/23). Results as follows:

Total Score 690. Quant-44 (66th %ile), Verbal-40 (89th %ile) & IR-7. My timing was better on Quant (was on last Q at end but did not finish it) and great on Verbal (31 seconds left when completed). I rushed for last question on IR but did finish.

I have obviously not had a chance to do a full analysis but PS Qs averaged ~ 2:10 and DS Qs averaged ~1:50. On verbal, I averaged ~1:28 on SC Qs, ~2:10 on CR Qs & ~2:02 on RC.

I noticed on Quant the questions began to get harder early on. I knew how to solve several of them but also knew it would take too long after 20 sec. or so, so I bailed and guessed. I believe this lowered the overall level of questions I was getting. I am completely uncertain on how to tackle my math issue here. I've honed some question types that I defeinitely need to review (exponents and ratios/weighted averages) but in other areas it comes down to a battle of spend 3 min to solve or forfeit and be on time. Again, advice on next steps greatly appreciated.....

[StaceyKoprince]

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you.

Let's see. From the quant data you presented, it's not surprising that your overall score didn't change much - you're still having timing problems.

You said:

I am now taking way too long to answer 7-800 level questions.

So, no matter how much you study, you are always going to be given questions that are too hard for you. As you get better, the entire "pool" of questions you're given rises right along with you.

If you keep approaching it with the "school" mindset that you have to try to get all or most questions right regardless of time, then you're always going to spend too long on certain questions and that's always going to mess up your score. :)

The real thing to learn here is how to recognize which ones are too hard so that you can cut yourself off without spending too much time. Go back and look at that data. How much time did you lose on those 700+ questions? And how many other questions did you miss because you had to rush and guess, or because you made a careless mistake that you might not have made if you hadn't had to rush? (Ah, I'm reading below now and seeing that you gave me that data. Note - it doesn't matter that you got a lot of those way too slow questions correct. You lost nearly 9 minutes for those 7 questions - and look what else it cost you.)

I have a more positive view overall of your quant performance - your difficulty levels moved in the right direction, which means that you were successfully answering a harder mix of questions.

eg:

Percents Right are still frightening to me at 47% correct on DS with 650 avg difficulty (up from 560) & 45% correct on PS with 670 avg difficulty (up from 550).

That's huge improvement - the difficulty levels went up around 100 points!

You do, though, have to keep tackling the timing and mindset issues so that this progress can actually show through your score.

I'll talk about verbal in a sec - want to address your timeframe first. Yes, you're likely going to need more time. You have made improvements already, but you do need to do more on quant, so you can't afford to follow your initial plan to focus entirely on verbal for the next couple of weeks. (It's also not the best idea to spend entire weeks focused only on one thing - your skills in the other area will start to atrophy a bit. You won't lose it all, but you will forget some things.)

If I were you, I'd bite the bullet and give myself some more time. Then I'd start to do a mix of quant and verbal, with a STRONG focus on timing and mindset on quant. Again, you are ALWAYS going to be given too-hard questions. (Note that "too hard" might mean "I can get this right but in 3.5 minutes instead of 2" - and that's still too hard and you still need to learn how to get it wrong in 2 minutes instead of right in 3.5.)

Ah, just got to your added info about your latest test. Nice improvement on verbal and IR! Doesn't change my overall advice though, because you are still struggling with the quant timing.

Wherever you can, certainly do try to learn how to do the "3 minute and right" questions in 2.5 minutes or faster. Where you can't, learn to make educated guesses in 2m (or faster). "Getting right" is NOT more important than "Balancing time." Both are equally important / necessary to scoring well on this test!

On to verbal. 89th percentile on the last test - great! Slow on some SCs - lost 4m40s on 4 questions. That's a lot of time. Where is that time going? There are a couple of places on verbal where people tend to lose time for non-productive reasons:
(1) As you're going through the answers for the first time, if you look at an answer and think it might be right, do NOT actually try to decide whether it's correct right now. Leave it in and check the others.
(2) When you're comparing the last 2 or 3 answers, do NOT agonize back and forth multiple times. Compare once. Decide whatever you can (or see what hunches you have). Pick. Move on.

Why do you think CR dropped so much on the 2nd test? (Have you reviewed those Qs yet?) Did it come back up on the 3rd test?

Ditto for IR - dropped on second, went WAY up on 3rd. Why? Here, you may realize that there are certain question types that you find much easier (my guess is the ones that are more verbal-focused) and maybe you were better able to handle those on the 3rd test. Also, possibly you got tangled up on some harder ones (possibly quant based) and then that messed up your time or fatigued you on teh 2nd test.

You don't need to address all of the IR questions, so you might as well be quick to skip the ones that are harder for you and give more time to the ones that you find easier.

[WhartonHopeful]

Dear Stacey,

I wanted to provide a progress report and appeal for any final words of study strategy advice. I bit the bullet and delayed my exam 4 weeks to Oct. 11. I have spent the past few weeks focusing on 2 main things:

1.) Getting a deeper understanding of Quant problems. I re-reviewed 3 MGMAT math strategy guides and their associated problems. I have spent a lot of time "peeling back the onion" and getting a deeper understanding of Quant problems - making sure I understand the concepts, looking for short-cuts, making & reviewing flash cards, etc. I am also half way through reading the MGMAT Adv. Quant. guide and find it is helping me recognize problem types and associated strategies, both of the solve & guess type.

