Wondering if anybody has any guidelines or recommendations for time spent working through the prep books?

I have been self studying through the books so far and up to book 9 right now. I'm spending about 7-8hrs to get through each book right now.

I know that everybody has different learning paces, but wondering if I should focus on timing also and spend a different amount of time going through each book? Or is this typical, or do you have recommendation on how to work through books effectively?

Hello,

Great question – and like you said everyone’s different but there are certainly some strategies that are most helpful:

1) Make sure that “doing” is a large part of the time you spend in each lesson, as working through practice problems and drills is a huge part of improvement as opposed to simply reading and reviewing. So if that time is spent actively working through problems, it’s well-spent.
2) Don’t worry too much about timing in your first 1/2 to 2/3 of time within each concept area. You’re much more likely to truly learn a concept if you’ve spent 4-5 minutes struggling through a problem than if you give up and check the solution after just two minutes because “time’s up”.
3) That said, at some point because the GMAT is a timed test you should put some emphasis on pacing once you’ve gotten comfortable with skills and strategies. So it’s advisable to take practice tests as part of your study regimen, and to leave 1/3 to 1/2 of the practice questions in each book to use in timed drills or reinforcement practice as you learn from your practice tests what you need to improve upon. To ensure that you get a healthy mix of topic areas and difficulty levels, ideally you’ll start by doing all the odd-numbered (or all the even-numbered) problems in each book, then go back and work on the rest.
4) We also recommend that you use the Veritas Prep on Demand video lessons in concert with the lessons so that you can see explanations for strategies and concepts, and that you use the Online Office Hours to ask questions and solicit instructor advice as needed, too.

Hope this information helps!

The Veritas Prep Team

Thanks! Do you have recommendations on when and frequency of practice tests?

Eg. Good idea to try 1 test a week, regardless of where I am with the books? Or finish all books then try as many as possible?

Given a practice test and review takes considerable time, want to make sure I slot them in effectively!

Not a problem, we are always happy to help!

Regarding taking practice tests, it really depends on your schedule. Of course, it would be great to take one practice test a week, however you should also block time within a day or two to analyze what you learned from the tests. You can find this info from one of our previous blog posts (http://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2011/09 ... -schedule/) :

Take practice tests — and analyze them!

Students often hit the first part but completely neglect the second. Any time you block 3-4 hours on your calendar to take a practice test, make sure that you have 1-2 hours within a day or two to analyze what you learned. While the experience of taking the test is helpful – it builds stamina, familiarity, etc. – the real value of that test is that it gives you insight into where you need to improve. What mistakes do you make under pressure? How can you better allocate time across the section? Which concepts escaped you when you had to be ready for everything and couldn’t just tune your mind to “today is an algebra day?” Practice tests are an essential component of your study plan, but mainly because they give you an opportunity to learn about yourself. Make sure that you take time to extract that full value from each practice test.

Hope this info helps!
The Veritas Prep Team