CAT Exams Exhausted

[VikramK585]

Hello,

I had bought the complete GMAT set a year back & had taken few tests a year back. And now I have taken 3 tests & exhausted the tests. I have retaken a test but saw a couple of questions from previous tests. I have a month to my GMAT exam & want to get 700-730. Currently my score is about 600-640. Could you suggest what I can do for the tests as well as to achieve my goal.

Vikram

[StaceyKoprince]

If you saw only a few questions repeated, that's okay. You can still take both GMATPrep and MGMAT CATs with repeats as long as you follow a few guidelines to minimize the chance of artificially inflating your score via question repeats.

First, anytime you see a problem that you remember (and this means: I know the answer or I'm pretty sure I remember the answer, not just "hmm, this looks vaguely familiar..."), immediately look at the timer and make yourself sit there for the full length of time for that question type. This way, you don't artificially give yourself more time than you should have.

Second, think about whether you got this problem right the last time. If you did, get it right again this time. If you didn't, get it wrong again. If you *completely honestly* think that you would get it right this time around if it were a new question (even though you got it wrong last time) because you've studied that area and improved, then get it right this time.

Have you already done both of the free GMATPrep tests from mba.com? If not, download those. (Note: they don't give you very much data to analyze, unfortunately.) They also sell two additional practice tests for about USD40.

Next, you're looking to lift your score about 100 points in a month. That's ambitious; most people would need more time. I'm not telling you that you can't get 100 points in a month, but you should think about what you want to do if you realize that it's not going to happen. Would you rather postpone your test? Lower your goal score? A combination of the two?

Okay, for specific advice, I need you to tell me many things first.

First, read these two articles:
http://tinyurl.com/executivereasoning
http://tinyurl.com/2ndlevelofgmat

Think about how what you've been doing does and doesn't match up with that and how you may need to change your approach accordingly.

Then, use the below to analyze your most recent MPrep CATs (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 any ideas you have for 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. Your analysis should include a discussion of your buckets - you'll understand what that means when you read the last article. 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!)

[VikramK585]

Thanks for the suggestions Stacey.

I took another CAT Exam today based on your suggestion. I got 610 in this test (Q-45,V-30). The low verbal score was mainly due to RC. I got most of the questions wrong on RC. Generally my accuracy on RC is 50%, but on today it was 20%.
While taking the tests, I did find some questions repeated, but i either got them wrong or solved them in the time frame to get the correct answer.

On analyzing this test, I found that I got 16/37 wrong in quant with 4 questions wrong in a row. The first question that I got wrong was the one I had seen in a previous test & I guess since I knew I had marked it wrong I was pushing to get the next question correct which is why I spent 3 minutes on it(even when I did not know how to solve it).
In Verbal, I started well & had 99%tile till the 12th question, but then I got 2 long RC passages in a row & got all of them wrong, I guess this was a major reason for the score of 30.
There was no major problem on the timing front (was within the Target cumulative time & time for most of the questions).

I also reviewed my last 3 CAT exams as suggested by you & have filled the major buckets.

Quant:

Strengths : Quadratic equations, Formulas, Triangles, Polygons, Probability, Overlapping sets, statistics, Fractions
Prioritize : Exponents & Roots, Circles & Cylinders, Lines & angles, Algebraic translation, Precents
Ugh : Linear Equations, Divisibility & Primes, Digits & Decimals

I have listed more in prioritize since I would like to maximize my Quant score since I am not too good at RC & feel that I need to aim for 48-50 in quant.

Verbal:

CR(64% accuracy)
Strengths: Describe the Role, Explain, resolve, Example, Weaken, Strengthen
Prioritize: Assumption, 700-800 level Strengthen & weaken, conclusion (All 60% accuracy)

SC(65% accuracy)
Strengths: Pronoun, Subject-Verb, Modifiers, Parallelism
Prioritize : Quantity, Verbs, Meaning
Ugh: Concision, Connecting Punctuation

RC(%0% accuracy)
I struggle with Long passages in general. So I need to practice this more.

Please tell me If you feel my analysis is OK & If you have any more advice for me.

Thanks

[StaceyKoprince]

I knew I had marked it wrong I was pushing to get the next question correct which is why I spent 3 minutes on it(even when I did not know how to solve it

Yes, people do this all the time. Stop it. The only thing that matters is the question on the screen right now. Do you know how to do it in a reasonable amount of time? If so, great. If not, figure out how to make the best possible guess and move on.

I started well & had 99%tile till the 12th question, but then I got 2 long RC passages in a row & got all of them wrong, I guess this was a major reason for the score of 30.

Maybe. Getting those wrong would bring your score down, yes. But what happened after that? You would have still had a lot of questions that could have brought your score back up. For example, did you use too much time and/or mental energy and then end up making careless mistakes later in the section as a result?

I have listed more in prioritize since I would like to maximize my Quant score since I am not too good at RC & feel that I need to aim for 48-50 in quant.

It's fine to have that overall goal, but don't list more in prioritize right now. The point fo this exercise is to figure out the lowest-hanging fruit / biggest priorities at the moment. Pick the things that are really the best opportunities right now and try to get those first.

Then, later, you're going to take another CAT and re-do these buckets. At that time, some of your things in bucket 2 will move to bucket 1, and then you'll have more room to move stuff from bucket 3 to bucket 2. But the point is not to fill bucket 2 so much that you're spreading yourself too thin or get overwhelmed by everything you're trying to do at once. Prioritize.

Here's your bucket 2 quant, reordered based on frequency (most frequent to least frequent):

Prioritize : Percents, Algebraic Translations, Exponents & Roots. Then, a lot less common: Lines & Angles, Circles & Cylinders

For RC, try the resources linked in this article:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... rehension/

For SC, try this technique to see whether it helps with harder questions (especially ones that deal with meaning):
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... ce-part-1/

For story problems (including percents problems), try these techniques:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... them-real/
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... ms-part-1/

Let me know how that all goes!

