Strategy for the last miles

[bruno_torres_gomez]

Hi !

I'm really excited to get be in week 9 of the course, today is the last class. At the same time, i'm super worried about my scores because they haven't improved much. My first cat i got a 560, then on the 2nd and 3rd i got a 580. Also, my IR went down to 0 on the last test from a 3 on the first test.

After the second CAT i analyzed the results and bucketized them ( according to Stacy's post). Then realized that i needed a lot of work on 2 areas of Math and reading comp. On those areas, in the last test, the average level of the questions i got wrong and right increased quite a bit (to level 750), although the percentage of wrong vs right did not. My sentence correction accuracy decreased a lot. I do recognize that i haven't had time to go through every wrong question in past tests.

What does it mean when the percentage in right answers decreases but the average difficulty of the questions goes up ? Do i need to move into harder problems ? How do i make sure my sentence correction skills remain high ? How do i approach the review part? Should i do hundreds of problems per subject per day? I'm trying to come up with a study plan, i will take 6 weeks to study. During that time, two weeks before the test i plan to take a week off from work and only practice GMAT problems. Regarding IR, I plan to just practice a lot of IR (at least one hour per day)

Thanks a lot for your reply!

[StaceyKoprince]

Don't worry about the percentage correct so much - if the difficulty level is increasing, then you are answering harder questions correctly, so you're making progress.

How has your timing been doing? That is often the culprit when you're studying and learning but your scores aren't going up much. In particular, if the average difficulty of questions on your CAT goes up a lot but the score doesn't much, the problem is almost always timing.

The GMAT is a "where you end is what you get" test, so if you mess up the timing, your score will drop by the end of the section - and even though you were answering harder questions in the middle, where you end is what you get.

As a general rule, the overall percentage correct is always going to hover around 50-60%. Certain categories will be lower or higher, of course, depending on your strengths and weaknesses.

If you answer a 700-800 level question wrong, then shrug your shoulders. It was hard - you probably should have gotten it wrong!

If you answer a 500-600 level question wrong, when you were mostly getting those right, then you have some work to do. Basically, you want to make sure that you're getting most of the questions that are easy to medium for you (whatever your scoring level is).

If you're getting a lot of 600-700 questions right in quant, but your average difficulty level is lower for one area (eg, FDP or Geo) then you'll want to try to lift those areas so that you're not getting too many lower-level (for you) questions wrong.

If you get to the point where you're averaging 750 on something and getting "only" half right, then that is fantastic and you don't need to work on that area. :)

How do i approach the review part? Should i do hundreds of problems per subject per day?

To answer your second question first, NO! Definitely not. Doing is not the same thing as reviewing. You learn a little when you Do, but you learn much more when you Review. Do fewer problems but dig deep and really learn from them.

In a 2-hour study session, you might do 10 problems (~20 minutes) and then spend the rest of the time reviewing those problems.

Here's how to review individual problems:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

For things you're already good at, you keep your skills high just by continuing to practice and review. Make sure that you're always practicing timed, mixed sets. Ideally, mix question types as well (eg, a set of CR, RC, and SC, not just all SC), since the real test makes you jump around too.

See this:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... blem-sets/

Finally, most important thing: you just finished the class and you've taken 3 CATs, so you're eligible for a Post-Course Assessment (PCA) meeting. This is a 30-minute phone call with an instructor to assess your CATs and figure out what you should do for the next 4-6 weeks. Sign up in the Office Hours section of your Student Center. Go do this right now - the sooner, the better!

If you'd like to discuss any of the advice you get (or anything else), come on back and ask.

[bruno_torres_gomez]

Thanks a lot Stacy. I've been following your advice. i really appreciate your help!

Best,
Bruno

[StaceyKoprince]

You're very welcome - let me know how it goes!