Help !

[nesrivas]

Hi ,

I have around 1 month left for my GMAT [November 23rd] and am almost two weeks through with my preparations.

Below are details about tests taken so far [Tests taken include all sections with less than 5 mins optional break]

GMATPrep 1: 680
Q 47
V 36

MGCAT 1: 650
Q 37
V 41
-- Just guessed last 7/8 questions in Quants :(

800 Score Quants Tests:
test 1: 42
test 2: 40

Sources complete:
OG 11 - DS/SC/CR

My analysis by far shows following problems:
- Pacing in Quants
- Anxiety under timed conditions
- Around 75% of mistakes in Quants are "silly mistakes"

I have a mathematics background and per analysis , have concluded that 80% of my mistakes in Quants are not due to lack of concepts .I am yet , not able to scale up my score in Quants :(

Would you recommend I revisit the basics ?
Should I practice more questions of each type ?

Would be great if you could suggest a good source for Quants - both practice questions and a quick refresher on concepts.

-Should I purchase the gmathacks practice questions ?
-Or just solve all problems in Nova

Honestly , am very disheartened by my performance in Quants.
Wonder if one month is too short a span to work through these problems :(
Any help, direction shall be greatly appreciated !

Thanks in advance,
NS

[StaceyKoprince]

The sources you are using so far help you to test yourself on what you already know, but they do not teach you new ways of doing things or information that you might now know. It would be beneficial for you to get some books that actually teach you what you need to know for the GMAT. It's extremely inefficient to try to pick everything out of practice problems all by yourself.

I'm guessing that you're studying on your own, so this article is a good place to start:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/02/ ... study-plan

Next, your test analysis is a good start. You can get more data about your strengths and weaknesses using this article:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/e ... -part1.cfm

For the various things you noted, below are some additional resources.

How to study / analyze problems:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/a ... roblem.cfm
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/09/ ... your-study

How to learn from our errors:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/error-log.cfm

Time management:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2009/12/ ... management

I haven't used gmathacks or Nova myself, but the way you refer to them tells me that they are more practice questions - not actually lessons on how to get better. You don't need more practice problems - you need content and strategy / process help. In fact, I would say that you should return to your OG problems after you've gained some content and process instruction - there are still things you can learn from those problems that you haven't learned yet.

Also, this article on quant may be beneficial for you:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/09/ ... t-problems

If you come back and tell us more detail about your strengths and weaknesses (based on the test analysis article above), then I can give you additional advice!

[nesrivas]

Dear Stacey,

Thanks very much for a swift reply.
Per you suggestion , have done a detailed analysis of Quants section in my MGMCAT-1 attempt.
Below are certain pointers

Did Essays : Yes
Used Pause button , took extra time etc : None , 100% actual exam like attepmt

Quants :
String of >4 qs wrong : Yes
Issues : 2/3 questions of 700-800 difficulty level.Time spent on at least 2 out of those 3/4 in the range of 7-14 minutes.
Rushed through the ones at 600-700 and got all 4 wrong :(

Last 10 questions : Attempted in 3 mins - clearly pacing is an issue with me .

Total incorrect :23
Further Breakup :
DS :7
PS :6
Last 10 questions , randomly guessed in < 3 mins , not even read: 10


WAY TOO SLOW [Time taken > 3 mins ]: 10 questions [Time spent 45 mins]

Further Breakup :

Correct :4 [ Time 16 mins]
Incorrect : 6 [ Time 28 mins]

Incorrect DS : 3 out 4 for which time taken > 3 mins
Incorrect PS : 3 out 6 for which time taken > 3 mins


WAY TOO FAST [ Time taken < 1 min] : 14

Further Breakup :
DS : 3
PS : 1
Last 10 questions , attepmted in < 3 mins , not even read : 10

Incorrect :2 , both [700-800 , DS]
However , I actually attepmted them - No wise realizations :P , something I HAVE to learn
Correct : 2 [600-700]

Last 10 questions:
Clearly ,missed opportunities - careless mistakes - and they were caused by the "too slow" questions from above.


I did run the assesment reports , but am guessing that it isn't a true representation in case of this test.
The data shall be skewed due to last 10 questions [ What a penalty I pay for pacing :( ]
Would definitely analyse verbal using above.

However ,
Here is some additional data about quants
Amongst the 27 questions attempted :

500-600 Level : 1 [Correct]
600-700 Level : 8 [5 correct ,3 incorrect]
700-800 Level : 18 [8 Correct , 10 incorrect]

Total DS : 11
DS Incorrect : 7
DS Correct : 4
DS 700-800 level: 9 [Correct 3 , Incorrect 6]
DS 600-700 level: 2 [ Correct 1 , Incorrect 1]

Total PS : 16
PS Incorrect : 6
PS Correct : 10
PS 700-800 level: 9 [Correct 5 , Incorrect 4]
PS 600-700 level: 6 [Correct 4, Incorrect 2]
PS 500-600 level: 1 [Correct 1

Patterns in topics/content , which could be possible weaknesses :
None , more than the others :) . Doesn't look like it is as easy for me
Out of 13 incorrect , 2 in inequlities and rest in all differnt topics , though mostly Algerba not arithemetic.

My conclusion by far :

Conclusion 1 : Timing is definitely an issue.Per one of your suggestions , on a differnt thread used the below in 800score tests :
Time left : 65 55 45 35 25 15 5
Quesn # 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

I think i need to get more strict with this , learn to skip questions and move on.


Conclusion 2 :
I definitely need to work on DS.
Recommendations around below shall be an immense help

-study material , what source . The more blogs I read , the more confused I get .
Still not sure what material to use for Quants .
-more practice questions


Conclusion 3:
Need more practice around 700 level questions, both PS and DS.
Looking at above , I am faltering at some 700 level questions , while attempting the rest , 700 level , right.
Am definitely not prepared for 700 level completely :)


Stacey !

