GMAT prep and MGAMT CAT scores.

[doyourbest]

Hi

I have attempted GMAT (the actual exam twice and scored 580 on both occasions).
I plan to retake the exam again this month and I have roughly two weeks left.
I just took a MGMAT CAT1 today and scored 600, with 46 in quant and 28 in verbal.
I had also taken a GMAT prep on 8/8 and scored 710, (I got one RC passage and 2-3 SC questions from the previous tests, I had taken a year back) and the break up was 49 on quant and 40 in verbal
I also took a Kaplan test on 8/11 and scored 560 on that with 38 and 29 on quant and verbal respectively.

I fail to undersatnd the variations in the score and also I am confused as to what my next steps should be. I must add that I had not done the essay section when I took the GMAT prep. So I do think I had lot more stamina and concentration during the verbal section of the test than I had on the other two occasions.

I really want to score above 720, can you give me any suggestions on the steps I should be taking?

Thanks

[StaceyKoprince]

Your GMATPrep score is not going to be a valid indicator of your current scoring level because (a) you did not do the essays, and (b) you saw multiple repeated questions on the exam. The question of how much your score was inflated depends partially on the repeated questions that you saw.

As you noted, if you don't do the essays, you have a lot more energy and stamina for the verbal section. Also, how did you handle the repeated questions? Most people answer much more quickly than normal and move on, giving a double benefit: you get the question right, because you already know the answer, and you give yourself extra time that you shouldn't have had, because you should have had to use normal time to answer those questions. So it inflates your score not just on those repeated questions but on other questions elsewhere in the section. Did you do this or did you handle these differently?

If we look at your subscores, your quant score went up by a few points on the GMATPrep but your verbal score is what really jumped - and that's where you had repeated questions and also benefited from not having done the essays. So, basically, your GMATPrep score was artificially inflated at least somewhat, and possibly a lot, depending upon how you handled those repeated questions.

Your current scoring range, therefore, is likely closer to what you scored on the other practice tests (assuming you did the essays on those and did not see repeated questions). Those scores reflect something in the 600 range, while your goal score is 720+. You have two weeks to go. It is very unlikely that you will achieve that level of improvement in that timeframe. I can't think of a case that I've seen where someone has done that.

That leaves you with two options: taking the test as scheduled but lowering your expectations, or postponing the test until your practice scores are more in range with your desired score.

If you decide to postpone your test, then we need to talk about how you have been studying so far, because what you have done so far has not resulted in the kind of improvement you're seeking. So, if you do decide to postpone, please let us know how you have studied so far (as much detail as possible) and we will help you figure out a better approach.

By the way, you can still take both GMATPrep (and MGMAT CATs) 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 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.

[doyourbest]

Hi Stacey,

Thank you for the detailed reply. It really helped me in taking a wise decision and I have postponed my exam to Oct end now. After reading your post, I took 2 more test MGMAT-CAT3, 690 on this with Q-43 and V-40, and GMAT Prep 730 (Q48, V42), with lot of repetitions. I tried to follow your advice and tried to answer each question without any predisposition.

Now, I have the following scores:

GMAT prep 1 710 (Q-49, V-40) - without essays
Kaplan1 - 560 (Q-38, V29) - with essays
MGAMT CAT1- 600 (Q-46, V-28) - with essays
MGMAT CAT2- 630 (Q-38, V37) - without essays
MGAMT CAT3- 690 (Q-43, V40) - with essays
GMAT Prep 2 - 730 (Q48, V42)- with essays ( not a valid score)


I think it will be helpful to you in analyzing my case if I provide a brief of my background. I am an engineer from India and I graduated in 2002 and with not great grades. So I can safely say that I last studied in 1998. I am not that great in Quant too, as one would expect an engineer to be, as you can see from my quant scores.


During my first 2 attempts I was haphazard in my preparation. On both the occasions I tried to take a short cut by solving problems without building a sound foundation on any of the topics. I thought I prepared well on the 2nd attempt but that was not the case, I realized my weaknesses were (and to some extent still are) in the following areas

1. Vocabulary
2. Grammar
3. Math basics
4. Lack of exposure to a range of math problems (OG, does not provide a wide range of problems on math.) I think all the question in OG 10 and OG 11 are in the score range of 500-600 level.
5. Not used to reading dense RC content (Vocabulary again)
6. Data sufficiency

What did I do-

1. Put regular efforts to improve my Vocab, have done pretty good on this (Vocab was very bad). It has helped me in RC and CR, actually in verbal overall

2. I tired to do Wren and Martin, but found it to be to abstruse after the "parts of speech". After that I did Manhattan SC and then I did OG 10 SC thoroughly by relating to the rules and by attempting to understand the explanation :). I did actually understand the explanation this time

3. Math I did some of the chapters from the Class 9 and 10 to get the hang of geometry and other basic stuff. I also did some of the chapters from the much famed CAT (entrance exam for Indian schools, similar to GMAT, supposed to be lot more difficult than GMAT). I did this because I found that most of the people who attempt this exam score higher on GMAT than people who do not. Q 51 is guaranteed if one has prepared seriously for this exam.

