Countdown to Test Day, My Study Experience So Far

[lsyang1212]

Hello,

I'm currently reviewing my CAT 2 exam (7 weeks into MGMAT Online Course) and have a few questions regarding the material and scoring. Also, since we're reaching the tail end of the class, I'm prepping for how to study when I get closer to test day.

A little information on me and my progress:
CAT 1: Q44, V29, 590 score
CAT 2: Q45, V36, 660 score

My Goal: Q at least 45, V at least 42, at least 700 score

I study about 2-3 hours a day, follow the syllabus, and have been keeping up with all the homework. I spend the majority of my time reviewing homework (not just doing a million problems), and I keep an error log on hard questions I want to review.

Could you guys take a look at my questions below? I'd love to get your advice and point of views. Thanks so much in advance! =)

1. WHEN SHOULD BE THE LAST TIME TO TAKE A CAT EXAM BE, BEFORE THE REAL ONE? HOW MANY CAT EXAMS IS TOO MANY? I WAS PLANNING ON TAKING ONE CAT EACH WEEK AFTER OUR CLASS ENDS. MY TEST IS SCHEDULED FOR WEDNESDAY, JULY 23RD (ABOUT 6 WEEKS FROM NOW).

2. ARE THERE EXTRA GMAC PRACTICE EXAMS AVAILABLE OUTSIDE OF MANHATTAN GMAT? DO YOU RECOMMEND WE TRY THESE OUT?

3. SHOULD I CHANGE UP MY STUDYING STRATEGY A COUPLE WEEKS LEADING UP TO THE TEST? AFTER OUR CLASS ENDS, I WILL HAVE ABOUT 3.5 WEEKS OF MY OWN TIME TO REVIEW. DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE ON HOW TO STUDY AFTER CLASS ENDS?

4. IS IT TRUE THAT IF YOU FOLLOW THE APPENDIX PROBLEMS LISTED IN EACH OF THE MGMAT GUIDE BOOKS, THAT YOU WILL END UP DOING EVERY SINGLE PROBLEM IN THE OG 13?

5. WHAT'S THE BEST WAY TO USE THE OG SUPPLEMENT QUATN/VERBAL BOOKS? JUST START FROM THE BEGINNING?

6. I GOT ABOUT THE SAME PERCENTAGE OF QUESTIONS RIGHT/ WRONG IN CAT 2 VS CAT 1. I THINK THAT'S NORMAL RIGHT? THE LEVEL OF QUESTIONS I GOT WRONG IN CAT 2 WERE HIGHER THAN THAT OF CAT 1. AND I REMEMBER SOMETHING ABOUT HOW EVEN THE TOP TEST TAKER WILL GET ABOUT 60% OF THE QUESTIONS WRONG?

7. IN CAT 2, I ONLY GOT A COUPLE QUESTIONS AT THE 600-700 LEVEL, AND THE REST WERE 700-800 LEVEL. IS THAT NORMAL? CAT 1 WAS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. FELT LIKE IF I GET FIRST FEW QUESTIONS RIGHT, THE TEST WILL SHOOT ME UP TO THE 700-800 LEVEL QUESTIONS, AND AS LONG AS I "BOB AROUND" THAT LEVEL, I'LL END UP WITH A 700-800 LEVEL SCORE?

8. IF THE MAJORITY OF THE QUESTIONS I GOT WERE AT THE 700-800 LEVEL, HOW IS MY SCORE STILL A 660? TECHNICALLY, SHOULD IT ALSO BE BETWEEN 700-800?

9. IT FEELS LIKE THE CLIMB FROM A 590 SCORE TO A 660 SCORE WAS A BIG JUMP, BECAUSE I WAS LEARNING THE BASICS AND ANYTHING I LEARNED HELPED MY SCORE MAKE A BIG LEAP (SINCE EVERYTHING WAS SO NEW). DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE ON HOW TO GET FROM A 660 TO A 700? I FEEL LIKE THESE LAST 40 POINTS MIGHT BE HARDER TO PICK UP.

