Study Strategy Question

[MadeleineK361]

Hi there,

I am wondering if anybody could give me some tips on study strategy. I completed the Manhattan Prep All the Verbal and All the Quant Books and am now focusing on official guide questions. I was supposed to take the test in mid-April but everything is out of whack with the coronavirus - I'm hoping to take the online test sometime in late April or mid-May if available.

Does anyone have suggestions for a study schedule from here on out? I am aiming for a score of 700+. I haven't taken a practice test in over a month, due in large part to a 12 day break with coronavirus issues, etc. My last score was a 630 (I believe I have improved since then, as I was only halfway through the books at that point). In any case, suggestions for studying would be much appreciated, as I now feel that I'm lacking structure without having lessons to complete in the books. I have finished less than half of the online Official Guide questions, and I have the hard copy questions as well. I also have plenty of practice tests available - just looking for advice on how to best use these materials to my advantage.

Thank you!

[StaceyKoprince]

Hi! Sorry our spam filter thought your post was spam at first—I had to approve it to let it through.

Did you buy the All the GMAT book set? If so, you have access to the Atlas All the GMAT study syllabus (on our website) that comes with it, so let me know (roughly) what you have and haven't completed in the syllabus.

If you bought just the two individual books, that's fine—they just don't come with a separate syllabus. Instead, if you create a free account on our site you'll have access to the Atlas Starter Kit syllabus. I'm going to reference some materials from here later, so I'd recommend getting access to that.

You're ready to start a series of "Review and Improve" study cycles. The next step is take a practice test—let's see how much you've improved since the last one! If you take one of our practice tests, these videos will help you to analyze your test data:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/resources/how-to-review-your-gmat-practice-exam/

The videos reference a CAT Tracker spreadsheet—you can download that in either the All the GMAT syllabus or the Starter Kit syllabus.

It's going to take you several hours to do the full analysis on your data, but that analysis is going to tell you exactly what to prioritize / work on improving for the next few weeks (stuff in Bucket 2—you'll understand what that means when you do the analysis). You're going to take about 2-3 weeks to improve those areas, and then you'll start the cycle again (take another practice test, analyze, prioritize Bucket 2, study for 2-3 weeks).

In the 2-3 week study period, you're going to be doing a combination of reviewing material from AtQ / AtV and doing (and reviewing / analyzing!) OG problems to beef up your skills in the targeted areas. Feel free to come back here and tell me what your Bucket 2 items are (and any other big-picture conclusions from your analysis) and I'll help you figure out more specifics from there.

Also, good news: GMAC announced on Monday that they are going to make the official test available online starting in mid-April (they haven't posted an exact date yet—still working out the details), so you should be able to take it when you're ready.