How to avoid a GMAT breakdown

I'd like to chime in here. I am a GMAT tutor for one of the two major companies. A few thoughts:

First, the scoring algorithms aren't accurate for practice tests. My understanding is that Manhattan hasn't been as focused on maintaining their algorithms since they were purchased by Kaplan a few years ago. I think the Veritas tests are the most accurate but the materials are more expensive.

That being said, I think you are probably approaching test prep wrong. I would suggest a few things.

1. Slow down on your problems. 2000+ problems is a lot in a short period of time. My guess is that you're doing some thing like this: Solving a big set of questions (or one at a time), checking the answer, moving on if it was right, going "Oh f*ck I should have done that" if it was wrong, and then moving on to the next one. You're probably not seeing things that are totally new to you if you've done that many problems, so you're not revisiting concepts as much.

A MUCH better strategy would be the following: Do a small set of problems (10-20). As you go through, jot down the number of any problem that you didn't feel 100% confident about. When you check your answers, note any questions you got wrong and any questions you got RIGHT but were in the "not 100% confident list". Check the answer explanations for all of those problems, one by one (note: the OG answer explanations are garbage). Read the answer explanation.
At this point I'm guessing you would normally stop review of that problem. Now comes the part that takes self-discipline: Resolve the problem with the answer explanation in front of you. Now, cover the answer explanation and resolve the problem a second time. Was it easy for you? If you're totally confused, go back to the content in your test prep books and do a few related questions.

With this approach, you're giving your brain time to absorb the method of solving the problem, not just seeing if you can make answers work for you. I've seen so many candidates get too focused on quantity of practice problems that they neglect quality of prep.

2. Make sure you are solving problems the RIGHT way Learn the math shorthand tricks. If you're consistently doing long division or multiplying things like 256X150 by hand, you're doing it wrong. It should be something like 256X100 plus half of what that number is (because you can rephrase 256x150 as (256x100 + 256x50)). If you're not consistently thinking of primes and breaking numbers down in division problems you're doing something wrong. Generally, if you're doing a lot of math, and not manipulating numbers to make equations easier, you're never going to be able to handle the pace needed to score well over 700.

When you review your answers, slow down, play with numbers, think of ways that you could have done the math differently. Get creative and try new things. Have FUN with it. If you spend time doing this your brain will start recognizing opportunities to repeat those strategies on future questions.

3. Don't worry about time on practice problems. This is a time to learn frameworks. You won't improve your time by staring at a clock. As you work through #1 above, your time should improve. DO care about time on practice tests. This is the ONLY thing you should care about on practice tests.

4. Do not care about your score on practice tests, outside of deciding what areas to focus on next. DO keep track of the problems you weren't sure about, as discussed in #1.

5. Make sure you're using the fcking frameworks. If you're doing a rate or work problem and not organizing into the RT=D or R*T=W columns that the books teach you, I will personally track you down and beat your ass for wasting hours of your time on bad prep. This is my biggest pet peeve as a tutor. Students think "Well, I learned the framework, and I've done it on some problems, but this one I think might be easier so I'm just going to jot down some equations". Use the god damn framework! It won't always be relevant, but it takes seconds to set up and will help you organize your thoughts. This also goes for matrix boxes, the "now and later" type problems (solutions that you add water to, john and bill are x old now but in 8 years john is 2x bill), etc. I HATE math and scored top 99% on the GMAT. I've had students straight argue with me because they think the frameworks I'm teaching them are too easy because they end up using very little math or formulas compared to before. THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT!!!!!!!

6. What is going on in your verbal? Sentence Correction is the most learnable area. If you're not crushing that then go back and really master the high value rules (basically the first half the the Manhattan sen correction book). You should have these out cold. Most questions have more than one differentiator you can solve on so you don't need to know every advanced rule. I DEFINITELY didn't and I was a 99% verbal scorer. I don't even think I touched the idioms or more advanced topics (though if you're a non-native speaker you may need to put work in on the idioms).

Reading comp and crit reasoning are hard skills to learn. Reading comp i really don't think you can learn in a few months for the GMAT. The focus here is to learn how to scan text for the info you need, then make sure you read the sentence before and after the one you need to make sure you have context right. Crit reasoning is a game. The test is always trying to trick you into picking things that feel right but don't have strong logic. Get out of "real world" logic and go to logic flows - make sure the answer you pick is the one most supported by the statement on the page (i.e. text says A leads to B and B leads to C, so if A then C; or, text says A means you get B and C means you get B, but that doesn't mean if you have A you have C). Don't think about the actual text as much as you do the flow of logic.

If you're truly out of materials, buy the Veritas books. They're more expensive but Manhattan and Veritas are the ONLY two companies with solid questions and explanations and you've done the Manhattan ones. Don't waste your money on shit materials. If I find out you bought the 12 books and burned through them in 3 weeks I will find you and hurt you because you clearly ignored all the advice I spent all this time typing up. SLOW DOWN. LEARN THE FRAMEWORKS. LEARN HOW TO APPLY THEM AND WHEN THEY ARE/ARE NOT THE RIGHT APPROACH. LEARN HOW TO PLAY WITH NUMBERS AND DO SHORT CUT MATH.

The GMAT is not a competition of who does more practice problems. It is a logic & creativity test that plays on the fact that we live in a world where we rely on heuristics. Once you understand this your test prep will change dramatically.

Good luck.