[VikramK585]

Thanks Stacey for the advice.

I took GMAT prep test few days back & scored a 580 (Q47/V23). The number of answers incorrect/total was 12/37 on quant with one string of 3 questions wrong & 17/41 on verbal with one string of 4 questions wrong. I also noticed that I got only 4 questions correct in the first 10 questions which means my percentile was very low at the end of 10 questions. I was also very anxious on the verbal section & at the 20th question realised that I was way ahead of time (45 mins at the end of 20th question). I could not do an indepth analysis of the GMAT Prep test unfortunately.

Since I knew I could do better, I took a MCAT again a few days later. I scored a 640 (Q42/V35). The dip in the quant section I think is mainly dew to 2 string of 5 wrong answers (one at the beginning & one towards the end of the test). The topics of these questions were once I need to work on (Exponents & roots, Fractions, Coordinate geometry). I have listed my buckets again after analyzing this test.

Bucket 1:
Same as before with the addition of Percents from Bucket 2

SC : Same as before with the addition of Verbs & Idioms questions from Bucket 2
CR : Same as before with Assumption & evaluate questions from Bucket 2

Bucket 2 :
Exponents & roots, fractions (Got all questions wrong on this test)
Coordinate geometry (Less important)

SC, CR : 700-800 level questions (Could you help me with some material or set of questions for this)
RC has not changed since the last test

Also I feel my verbal score of 35 is inflated since I saw 6 questions which I knew. I used the techniques you told me to wait for the appropriate amount of time before moving forward. For 4 CR questions the time i spent was between 1:05, 1:23, 1:30, 1:43. For 2 SC questions, I spent 0:50 & 2:30 ( was confused between 2 choices so took longer on this question). Can you tell me the appropriate amount of time I should before moving onto the next question. I did not see the time when i started the questions, so according to me 10-20 seconds must have passed by till i read the question & realize i have seen this before, So i waited for 1min to 1:15 min till i moved onto the next question.

Thanks
Vikram

[StaceyKoprince]

I agree with everything you wrote for your buckets.

Note that this:

I was also very anxious on the verbal section

and this:

at the 20th question realised that I was way ahead of time (45 mins at the end of 20th question).

are much bigger problems than getting early questions wrong. Yes, getting early questions wrong will lower your score, but you still have almost the entire section left to lift it back up again.

If, however, you are very nervous, you're going to make careless mistakes. And if you are rushing, you're also going to make careless mistakes. So you've got a double-dose of making careless mistakes - that's a much bigger issue. (Looking back at the test questions now, how many of the incorrect ones would you say were careless mistakes?)

Try this:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... mat-score/

For CR, average time is 2m, so you did rush on those. (Of course, it sounds like you were rushing on everything!). For SC, the average time is 1m20s. For RC, average to read is about 2-3m and average to answer is about 1m for general and 1.5m for specific.

I don't have a list or source of 700+-only SCs and CRs. But if I did, I wouldn't give it to you now. If we say that your V score is about halfway between 23 and 35 (since you were rushing / very nervous on the 23 test but seeing repeated questions on the 35 test), then your issue is actually not at all with 700+ questions. Your issue is with missing lower-level questions. Even if they are careless mistakes and you really do know how to do them, you won't even see many 700+ questions till you figure out how to stop making those careless mistakes.

I think the biggest issue here is the anxiety piece. It's causing you to rush during the test. I'm also going to guess that's what's caused you to take so many tests that you exhausted the exams. The task now is to get your mind into a better, calmer place so that you can study effectively, concentrate well, and recall the memories you need when you need them. I actually want you to slow down big time on the studying (even take a week off!) and try the meditation techniques in the article I linked above. (If you are experiencing any significant symptoms - racing heart, sweaty palms, nausea, poor sleep, inability to concentrate in general - then you may want to talk to a doctor or therapist about various methods to manage these symptoms.)

What do you think?

[VikramK585]

Thank you for the advice again.

As you correctly pointed out, Anxiety is a problem. I do take a lot of tests in order to get over the anxiety. I took another test before I saw your reply. I did not see any difference in my score. I got a 630 (Q-42, V-34). I did see a few familiar questions but I gave it enough time in this test. In any case, I went through the wrong answers as you told me & noticed quiet a few careless mistakes in quant. This is mainly errors due to rushing & missing details or mixing up details. In the verbal section, I think mental fatigue & rushing are the 2 main factors for the careless mistakes since I see the questions again & I can clearly point out that I chose a trap answer for most of the incorrect questions. I will work reducing my careless mistakes.

As you suggested, I will slow down a little bit & use the meditation techniques. I will also try to improve my reading with the university magazines.

I was supposed to take the GMAT test on the 26th of this month but have postponed it to the 7th of next month. When I practice the individual topics such as SC, CR or quant with the material(such as OG), my accuracy is above 75% & within the time constraint. Hence I think if I control my anxiety & work on my weaknesses, I can get closer to 700.

Please let me know what you think about this & If you have any more advice so that i can reach my goal.

[StaceyKoprince]

Yes, from what you've described, the anxiety --> careless mistakes issue is the major problem. Continue to do what you're now doing and also look here to learn how to minimize careless errors:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -the-gmat/

(Hint: it's not enough just to tell yourself to slow down and not make them!)

One other thing on the anxiety piece: some of my students have had success planning to take the real test twice in a short period of time. The first one is just your practice run: to get used to the testing facility / environment, so that the second time, you aren't quite as nervous. This costs you USD250 and half a day, of course - but if you are very concerned about the anxiety piece, then this could be something to think about.