10. WHEN I TOOK CAT 1, I FELT VERY UNSETTLED/PRESSURED/NOT CONFIDENT/ SHORT ON TIME. I EXPECTED THIS SINCE I HADN'T STUDIED ANYTHING YET. BUT DURING CAT 2, IT WAS THE SAME FEELING AS CAT 1. ALSO, THE OG HOMEWORK FELT MUCH EASIER THAN THE CAT EXAM AND I DID FINE ON THE TIMING ON THE OG PROBLEMS AS WELL. DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE ON HOW TO GET OVER THIS UNSETTLED/PRESSURED/ NOT CONFIDENT MENTALITY? DO I JUST NEED TO PRACTICE MORE? FOCUS ON THE BASICS?

Thank you so much for your time!

[lsyang1212]

Just some added info about my strengths and weaknesses:

Quant Strength: Problem Solving (Algebra, Geometry, Exponents).
Quant Weakness: Data Sufficiency (pretty much anything in DS), Problem Solving (Probability, Venn Diagrams, Rate Problems, Word Problems).

Verbal Strength: Sentence Correction (although when I review, I find those questions I got wrong and I say, "I can't belive I missed that one").

Verbal Weakness: Reading Comp (Inference, Detail questions), Critical Reasoning (just overall logic on this one).

One added question - would you recommend using an LSAT book to build on Critical Reasoning questions for the GMAT?

I think I've read in various articles/GMAT sites that gaining a point in Verbal will increase your 800 scaled score more than gaining a point in Quant (since it's harder to score higher in Verbal). Is that true? If so, I feel that by bringing my Verbal up from 36 to at least 40 will do more for my score than if I bring my Quant up from 45 to 47+?

I guess I'm asking, where should I focus my time in these next few weeks? Aiming for a 700 or higher! =)

Thanks.

[jackson.b.allan]

Your biggest gain now is going to come from getting that V36 up, as you say, so I would focus on RC and CR. However, you would need to get to V42-43 to crack the 700 with a Q45, so you are still going to have to work on improving your Quant too and get that up a couple of points.

CR Questions - I found with these that I got the best improvement form going through about 5 questions in the OG at a time. I wouldn't just select the right answer and move on, I would select the right answer and then go through each incorrect answer and identify why it was wrong. Then I would go to the explanations in the OG and I would mark myself out of 5 on each question - with the aim to not only identify why I got it correct, but also to identify why the incorrect answers are incorrect and get 5/5 for each question. I find in even the hardest CR you can quite easily narrow it down to 2 answers pretty quickly, and even if you are still unsure then your chances are still 50/50.

As for the quant weakness areas, check out Thursdays with Ron, search the archives for the areas that you want to review. Ensure you have done all the online Data Sufficiency lab sessions, rephrasing, quick elimination, and understanding the logic behind yes/no testing is pretty important to DS.

Anyway, Stacey will give you a bunch of good advice... GL!

[StaceyKoprince]

Hi! When posting in future, please do not type in all caps. It is difficult to read.

Nice jump on the verbal on your 2nd test!

Note that the two scoring scales (for Q and V) are not the same. V36 is 80th percentile and Q45 is 66th percentile - so your verbal score is better than your quant score.

If you want Q45 and V42, you're basically saying that you're going to leave Q at the 66th percentile and improve verbal to the 96th percentile. That's not the best way to proceed. First of all, it's *really* hard to get up to 96th percentile. Second of all, the schools like to see more balanced scores. Better to aim for 90th on verbal (~40) and 75th to 80th (48-49) on quant.

It is still true, yes, that verbal is weighted a bit more heavily than quant in the overall score. And obviously you're going to try to push both scores as much as you can. It's just not a good idea to assume that you're going to get *all* of your improvement from just one section, especially because the higher you go, the harder it is to go even higher.

During class 8 or 9, your teacher will tell you about a Post-Course Assessment, a phone call with a teacher to talk about your post-class gameplan. The teacher will have reviewed your practice test data before the call. You'll get the majority of your questions answered and a customized plan at that time.