2) Timing. I have done many problem drills with a 2-min timer (the MGMAT Question Banks are GREAT for this). This has forced me to LET GO or better yet, to recognize which problems will take me longer (even if I know I can solve them). When I see these problems, I am starting to spend the time eliminating certain wrong answers to better my chances at guessing the right one.....and moving on. I sense as though I am starting to get a rhythm for the timing but still want to gain more confidence in this area.

I scored a 710 on my most recent CAT (47Q-76%, 41V-92%, 8 IR). I re-took GMAT Prep 1 figuring I would not see too many repeats as I ran out of time 2/3 of the way into Quant when I 1st took it 2.5 months ago. I recognized only 1 Quant problem.

While Quant is getting better I still see much room for improvement and am not satisfied with a 76%ile. :0( I intended to spend the next 2.5 weeks finishing the Adv. Quant. Guide and continuing to do problem drills with time limiters and doing deep reviews on these problems to find ways to improve. I attended one of Ron's Thursday sessions on DS. It was eye-opening. I really understood that I needed a more systematic approach to DS which continues to be my most challenging area (I only got 7/16 correct in DS on this last GMAT Prep CAT). I find DS problems are a time challenge for me and find these are the ones I guess the most.

Do you have any other thoughts on how to best focus my study time the next 2.5 weeks? Thanks, as always.

[StaceyKoprince]

Good work. Yes, I do have some ideas. For the quant questions that you missed on the most recent CAT - why did you miss each one? How many did you miss that you really might have or should have gotten if you hadn't made a mistake, overlooked something, etc?

Those are the points to go after first - not even harder questions, but any that are pulling your score down because you're missing easier points. That's more about being systematic with your scratch paper work, checking your work, noting where you tend to make careless mistakes and implementing new habits to minimize the chances of making the same mistake again, etc.

It's possible that continuing with Advanced Quant is NOT the way to go for the next couple of weeks, because perhaps you're already at an 85th percentile level but you're not reaching that level because of questions you're missing that you could already answer correctly right now - if you can cut the mistakes. So dive into the individual questions and see what's going on.

Also, read this and start transitioning over to what it says:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... an-part-1/

(note: read both parts)

Good luck - let me know if you have any other questions!

[WhartonHopeful]

I wanted to report some good news to encourage the many GMAT hopefuls on this forum and to re-affirm Stacey's guidance and Manhattan GMAT in general as an outstanding resource and support system.

I took the GMAT today for the 1st time ever after the preparation that I have described on this forum. I received a 700.

While, admittedly, I did not reach my original and intended goal (or stretch goal), I did succeed in my primary objective which was to receive the verbal "thumbs up" from my school of choice, Wharton. I am extremely happy with that result! :o)

I would like to thank Stacey Koprince for all her objective guidance throughout this process. While this service must be very repetitive and mundane at times, I applaud her for giving her continued personal time and guidance to the many readers of this forum.

I would also like to thank Manhattan GMAT for its exceptional preparation materials and tools. I found the MGMAT books to be, by far, the best resource in preparation for the GMAT. I purchased, read and did all contained exercises of the MGMAT Strategy Guides 0-9 and the Advanced GMAT Quant Guide. I was a frequent MGMAT Forum surfer and I attended and watched some of the "Thursdays with Ron" series contained herein (which by the way, while Ron, can be abrupt with students, his guidance is good and objective. He gave me the wake-up call I needed on DS). I read many of the MGMAT articles, including all the ones Stacey recommended for me throughout this process. I also used OG Archer and the Question Banks a lot - both great tools. Lastly, I took several of the MGMAT CATs and found the diagnostic tool very useful in determining areas of strengths and weaknesses and using the results to re-vamp my study plans.

I had not taken a standardized exam in roughly 25 years. I knew I needed to prepare for this and I also soon came to understand that I needed to prepare differently for the GMAT than how I had prepared for other exams in my life. I logged just over 350 hours of preparation and study for the GMAT.

Take-Aways:
- There is no get-there-quick magic. The GMAT requires proper preparation.
- The GMAT is basically a test of management and reasoning, using math and verbal skills as only the foundation.
- The management part mentioned above is related to properly managing your own time and skill and very importantly, knowing the boundaries of each.
- GMAT performance can be improved over time but improvement requires a good study plan and methods, discipline, adaptability, and flexibility. You will need to adapt your study plan according to your weaknesses and you will need to be flexible to learning to do things differently than your are used to.

Hope that helps other GMAT takers and to all of you out there - GOOD LUCK!

Thank you MGMAT and a big thanks to Stacey Koprince!

[StaceyKoprince]

Congratulations! I'm really happy for you. :)

And thanks so much for your kind words - we're very happy that our materials and guidance were able to help.

Finally, thank you for taking the time to post here to tell your fellow students about your experience - what worked for you and also what you learned as you were going through this process. I'm sure they will appreciate it. I was particularly happy to see your comment about the fact that the GMAT is really a reasoning test. Most people miss this and, as a result, really struggle to get into the higher scoring levels.

Congratulations again - let us know how things go with Wharton! Good luck!