Weekend post + Day 15

I've been reading up on geometry according to BTG Day 15 study guide. There is quite a lot of chapters to cover on the subject in the Manhattan guide, and I think I need another two days to complete it. 

I've also finally taken my first CAT, the free sample exam provided by Manhattan  GMAT. There was an option to take the test without the IR section, which I took. I was pretty nervous because I've been putting off completing a CAT. I didn't want to be too demoralised by a score that is too low. I skipped a lot of questions in the quant section but still did not have enough time. I had about 7 questions left in the last 4 minutes and I just randomly picked answers for those questions. I read somewhere in one of the forums that it is better for the overall score to have answers than to leave the questions blank. The verbal section was pretty decent. I have not started studying for verbal yet and I kept on using too much time on sentence correction questions. Thankfully, the results were slightly better than I expected, 630 Q42 V34. 

I'm glad about the results of my first CAT and I'm now more motivated to work towards joining the coveted 700 club. :)

Today's Total:

Total Hours: 2.5

Total Hours on Quant: 2.5

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Running Tally:

Total Hours: 27

Total Hours on Quant: 27

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

CATs:

30/3/14  MGMAT CAT 1: 630 Q42 V34

Day 13 & 14

Completed BTG Day 14, but I was confused when I got to the recommended questions in the OG13. Instead of word problems, the questions recommended where arithmetic questions. I attempted them anyway, but I did not do well because there were a few formulas that I was not familiar with. 

Today's Total:

Total Hours: 3

Total Hours on Quant: 3

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Running Tally:

Total Hours: 24.5

Total Hours on Quant: 24.5

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Day 12

I started reading on word problems strategies today, according to BTG Day14. 

Today's Total:

Total Hours: 1.5

Total Hours on Quant: 1.5

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Running Tally:

Total Hours: 21.5

Total Hours on Quant: 21.5

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Day 11

I spent time doing questions from the OG13, according to day 13 on word problems. 

Today's Total:

Total Hours: 3

Total Hours on Quant: 3

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Running Tally:

Total Hours: 20

Total Hours on Quant: 20

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Day 10

I spent an hour reading up on Overlapping Sets in the MGMAT Word Problem Strategy Guide. It was a refresher on sets, matrix and Vern diagrams, but I find that some of the solution methods taught in the guide are pretty time consuming. I think on exam day those solutions might take more than 2 minutes to complete, but it might be so at the moment because I've not done them in a while.

Today's Total:

Total Hours: 1

Total Hours on Quant: 1

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Running Tally:

Total Hours: 17

Total Hours on Quant: 17

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Day 9

Today I read on rates, work and population word problems, according to Day 13 of the BTG. Managed to study for an hour before work, and an hour after. I've only done half of the suggested reading for Day 13, and didn't do any of the related questions from the OG13. Either I need to study longer hours, or I need to speed up and study more efficiently. It has been more than a week since I've started tracking my progress on this blog but I've only managed to cover a few days of the BTG study guide. I'll try to finish up Day 13 tomorrow. 

 

Today's Total:

Total Hours: 2

Total Hours on Quant: 2

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Running Tally:

Total Hours: 16

Total Hours on Quant: 16

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Day 8

I did some DS questions on word problems from the OG13 today, according to BTG Day12's study guide. I attempted each question without timing constraints to ensure that I fully understand the concepts. I'll work on timing later on once I'm more familiar and have slightly more stamina. I managed to get 82% of the questions correct, which is great because I don't have to spend additional time on this segment of word problems. 

Today's Total:

Total Hours: 3

Total Hours on Quant: 3

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Running Tally:

Total Hours: 14

Total Hours on Quant: 14

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Day 7

I took my time after work to finish up BTG Day 12 on Word Problems. I took my time to attempt each question and I got 95% of the problem solving questions correct. Feeling a bit more motivated and will attempt the data sufficiency section on word problems tomorrow. I've also done some questions  to recap on functions. 

Today's Total:

Total Hours: 3

Total Hours on Quant: 3

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Running Tally:

Total Hours: 11

Total Hours on Quant: 11

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Day 6

I didn't really do much today, only some quant exercises on functions from OG Quant. 

Today's Total:

Total Hours: 1

Total Hours on Quant: 1

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Running Tally:

Total Hours: 8

Total Hours on Quant: 8

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Day 4 & 5

Since this is the first weekend of my prep, I initially planned to take my first prep test today. However, I decided against it because I wanted to get sufficient sleep to recover from the sleep-deprived week I've had. 

I covered Day 11 & and half of Day 12 of BTG study guide today. Topics studied were coordinate geometry and word problems. I didn't have much problems with geometry at this point. Word problems, on the other hand, is a little tough for me because I kept on jumbling up the variables and ended up confusing myself. 

I think my first week of prep has not been efficient and effective, probably due to the fact that I had been spending additional hours after work to write the market commentary. I'll have to do it for next Monday and Tuesday as well, and after that I'll allocate more study hours to each working day. 

Today's Total:

Total Hours: 4.5

Total Hours on Quant: 4.5

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Running Tally:

Total Hours: 7

Total Hours on Quant: 7

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Day 3

I had to wake up an hour earlier today to write a market commentary before work starts. I only managed to do a few function questions during work, from OG Quant. I've decided to stop tracking the number of questions done, as it wouldn't really signify anything and takes additional time to tally. 

Today's Total:

Total Hours: 0.5

Total Hours on Quant: 0.5

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Running Tally:

Total Hours: 2.5

Total Hours on Quant: 2.5

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Day 2

I managed to get up at an hour earlier today, and reviewed the answers to the OG13 questions on Functions for an hour before going to work. I was not able to study after work because I have extra work to do, up until next Tuesday. 

Today's Total:

Total Hours: 1

Total Hours on Quant: 1

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Questions: -

Running Tally:

Total Hours: 2

Total Hours on Quant: 2

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Questions: 25

Day 1

Back from my vacation, I'm fully refreshed but not quite ready to jump start my prep journey. Only studied managed to study for a while after work and dinner. Completed only some Functions questions in the OG13, according to BTG Day 10 study guide. I did quite a lot of mistakes in the data sufficiency section, got less than 50% of the DS questions right. :(

Today's Total:

Total Hours: 1

Total Hours on Quant: 1

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Questions: 25

Running Tally:

Total Hours: 1

Total Hours on Quant: 1

Total Hours on Verbal: 0

Questions: 25