1) For CATs, the general rule is that you don't take another one until you've made substantial progress since the last one. Early on, this might mean not taking a CAT for 4 to 8 weeks. Closer to the real test, it might be every 2 weeks. The only time I recommend a once-a-week schedule is for the last 2 weeks, when you're doing this:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... an-part-1/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ew-part-2/

2) Yes, download the two free GMATPrep tests from www.mba.com. They also sell 2 additional practice tests for $40.

3) See what I typed earlier (item 1 and the paragraph before that).

4) Yes! But don't have that as a goal. Study smart. :)

5) Mixed problem sets.
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... blem-sets/

6) Yes, that's exactly how the test works - as you get better, you get harder questions, but you still get about the same # wrong overall.

7) The algorithm is more complicated than that - do not focus on getting the first few questions right. Each question is a new "point" in the game (pretend you're playing tennis). When the point starts, you're trying to win it, but when it becomes apparent that the other guy hit a great shot, let it go and start the next point. In other words, do what you can do in a reasonable amount of time and move on when you should move on.

8) No, the score is not an "average" of the difficulty levels of the questions that you were offered. The test is a "where you end is what you get" test - wherever you are after the last question is your score. So if your performance drops towards the end...where you end is what you get.

9) I agree - the higher you go, the harder it is to keep going up. Read the below two articles; this is what you need to start doing once you've learned all the basics:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... lly-tests/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

10) Expect this feeling to remain. You will always feel pressured and short on time because, no matter how good you get, the test will just give you harder stuff. This is one of the big mindset things that everyone needs to know how to handle before getting into the testing room. Again, go back to the tennis (or any sport) mentality: you're playing in a tournament. The further you go, the harder it gets, right? Your competition keeps getting better and better - they're winning matches, too. You hit the championship match and it's going to be a battle - you're barely going to win! (But you ARE going to win. :)

From your second post:
Are you *sure* that DS is a weakness? Or are you spending more time than you should on PS and rushing on DS as a consequence, thereby hurting your DS performance? Check the data - I see this happen all the time.

If it really is a weakness, do the data sufficiency lesson in our new GMAT Interact online interactive lessons (just got added to your student center earlier this week). Also, do the labs associated with DS (also in your student center).

For story / translation stuff, try this:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... them-real/

SC: so those were careless mistakes? Don't just stop with "I can't believe it." Ask yourself specifically WHY you missed it.

1) why was the wrong answer so tempting? why did it look like it might be right? (be as explicit as possible; also, now you know this is not a good reason to pick an answer)
2) why was it actually wrong? what specific words indicate that it is wrong and how did I overlook those clues the first time?
3) why did the right answer seem wrong? what made it so tempting to cross off the right answer? why were those things actually okay; what was my error in thinking that they were wrong? (also, now you know that this is not a good reason to eliminate an answer)
4) why was it actually right?

For CR:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... reasoning/

I would only recommend using LSAT CR under the guidance of a tutor, because there's a significant subset of LSAT CR that uses a completely different logical construct. In fact, when I first studied for the LSAT (after having taught GMAT for years), I had to unlearn some stuff so that I could do LSAT CR successfully.

There are some similarities, but only someone who teaches both tests would be able to tell you which LSAT problems are similar enough to GMAT to be worth studying.

For RC:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... rehension/

[lsyang1212]

Hi Stacey,

Thanks so much for replying. I'm definitely taking your advice on trying to "even out" my scores in Quant and Verbal. I just took my CAT 3, and am a little disappointed. Score dropped from 660 (Q44, V36) to 640 (Q42, V35). I think I know where I went wrong:

- Tried to focus on verbal and ignored math for a week, so felt really rusty on quant; problem solving tanked, only got 38% right on 600-700 level questions. Just needed an extra minute or so and I would have gotten these all right! I think I'm also psyching myself out.

- Data Sufficiency looked ok, got 80% right in the 600-700 level questions, only 25% in 700-800 level questions.

