30 Days away from 1st Attempt at real GMAT

[KevinF866]

Hi - I have read through all but 3 of the 5th Ed. MGMAT strategy guides for the GMAT (outstanding are RC, CR and IR/Essay), and have taken two CATs so far. I scored a 530 on the initial test and a 490 on the 2nd one. After FDP and Algebra, I went a bit out of order and switched to SC next. I then went through Word Prob, Geometry and just finished Number Properties. The school that I'm applying to requires a 600 on the test, with a 50% in both Verbal and Quant. Both of the CATs I've taken so far did not include the essay or IR, but were taken under test conditions.

Based on the Assessment Report I've run based on my two CATs, I'm stronger in Verbal than in Quant. CAT 1 (32Q; 28%/32V; 65%), CAT 2 (31Q, 25%/27V, 45%). I will need to improve my Quant so that it meets the 50% level required by the school. On the 2nd CAT, I had serious timing issues, and had to guess at the last few problems, and I left the final question unanswered. I know that was a severe ding on my score.

I plan on taking my 1st GMATPrep exam this Sunday. Up until now, I've gone through all of the Problem Sets in the guides, and I've done some timed mixed sets of OG problems, but I feel perhaps not enough of them. I have not done any of the Question Banks. I have created an Error Log and have gone through approx. 40% of those problems. There are some I haven't re-tried yet.

At this point being 30 days away, what would you recommend as a study plan for the remainder of my time until the official test?

I want to make sure I use my time efficiently over this final month. I know 600 is not an earth-shattering score by any means, and I'm shooting for the highest score I can possibly obtain. I have both the 12th and 13th Ed. of the OG. I've only been using the 13OG so far.

Thanks,

Kevin

[StaceyKoprince]

First: make sure you take the essay and IR sections on your GMATPrep test tomorrow. And stick to the official breaks (one 8-min break after IR and another 8-min break after quant).

Skipping the earlier sections can lead to artificially inflated scores on the Q and V (because those earlier sections do cost mental energy - that can affect you on the later Q and V). So the first thing we need to do is see what you true current scoring level is. Depending upon that, 30 days may not be enough time - we'll just have to see what the differential is.

It's not surprising that you had timing issues (and your score went down) on the 2nd test. That happens to a lot of people. You've studied a bunch of stuff and you think, "Oh, I studied this! I should know how to do it!" Then you hang on too long and mess up your timing.

So, for verbal, you did already meet the required level on your first test. Your focus there will be more about making sure that you don't tire yourself out too much earlier in the test and you don't mess up your timing in that section.

For quant, though, you've got a harder road, because you need to fix your timing AND get better at the underlying material.

I'll need some more detail from you in order to advise you about what to do. 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 (this should take you a minimum of 1 hour):
http://tinyurl.com/analyzeyourcats

Based on all of that, figure out your strengths and weaknesses as well as what you think you should do. 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!)

[KevinF866]

Hi Stacey,

Thanks for writing back with your suggestions. I took GMAT Prep Exam #1 this past weekend, and this time included the essay and IR. My score was a 530 (Q25/14%, V37/81%). So, I was pleased to see my score improve, however I was dismayed that my quant score dropped further. My timing this time around was much improved, and I finished all of the sections on time. I basically did a time check every 5 questions or so, and if I started falling behind, I knew that I would have to make a guess or two in order to catch up.

GMATPrep does not provide the same level of feedback that the MGMAT CAT exams do. GPrep lets you review the exam and see which problems you answered correctly vs. incorrectly, but it doesn't allow you to drill down into the data the same way the MGMAT CAT's do. So, I followed your advice and reviewed both my CAT #2 by itself as well as CATs 1 and 2 combined. Here is what I found:

CAT #2 - By Itself (Score 490, Q31/V27)

Timing: I had 9 questions where I answered "too fast", that is less than 1:30. I had 4 that were "too slow", between 2:30 and 3:00. And, I had 4 that were "crazy slow", these were all essentially over 4 minutes. My timing was pretty screwed up during this CAT.

Wrong in a row: I didn't get 4 wrong in a row, but I did get 3 wrong in a row (24 - 26). Two were 500-600 and the 3rd was an easy 300-500 question. I also got an NA on the final question as I ran out of time.

I did worst in Word Problems (30% correct, 3 out of 10).
I did best in Algebra (63%, 5 out of 8).

Aggregated CAT1 and CAT2

To drill down further into more granular data, I ran the reports based on both CATs combined. I found the following:

I was strongest in Geometry (60% correct, 6 out of 10)
I was 2nd strongest in FDP (53%, 9 out of 17)
I was weakest in WP (30%, 3 out of 10)
I was 2nd weakest in # Properties and FDP (both 43%)

The level of questions answered correctly across all categories for Quant was 470 - 550. It seems clear that I'm not answering enough of the 500-700 level questions, and that is holding back my score.

In Quant, for both PS and DS, I'm scoring well in the 300-500 level (71% and 78%). But once you get into the 500-600 level, my percentage correct drops steeply to PS = 46% and DS = 23%. It gets worse from there when you look at 600-700 level (PS = 0%, DS = 25%).