4. For range of problems I solved some of the problems from CAT material, which I think helped me a little but not much.

5. For RC I regularly read the editorial's of newspapers, which also helped me in improving my Vocab too.

6. Data Sufficiency, the trickiest part for me in Quant section. This is where I go wrong most of the times, I have done only OG problems till now.

Results of preparation

My accuracy rates are high when I solve the paper based tests (Sets) or even while solving problems on timed conditions.

Math I get 1 or 2 wrong when I do 50 questions from OG, (< 2minutes on average)
SC, is also pretty decent averaging 75-80% (including Kaplan and other material) timing on average is approx 1m 30 sec, a max of 2m.

RC and CR I average around 70-80 %, again decent timing here too.

On the Computer based exams, my accuracy nosedives

For the last 3 MGMAT CAT tests I took:

Q - 52%-PS and 47%-DS

Verbal- CR - 57%, RC-56%, and SC-56%

And while taking CAT-3, I went blank after say the 17th question, was not able to solve even the simplest of questions. (Here is where I think my problem is - endurance and stamina) The whole experience was really bad. I got question numbers 2, 3, 9, 13, 14, 15, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28 30, 32, 35, and 37 incorrect, don’t know how I got 43.

Verbal was comparatively smooth, was pretty confident of the answers, but I got 14 questions incorrect in this section 3, 5, 7, 13, 17, 18, 20, 21, 24, 28, 29, 31, 37, and 40

I have faced severe timing problems on both the sections, I do not realize how much time I have spent on each question for e.g. In the quant section I spent 7m 03s on 17th question and 7m 34s on the 18th. I think aftter this point I went blank.

I also feel that the essay section takes all my energy, my spellings are really bad and I have to really spend a lot of energy on correcting mistakes (guessing).

My case is ridden with so many problems, what should I do to improve?
I really need to score 720+.

Did not realize this would become so lengthy, sorry.

[StaceyKoprince]

As you get better, the number of questions you answer incorrectly doesn't change all that much (unless you get up to really high scores). Instead, the difficulty levels change while the percentages correct stay fairly steady. So the concentration on percentage correct is not really what you should be concentrating on. That's also why your OG percentages are so much higher than your CAT percentages. OG isn't adaptive; you're trying everything from the easiest on up through the hardest, which is not the mix of difficulty levels you'd have on an actual CAT. (I'm using CAT here to mean "computer adaptive test" - not the entrance exam for Indian schools.)

It isn't the case, by the way, that OG questions are only 500-600 level. There are 700 and 750 level questions in there, too. :)

I'm really encouraged by your performance on your MGMAT CAT3. You did the essays and you didn't have any questions repeated, right? And you did the test under normal timed conditions? If so, that's great - you showed very nice improvement there.

It looks like you've made more progress on verbal already, so keep doing what you're doing there. On quant, you mention some serious timing problems. Do you have similar timing problems on verbal? The timing issue absolutely needs to be fixed; it will be VERY hard for you to break 700 if you don't fix this problem.

First, here are the guidelines you should be following:
SC - about 60-75 sec; max of 90 sec
CR - about 2m; max of 2.5m
RC - about 2.5m (short) to 3.5m (long) to read; about 1 min for general purpose questions; about 1.5 to 2 for everything else
quant - about 2m; max of 2.5m

Next, you need to learn about how long one minute is without looking at a watch or stopwatch. If you don't have one already, buy yourself a stopwatch with lap timing capability. When you go to do a set of problems, start the stopwatch but turn it over so you can't see the time. Every time you think one minute has gone by, push the lap button. When you're done, see how good you were - and whether you tend to over or underestimate. Get yourself to the point where you're within 15 seconds either way on a regular basis (that is, you can generally predict between 45 sec and 1min 15 sec).

Now, how do you use that when doing problems? If you're not on track by one minute*, make an educated guess and move on. (The general idea is that if you're not on track by the halfway mark, you're unlikely to figure out what's holding you back AND have time to do the whole problem in the 1 min you have left.)