- Critical Reasoning wasn't as great as before; only got 50% correct on 600-700 level questions right (CAT 2 was at 100%).
Since my goal is a score of 700, I'm trying to gain mastery in all the topics covered on the GMAT, but I'm having a hard time getting there.

1. Is it fair to say that if you get all the 600-700 level questins right, and only a couple of the 700-800 level questions right, you should end up with a score of about 700?

2. Is it fair to say that if you master the topics tested on the GMAT, anyone can get a 700 or above (ie 90%+)? Or is this test based on a bell curve so only a certain number of students can get 700+?

3. My strategy for these remaining 4 weeks is to review all the CAT problems (right or wrong). For the ones I got wrong, I'm going back to the Manhattan GMAT study guides and reviewing the concept, then doing 5 timed questions of varying difficulty on the topic (from the OG13). If I get these 5 right, I move on. Is this a good approach?

4. For Critical Reasoning, is there any logic diagramming lesson we can learn to see the argument more "mechanically"? I feel like there's a lot of "white noise" when I look at the harder questions, and all the answer choices seem like they could be the correct one on some level.

5. I definitely feel flustered on the CAT exams, but not on timed OG problem sets, especially in quant. These two should be similar experiences, correct? Any advice on how to get around this on the CAT exams?

6. I think this is my most important question: how do I get to the mastery level for the GMAT content tested? My Manhattan GMAT course ended this past weekend, and now I'm on my own to review. I can't imagine that I've master one topic each week during the course (this pace seems too fast). What do I do now, and how do I get to the point of, "Ok, I have two minutes to do this problem, and I know exactly how to do this one, don't bother me right now". How do I get rid of that feeling of, "I'm confused on what the next step is to solve this"?

Thank you so much! Eternally grateful for your advice.

[StaceyKoprince]

Critical Reasoning wasn't as great as before; only got 50% correct on 600-700 level questions right (CAT 2 was at 100%).

Look at the individual problems. Why? Do you see the logic but got pulled into a trap answer? Did you misread or misinterpret something and that caused you to go down the wrong path? Did you not get the argument at all?

1. Is it fair to say that if you get all the 600-700 level questins right, and only a couple of the 700-800 level questions right, you should end up with a score of about 700?

No, actually. The GMAT is a "where you end is what you get" test, so it is possible for the average level of the questions you answered correctly to be above whatever score you're at when you hit the end of the section. This is most apparent when someone runs out of time and has to guess (or simply can't answer) the last X questions. Your score drops and where you end is what you get, regardless of how high you lifted yourself earlier or what your "average" performance is across the entire section.

Also, the ratings that we give the questions don't really match how the GMAT works - a single question doesn't really have a "650" difficulty level because that 200 to 800 scale is used only when combining overall Q and V performance. We use that to give you a rough idea of where you're at, but the actual algorithm is crazy complicated.

If you maintain a steady performance throughout, then if you are mostly answering correctly the questions that fall below your desired score, and you don't drop at the end, then yes, you should get the desired score. You don't need to answer a bunch of harder things correctly in order to get that same score.

2. Is it fair to say that if you master the topics tested on the GMAT, anyone can get a 700 or above (ie 90%+)?

Nope. If you score in the 90th percentile, then you have scored better than 90% of the people taking the test. In other words, by definition, only 10% of tests (now) are at the 700 or higher level. (700 is currently 89th percentile, meaning that you scored better than 89% of the people taking the exam.)

The score-to-percentile ranking match does change over time For instance, maybe 10 years ago, a 750 was 99th percentile. Now, you have to hit 760 to make the 99th percentile.

3.
Follow this approach:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

Your goal is to learn how to think your way through new problems. If you don't thoroughly pick apart the old problem, you won't be learning how to think your way through new ones.

For instance, once you pick apart a problem, you may realize, "Wow, if I see something like this again, my best response is to guess and move on." You're not going to pick up on that if all you do is review the concept and then try to get other new questions right.

Do not skip the ones you answer correctly. You can often find shortcuts, come up with better solution methods, figure out how to guess on this type of problem, etc. There's still a lot to learn from the problems you answer correctly.

