GMAT Strategy

I took the GMAT test a couple of days ago: Q:18; V:21. I studied the OG11; took a Princeton Class. These 2 books were my main focus. I took 1 official GMAT test online, and 2 Princeton GMAT tests online. I will have to re-take the test in 1 month, due to application deadlines. Does anyone have any suggestions for me on how to target my studies in the short time frame I have, in order to reach about a 550 or higher? Can you also suggest which practice tests I should take online? I know GMAT only offers 2 official practice tests online, and I already took one of them? Thank you all for any help or direction you can provide me.

Hello. I've been studying for the GMAT on and off but took it two times. Did miserable both times.

But here is my new approach.
1. Princeton - Very good introduction to the GMAT imo.
2. Manhattan SC - I added this because I just plain bad at SC (even though I'm a native speaker)
3. Get a hold of OG11 - Work every problem and READ every explanation. Even when I got questions right, I read the answers and even learned something new. Take notes each section of what you missed or anything helpful.
4. Take the practice tests. You can uninstall it and reinstall it. Sometimes you will get new questions. Note what you got wrong and try to figure out why. If you can't, then use this forum and others to figure out the problem.

It sounds like a short study plan but it will take you a few months. My biggest problem was trying to work through every problem I could get a hold of and not really understand what I got wrong.

Good luck! I'm on the same road too.

Hello Altez, thank you so much for your reply. These tips are very helpful.

There's really no "trick" to doing well or improving your score. People who score below 500 or so just need to work on the basics. Get an algebra workbook and review your basic math. Practice your mental math. Start reading well written material in English. Doing these things will set your foundation and improve your score far more than simply working GMAT problems.

Here's another practice test for you:

https://www.veritasprep.com/gmat-prepara ... tice-GMAT/

Thank you for your response. I understand. I realized that I was learning the basic math as I was doing GMAT problems and did not have a strong foundation - I have been out of school for 20 years and really lost the basic principles.

I took the Princeton course and found that I couldn't always determine what was the best way to solve the problem - Plug in or Algebra. In quite a few cases, I found Plug in to take a long time compared to Algebra. The challenge for me is to quickly determine which method to use.

I researched this topic on this forum and found your tips on Plugging in.

But I'll definitely take your advice and study hard the basics. Thank you for your help and the sample test link.

same here. I ve been out of school for a while.. as a consequence I have everything to learn, how to solve equations.....
good luck...
cheers,