I feel I'm missing a wide swath of problems in the 500-700 range and that is killing my score.

Geometry - Overall at 60%
Algebra - Overall at 33% (All categories < 50%)
Word Problems - Overall at 44% (Almost all cats. < 50%)
FDP - Overall at 53% (Only ratios < 50%)
Number Properties - Overall at 46% (About 1/2 < 50%)

What do you think is a plan from here? My GMAT real test is on 9/23. It seems clear to me that I need much more practice in Algebra, WP, Number Properties, and a bit of FDP. What I am unsure of is what the best approach would be. Should I do all of the OG problems first for both PS/DS in these areas? Would those be the ones listed at the back of the Strategy Guides for these topics?

Should I also be using the Question Banks? I've also seen sections in the MGMAT/GMATClub forums where you can specifically focus on difficult 600-700 level questions.

I hope I've provided the right analysis of my prior tests. I'm not as concerned with Verbal at this point as my GMATPrep score was well above the 50%. I'm just seriously concerned about Quant at this point.

I appreciate your help! Thanks.

[StaceyKoprince]

When people first try to fix a "too slow" problem, they often go overboard - cutting themselves off too quickly and making careless mistakes. Could this have happened on your GMATPrep test? (Note for future: it's a good idea to time yourself on each question for GMATPrep since, as you noted, they don't give you this data.)

Nice job on the verbal, by the way!

Your test is on Sep 23rd, or three weeks from now. There's a very good chance that you are going to need more time to prepare for the quant part of the test. Generally speaking, your score about 10 days out is also what you should expect to score on the real thing - it's unlikely that you're going to be able to fix the issues that you have in just about 1.5 to 2 weeks.

You don't need to do anything about this today. I'm telling you this so that you can think now about what you want to do if, 10 days out, you realize that things aren't coming together yet. You can reschedule the test for only a $50 fee as long as you do so more than 7 days in advance of your scheduled test date.

Next, you're not ready to dive into doing more questions. You do questions to see whether you have gotten better at whatever you have been trying to study - they're like a quiz / test for yourself. You don't actually get better while doing those questions for the first time.

Instead, you get better as you analyze and pick apart questions you've already done. (This was described in the 2nd Level of GMAT Study article that I linked in my last post.)

So your next task is to figure out why you missed or spent too long on the various problems from that test, and then to take the necessary next steps to remedy the specific problem. Sometimes, you won't have known the quant material well enough - go back to your book.

Sometimes, you knew the material but didn't know the way to put that together in a solution - go to the explanation and look on the forums for alternative explanations when necesary.

Sometimes, you knw the material and one solution method, but there's a shortcut that you missed - how are you going to recognize that shortcut next time around?

Sometimes, you made a careless mistake. What are you going to do to minimize the same type of mistake in future?
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

etc.

In other words, that analysis is where you really learn how to get better. Once you learn some things, then you can test yourself on new OG problems. (And then analyze those to learn from them!)

Don't use the Question Banks at this point. Your goal is not to focus just on a certain level. Your goal is to figure out why things played out the way they did on these specific problems so that you can then figure out what you need to learn to remedy whatever the specific weaknesses were.

Also, timing! Half of the timing battle stems from your overall mindset toward the test, so read the Executive Reasoning article (linked last time) every day until you have really internalized what this test is testing.

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

And, of course, come back here with any questions. :)

[KevinF866]

Hi Stacey,

I wanted to give you an update on how things have gone the last few weeks. As the date got closer, I realized that I was not ready to take the GMAT on 9/23. So I postponed my exam to 10/30/14. Then I found out that the school I'm applying to extended their GMAT deadline to 11/15. So I rescheduled my test once more, to 11/12. I felt this would give me the best chance to improve my quant.

With that said, I've been spending most of my time adding every problem from my prior CATs and GMAT Prep tests to an error log, and going through them one by one, trying to pull out as much as I can from each; I.e., this problem requires a certain cross-multiplication, or this problem assumes you know that x = y+1 is going to test consecutive integers. I consider this "deconstructing" each problem to really understand what is being asked, and any tricks that are involved that I need to remember.

At what point do you recommend attempting new OG problems I've not done yet? I just want to make sure I'm spending the remaining time the best I can.

I was planning on taking CAT 4 this weekend to see how things shape up. Do you think this is a bad idea?

Thanks!

[StaceyKoprince]

Nice! Glad they extended the deadline.

You're right that you want to have a mix of deconstructing old problems and trying new ones, so if you feel you've now learned a decent amount from the old ones, go ahead and start mixing some new ones in. That way, you'll see how much you really are learning from the old ones. :)

Of course, you'll then go ahead and analyze those new ones, just as you've been doing with the others.

You may have already taken the CAT, since I didn't get to this before the week-end. My answer is / would have been: if you feel you've made decently substantial progress since your last CAT, then go for it. It doesn't need to be perfect - you just need to feel like you've made enough progress that it would begin to make a difference for you on the test.

If you took it, let me know how it went (you can use the article I linked way long ago to analyze the test). If not, let me know what your plans are.