* For SC, 1min is well beyond the half-way mark (we're supposed to average about 1m15s here), but you can almost always eliminate at least some choices on SC in that timeframe. Once you've got that "I'm around the 1min mark and I'm struggling" feeling, go through any remaining choices ONCE more. Pick one. Move on.

For the essays, have you submitted any essays to GMAT Write? (GMAC's essay grading service) If not, you might want to think about doing this (there is a fee for this) in order to see where you stand. You're going for a 4.5 or higher, so if you can get to that point, then you're good! And if you're worried about spelling or vocab on the essays... just don't use any words that you're not completely sure of. :)

[doyourbest]

Hi Stacey,

Thanks for the quick reply. MGMAT CAT 3 scores were encouraging to me too. I took the test in perfect timed conditions and none of the questions were repeated. I have improved on the verbal section. But my quant has been stagnant or become worse. Timing on both the sections is no where close to what you have given, but timing is better in verbal than in quant.

I do have a stop watch but I have been using it in a different way, I time myself for a set of 10/20 questions and take the average. Guess I need to change this method. This week I will try to solve questions as per your suggestion, and also learn to estimate 1minute

You have discussed on your other posts about GMAT Focus, are the questions on GMAT Focus of the same difficulty level as OG 11?

On my GMAT prep tests I have noticed that if I get only 1 or 2 wrong in the first 15-20 questions of the quant section, the score is always above 48. Is this the always true of the quant section? Until now I always try to get as many questions right as possible in the quant and in the later part of the section I select at random or skip a few questions till the questions are easy to solve. I was not able to do this on the MGMAT tests as the difficulty level is high.

In quant section, I have done pathetically poor on the word problems; can you give me some advice on how to improve my performance on word problems?

I haven't sent my essays for review. I scored 4 on my pervious tests, and this time I think with my improved vocabulary and spellings I should be OK. But the only problems with essays are that they drain me out.

[StaceyKoprince]

It is still good to look at your overall timing in a set of, say, 10 questions, but the problem is, you may be mismanaging the way you choose to spend time on individual questions - so I'd also encourage you to track the per-question timing data as well. If you're one of our students, you have access to the OG Stopwatch in your practice center. Use that to track your time on each question (while using the physical stopwatch to track the 1-minute thing we talked about before).

On the quant, it isn't necessarily the case that you'll always score above 48 if you only get a certain number of questions wrong in the first 15 to 20 questions. It depends upon how you do in the rest of the section. The penalty multiplies as you have more questions in a row that are wrong, so if your strategy causes this to happen, then you're going to have more of a score drop on the real test. And if you're taking too long early on, then that's what's going to happen. (Note that, of the 2 GMATPrep tests you showed, the first one was without the essays, so your stamina was greater than it should have been, and the second was with lots of repeats, which totally changes the equation.)

Obviously, anywhere on the test, it's great to have few mistakes... but you have to do that without spending a lot of extra time, because the penalty at the end of the test for strings of wrong answers is substantial.

GMAT Focus is adaptive, so you'll see the difficulty levels that you "earn" while taking it.

What have you been using so far on word problems? Are you poor at ALL word problems? (Somehow, I doubt it, with the quant scores you've posted!). Which specific areas are giving you trouble? Almost any problem type can be worded as a word problem (algebra, percents, fractions, number properties). In addition, there are some specific word problems we call "Word Translations," which almost always appear as a word problem - such as rates and work, statistics, ratios, combinatorics, sets, probability... what's giving you trouble?

Re: essays, the key thing is to make sure you know, before you go in, exactly how you're going to (a) figure out what you're going to say, and (b) structure the essay. Make it as easy as possible for yourself to write that essay. For (a) you need to figure out three things: your thesis statement, and two examples to support that thesis.

On the Argument essay, your thesis is (always) that the argument contains several serious flaws that serve to undermine the conclusion (not this exact language of course - but this general idea). Your two examples are the two biggest flaws you can find in the argument. Then your structure is easy: paragraph 1 is the introduction, which contains your thesis statement and an intro to your two examples; paragraph 2 discusses your best example - why there's a flaw and how that flaw might be fixed; paragraph 3 does the same thing with your second-best example; paragraph 4 is your conclusion, in which you summarize everything you already said, using different words.

In your issue essay, your thesis is determined by the examples you can brainstorm. Do NOT ask yourself what you really think about the issue. Just brainstorm examples. As soon as you have two examples that could be used to support the same side of the issue, that's the side you pick. And that tells you what your thesis is. Then, your structure is pretty much exactly the same as the structure for the Argument essay.

If you've got this all "set" ahead of time, the essays won't tire you out so much.