GMAT Prep at 510 with 2 weeks left

[bootherald]

Hi all, I am feeling really down and almost out after my latest CAT score:

16th Sep: Kaplan CAT 2: 550 (Q41 Q28)
17th Sep: MGMAT CAT 2: 560 (Q41 V36)
18th Sep: GMAT Prep 1: 510 (Q36 V23)

With just 2 weeks or less to go, I am very worried. I have gone through the below study guides:

Kaplan GMAT Premier 2013
GMAT Review 13th Edition
Manhattan Critical Reasoning
Manhattan Sentence Correction

When I am on my practice questions, I can confidently get 70-80% correct on my practice questions but yet this doesn't translate into the score I am aiming for (620 at least). With such a short amount of time to go, I am not sure what else to do except to have a hard go at the practice questions in the GMAT Prep bank.

This is my plan for the next 11 days:

Day 1-3:
Practice questions for both quantitative and verbal

Day 4:
GMAT Prep 2 + Review mistakes

Day 5-7
Practice questions for both quantitative and verbal

Day 8
GMAT Prep 3 + Review mistakes

Day 9-11
Drilling of questions

I would appreciate any advice or input from you guys. Thanks in advance.

[bootherald]

Just in case this thread was missed out, I would appreciate any sort of feedback on how I can improve.

[bootherald]

I have just taken GMAT Prep 2 and I am encouraged by the score.

23rd Sept 2013:
GMAT Prep 2: 610 (Q46, V28) - a jump of 100 from my last test on 18th Sept 2013.

During the time leading up to Prep 2 from Prep 1, I have been regularly drilling myself on practice questions. My test is in a week's time and I would like to ask if I should continue doing so. Timing is not really an issue because I have managed to complete all my questions on time on a consistent basis.

I aim to score at least 640 and I would appreciate any advice to achieve that goal.

[StaceyKoprince]

Welcome to the forums! Please remember to read the forum guidelines before posting. Please don't "bump" your own post. We respond to all posts in order, oldest first, and the date of your post is based on the date of the last post in the thread, not the first. If you bump your own post, you will wait longer for a response.


Please also note that the forums are a free service, open to the public. Because of the volume of traffic we receive, it is not unusual to wait a week from the date of the last post (sometimes longer) for a response - especially this time of year. If you see that older posts in the same folder have not yet been answered, then you know that we haven't missed you - we just haven't gotten to your question yet.

As a general rule, you should expect to score whatever you're scoring about 1-2 weeks before, assuming the practice test was taken under 100% official conditions including essay and IR.

If you skipped essay and IR, or didn't take them as seriously as you will on real test day, or gave yourself longer breaks than normal, etc, then your practice scores are likely inflated.

If that is the case, or if your practice scores are well under what you want to score on the real test, then you should consider postponing your test.

You can also take the test to see how you do, but be aware that if there are possible inflation issues, then you might have a score drop on test day.

From what I can gather, your real test is in just a few days, in which case you should just be doing a comprehensive review across all topics and question types.

If you decide to postpone the test, or you take the test and decide to take it again, let us know and we will be happy to advise you. (Please note that in the fall timeframe, we get a LOT of traffic and you will typically wait 7+ days for advice - and please don't bump your own posts or you'll wait even longer!)

If you do post again, I'd like to get some more detailed data on your strengths and weaknesses in order to advise you. First, read these two articles:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... lly-tests/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

Then, use the below to analyze your most recent MGMAT CAT(s):
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/

Figure out what you think you should do based on that analysis. Then come back here and tell us; we'll tell you whether we agree and advise you further. (Note: do share an analysis with us, not just the raw data. Part of getting better is developing your ability to analyze your results - figure out what they mean and what you think you should do about them!)

[bootherald]

Thanks for the reply. I took my GMAT 2 days ago and wanted to take some time off to think about this. I scored 530 (Q36, V27). My prior scores on the GMAT Prep were 510, 610, and 570. Obviously I am disappointed with the result because it is arguably one of my worst scores and the emotions which followed then after really got me down.

I have read the 3 articles you posted. I find myself falling into the following categories:

1. Category 2: I got it wrong roughly within the expected timeframe


2. Category 3: I got it wrong way too quickly (more than 30 seconds faster than it should be)


3. Category 5: I got it wrong way too slowly (more than 30 seconds slower than it should be)

To address the problems I am facing, I am planning to go to a GMAT course which will cover the quantitative and verbal topics in detail. I will be revisiting all the topics once more to drill down right to my weaknesses and then spending more time on it. That essentially covers category 2 and most of the difficulties I am facing in the GMAT.

