"Try Harder Quant/Verbal" and General Study Methods Question

[ScottS374]

I am currently enrolled in an in-person MGMAT course (at the end of week 2) and have a question about how I should structure the distribution of the "extra" assignments in the syllabus and about my general study techniques in general. Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated. Here's what I am thinking so far:

1) After working through the Strategy Guide assignments for the week (which I have been doing before any OG problems since I assume they provide the foundation needed for the week's OG problems) and before tackling any of the week's OG problems, I work through the "Try Easy Quant/Verbal" OG problems. While these, so far, have definitely been easy for me, I like using them as a warmup. Plus, the boost of mental confidence when I get all of them right doesn't hurt.

2) Work through the regular week's OG problems, making sure to spend ample time reviewing anything I got wrong/took too long/I wasn't sure of my process (even if it got me the right answer). I work through these questions using the Navigator explanations and then, at the end of the week, return to any and all OG problems I got wrong the first time through. If I don't get them right the second time/use a slow method/etc., then they get written on a flashcard to be reviewed periodically AND during my final review after the course is over. I've also started keeping a journal of "tips" and things to remember by topic, which I'm hoping will help me recognize problem types and subsequent plans of action faster.

3 (and this is my question) ) I want to take advantage of the Harder OG problems but I don't want to run out of OG problems to work through during my final review period (I'll have about a month after the class ends and before I take the test). Would you recommend saving these Harder OG questions for my final review period? Or should I work through them now to take stock of higher-level problem areas so I can begin to address them while I still have plenty of time?


Also, I would love to hear your comments on how I'm going about reviewing my first MGMAT CAT. I took a baseline CAT a week before the course started and, since the class was about to start, didn't fully review the test. I've slowly been working back through my CAT but have been wondering if I should work through the entire test now or go through it topic-by-topic as it corresponds to the course syllabus. My thinking is the latter. After all, if I haven't reviewed geometry in depth yet, what good is reviewing a few random problems that I clearly don't know how to do going to do, right?


Sorry for the length! I'm just overly concerned about making sure I'm studying the "right" way. While my baseline score of my MGMAT CAT wasn't terrible by any means (620), it's nowhere near the mid-700s I'm aiming for so I know I have my work cut out for me. I want to make sure I'm not wasting my time, especially while I have plenty of time to correct my methods.
Thanks in advance!

[StaceyKoprince]

I'll go in order of your list.

1) I like it! I think this is a great idea - you get a warm-up, as you said, and if there is something that you haven't quite mastered, that will become apparent. This also might help you diagnose any types of careless errors that you are prone to make.

2) Take a look at this for how to review and how to make effective flash cards for the kind of thing you're describing (being able to decode what's going on, choosing the best solution method, etc:
http://tinyurl.com/2ndlevelofgmat

It's not a great idea, actually, to put the entire problem on a flash card. Your goal is not to memorize what to do with this problem because you'll never see this problem on the test. Read that article.

Also, one thing I always do and highly recommend: when you didn't get a problem and you're ready to look at the explanation, do NOT just read through the explanation. First, just look at the correct answer letter and then go back to the problem - does that give you any ideas about what to do? Then read just enough to get to something that makes you think, "Huh, I didn't think of that!" and then go back to the problem again and see how far you can go with it. Only go back to the explanation when you get stuck again.

The point here is to make yourself figure out as much as possible, because the more you figure out (vs. just have it told to you), the better you'll remember for the real test.

3) If things are going well* with the medium set, then go ahead and try some harder ones right then. (*you are answering them correctly and faster than average for that question type). If not, save them for later - with the idea that you may want to do another round of skill building after the class is over, if your score is not yet as high as you want it to be. You'll try some of those problems at that point.

Note that you will still have plenty of OG problems left even if you do them all - they don't cover all problems in the big book and they don't cover any that are in the two smaller quant-only and verbal-only books.

And, finally, yes to your plan on the CAT review - go back to things as you're learning about them and see whether you can do those questions now.
Good luck with your studies!