4.
For each question type, it's important to know what to expect from that type of argument and what kind of reasoning they want you to do for that type of answer. Do you already have that clear in your head? If not, start going through the articles linked in the CR article I gave you last time.

5. I definitely feel flustered on the CAT exams, but not on timed OG problem sets, especially in quant. These two should be similar experiences, correct?

Nope. :) CATs are adaptive. OG problem sets are not. You should feel like you're being pushed harder on the real thing. It's also much harder to manage time and mental energy over a 3.5 hour period. Finally, you know mentally that you're going to get a score at the end of your CAT and that may be psyching you out. (The real test is going to be like this, too, so keep trying to get used to it.)

This is another reason why it's important to know what you should NOT be doing - when you should be guessing, and so on. Read this again:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... lly-tests/

Keep reading it until you really internalize it. This drives everything, from how you study to how you take the test.

A tutoring student of mine recently sent me a list of 5 GMATPrep quant problems that he was struggling to do. On the first three, my response was "you should guess and move on and here's why." One of them was a roman numeral question with an inequality containing 4 variables and fractions. I would skip that one! :)

An enormous part of this is your mindset - you've got to get out of that "my goal is to answer everything (or almost everything) correctly." Instead, this is a sport. Expect your opponent to win some points; it's a competitive match! You just want to win more points than he does.

6.

how do I get to the point of, "Ok, I have two minutes to do this problem, and I know exactly how to do this one, don't bother me right now". How do I get rid of that feeling of, "I'm confused on what the next step is to solve this"?

Agreed - that is your most important question! Again, it comes down to picking apart problems AFTER you have finished doing them. That's when you're actually learning. By the time you're done with it, you should be able to say, "This is the best way to do this problem, and these are the clues contained in the problem text that will signal to me next time to use this solution method." (And by the way, that includes guessing and moving on - notice that I gave specific cues in my example above as to why that problem was a waste of time.)

Also, have you signed up for your PCA (post course assessment) yet? This is a phone call with an instructor (who will already have reviewed your exams) to figure out what to do now.

If you've taken the 3 practice tests assigned on the syllabus, then you'll see this option in the Office Hours area of your MGMAT student center. Go sign up! (Or, if you haven't take 3 tests yet, sign up as soon as you do. This service is available for 30 days after the last day of class.)

[lsyang1212]

5. I definitely feel flustered on the CAT exams, but not on timed OG problem sets, especially in quant. These two should be similar experiences, correct?

Nope. :) CATs are adaptive. OG problem sets are not. You should feel like you're being pushed harder on the real thing. It's also much harder to manage time and mental energy over a 3.5 hour period. Finally, you know mentally that you're going to get a score at the end of your CAT and that may be psyching you out. (The real test is going to be like this, too, so keep trying to get used to it.)

Hi Stacey,

I'm going to take the time to review all your advice before I type another whole novel-length response to you =).

One thing I'm just very curious on, if I do the 37 hardest problems in the OG (particularly the quant section), they don't feel nearly half as hard as the 37 problems I get in the CAT exams for quant.

I get that my knowledge level is constantly being pushed on the exam, but doesn't the OG cover all level questions, up to the 700-800 level? I can do the hardest problems in the OG (but still miss a couple here and there) way more efficient/easier/more confident than the CAT exam questions. Is it just me?

I get that there's a fatigue and endurance factor that I'm not considering in the OG content, but that shouldn't make a glaring difference in my performance in terms of the quant content, right?

In the end, I guess the answer to this question doesn't really matter, as I'll be trying my best to do the best I can given the exam constraints (timing, guessing, etc.). But I'm just very curious if I'm missing something, or if like you said in the last post, this is a normal difference (OG vs CAT).

Thank you.

[StaceyKoprince]

The OG does cover all levels, yes, but not at the same proportion - there's a dearth of really hard problems in the books. So if you're performing at the top level in a section, you're likely to see a harder mix of questions overall, yes.