Careless mistakes have always been a bad habit of mine. I get excited whenever I see a question which screams "piece of cake". As I did the GMAT, I was cruising in the quantitative section and it was unusually strange that I was getting the easier questions time and time again. I am afraid this is a habit more than anything else.

Category 5 was on full show during the verbal section. I narrowed down to 2 final choices but was unable to determine which one was better. That boils down to my weak foundation in the topics.

I am going to spend a good 2 months going through the entire curriculum and making sure my basics are right there. After that, I will be having an individual session with my instructor on topics which I need extra help in as well as my test taking strategies. I plan to take the GMAT in mid January and determined to conquer it this time round.

Would like to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks once again and I appreciate your help.

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm sorry you had a disappointing test experience.

I'm a little concerned because most of your post seems to be focusing on the things you got wrong and trying to get those right. You should expect to get a large number of questions wrong - the issue is just HOW you go about doing so. You don't want to waste a ton of time and brain energy on a really hard problem - even if you could get it right in 3+ minutes, your better decision would be to get it wrong faster.

I might be reading what you wrote incorrectly, but I think your single biggest issue is going to have to do with how you take the test, not how to get better at the actual content. (Though you will also have work to do in that area, too.)

For example, you said in an earlier post that you didn't think you had any timing issues, yet in this post, you do list timing issues. (And, frankly, I've never spoken with a single student who doesn't have at least minor timing issues. But I've talked with many, many students who don't think they have timing issues... yet they do.)

You also say you are going to go through the entire curriculum. You only need to do that if you're going for a 760+. Below that level, you can skip some things entirely and, for others, you can get just the basics and not worry about it if you get questions harder than that. For instance, on quant, if you hate combinatorics and probability (as so many people do), skip them. Just get that question (because there's probably only going to be on!) wrong fast and spend that time elsewhere.

If I'm right that your mindset is still more about "how do I get all of this stuff right fast?" then read these two articles again. Slowly.

https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... lly-tests/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

The second one contains links to other articles. Make sure to follow them. Then come back here to tell me what you think.

For careless mistakes, read this:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

[bootherald]

For example, you said in an earlier post that you didn't think you had any timing issues, yet in this post, you do list timing issues. (And, frankly, I've never spoken with a single student who doesn't have at least minor timing issues. But I've talked with many, many students who don't think they have timing issues... yet they do.)

I think there was a misunderstanding. I did not run out of time to complete the Q and V sections during test day but I felt I was spending too much time on certain questions and still wasn't confident it would be correct.

You also say you are going to go through the entire curriculum. You only need to do that if you're going for a 760+. Below that level, you can skip some things entirely and, for others, you can get just the basics and not worry about it if you get questions harder than that. For instance, on quant, if you hate combinatorics and probability (as so many people do), skip them. Just get that question (because there's probably only going to be on!) wrong fast and spend that time elsewhere.

My goal is definitely to get the highest score possible and I have allocated 3-4 months for it. I am trying to learn to tackle the questions the right way as well as having a strong foundation in the topics tested.

If I'm right that your mindset is still more about "how do I get all of this stuff right fast?" then read these two articles again. Slowly.

https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... lly-tests/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

The second one contains links to other articles. Make sure to follow them. Then come back here to tell me what you think.

For careless mistakes, read this:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

I have re-read the articles you shared as well as the one about analyzing GMAT questions. I have been doing tons of OG questions in preparation but as mentioned in that article, I haven't been analyzing them in a methodological manner. I will be looking to ask myself a series of questions whenever I do a GMAT problem. Hopefully in time, I would be able to pick out the patterns in the different questions.

Appreciate your feedback.

[StaceyKoprince]

From an earlier post:

Timing is not really an issue because I have managed to complete all my questions on time on a consistent basis.

The first part of this sentence made me think that you believed you didn't have timing issues in general. Finishing the section on time is just one aspect, as you noted in your last post. (You can also spend too long on some questions and then rush to catch up on others.)

If you were spending too much time on certain questions, as you report, then we need to do something about those timing issues.

Read these and start practicing what they say:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -to-do-it/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... nt-part-1/

I will be looking to ask myself a series of questions whenever I do a GMAT problem.

Great - that's exactly what you want to do. Keep reminding yourself that this isn't about how much you study. It's about how well you study. :)

What you're really doing here is training yourself how to think. A professional athlete trains themselves by doing all kinds of little exercises that will collectively help them get better at swinging a bat or throwing a ball or whatever. You're doing all kinds of exercises to learn how to think and make better decisions each time a new question pops up in front of you.

That's what your question analysis is ultimately designed to help you master!