Any help/suggestions/direction would be so much help.
As you already guessed it right , am preparing myself. I work at least 8/9 hours a day and is near impossible for me to dedicate more than 3/4 hours over weekdays and entire weekend.

Again :
GMAT date : 23rd November
Target Score : 710 ++ God's grace [:P]

Cannot thank you enough - this analysis itself has helped me identify some weaknesses.

Thanks much!
NS

[StaceyKoprince]

Yep, definitely some major timing problems that have to be fixed! And, yes, your assessment report data will be skewed because of the serious timing problem. You'll have to dig in deeper on each problem in order to classify it yourself - something I can do in normal time, or somewhat faster? something I can do, but need extra time (and, if so, how much)? something I can't do and need to learn to do? something I can't do and I should learn how to guess?

Start with that time management article that I linked last time. You also need to shift your mindset. Think of this as a tennis match, not a test. You're going to win some points and the other guy is going to win some points; you're not going to win them all, right? Your goal is to put yourself into position to win the LAST point. Translated, that means you have to put yourself in position to answer the last question - you have to have time to address it. Otherwise, you've lost the last point, and by extension the match. When the other guy hits a winner, don't go running after it so fast that you hit the fence and injure yourself, thereby hurting your chances on the later points. (Translation: don't go way over when the problem is too hard.)

I think you would also benefit from a timing exercise: learning 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). Note: at the same time that you are using the stopwatch to time this "1-minute" thing, also use the OG Stopwatch (in your student center) to track the total time spent on each question.

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.)

** This also requires you to know HOW to make an educated guess depending upon the type of problem and the content being tested. So that's something else to add to your study: how to make educated guesses on different kinds of problems. Here are a couple of articles:

http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/07/ ... s-on-quant
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/08/ ... -on-verbal

I definitely need to work on DS.

Possibly. Quick question. How many of those last 10 were DS vs PS? How many of your "too fast" Qs overall were DS vs PS? What's your average time on DS?

I ask because, a lot of the time, people who hang on way too long on certain questions tend to do so more on PS. So, naturally, they have to work faster on DS on average. The low performance on DS *might* be more due to your timing problems and less due to an inherent weakness on DS (vs. PS). Check that possibility out.

-study material , what source . The more blogs I read , the more confused I get .
Still not sure what material to use for Quants .
-more practice questions

Study material teaches you how to do things. Practice material (problem sets and tests) lets you practice what you've learned. Read the very first article I linked to last time about Developing a Study Plan - that talks about the kinds of materials you need. Some of that material will come from a particular test prep company and you'll have to choose - I try not to recommend specifically, because obviously I would recommend MGMAT, and obviously I have a conflict of interest in making that recommendation. :)

In general, though, worry more right now about materials that will teach you how to do things and less about materials that will let you practice / test yourself. You have to learn first. Then practice. And you might even want to redo some old problems to help you learn more before you test yourself on new problems.

Need more practice around 700 level questions, both PS and DS.
Looking at above , I am faltering at some 700 level questions , while attempting the rest , 700 level , right.
Am definitely not prepared for 700 level completely :)

This is honestly a more minor issue right now. Right now, your timing problems are causing you to miss too many sub-700 level problems. You can still get a 700 if you miss a lot of 700+ problems, but you can't get a 700 if you miss too many sub-700 levels. So go get started on that timing stuff!

[nesrivas]

Hi Stacey,

Thanks very much for all the inputs - you are an angel !
Am starting to make them a routine practice during my preparations.

Just to fill you in , I took the first test from GMATFocus today.
Landed up in '45-50' bucket , however got 10 wrong out of 24.

Improvements :
Was like a wonder with timing in this attempt.
Sometimes actually regretting going as fast :).
Am still glad , I did finish in time , with no rush till the last question.

Some other problem areas:
Out of the 10 mistakes I made :

-Question read wrong - 2
-Calculation Errors -2
-Rushed , else could have nailed it - 4 [ All DS]
-Newer concepts - 2

Some of the above could be due to a long day at work followed by this test - however any possible thing that helps me fix these - am keen on working towards.

Also , some feedback on how accurate is GMATFocus's analysis is would help.

Thanks so very much,
NS

[StaceyKoprince]

Landed up in '45-50' bucket , however got 10 wrong out of 24.

The first part is excellent, the second part DOES NOT MATTER. This is exactly what we keep trying to make sure everybody understands. You should EXPECT to get a lot of questions wrong. You ALWAYS will, even as you get better. That's just how the test works - you're getting harder questions wrong as you get better, but you're still getting questions wrong (at the very top end, you might not get as many wrong... but you're still going to get some wrong!).

Re: the errors that you made, use the "how to learn from your errors" article that I linked to in an earlier post.

Nice job - keep up the good work!

[nesrivas]

Dear Stacey,

Since the last time I wrote to you , my problem area has suddenly shifted from Quants to Verbal.

Past few tests :
GMAT Focus Quants -2: 48-51 range
Manhatten Cat 2 : 670 [Q 47 V 34]
PowerPrep 1 : 690[Q 49 V 34].

I started with V-36 [GMATPrep] and V-41 MGMCAT -1.
But , am now seeing a consistent drop in verbal.

Problem Areas :
1) RC : This has been my main problem, in all tests and even OG.
Specifically Inference,main idea questions
Any tips on reading RC better/different approach , would be a huge help.

Here is what I do :
-Read the passage { para 1 carefully , the rest to get main idea in each paragraph and key words etc}
- Read question stem
- Revisit the paragraph that talks of the question stem
- Read answer options [ I think this is where I face the max difficulty , eliminating answer options , esp in inference,main idea questions].

2) CR
I was actually pretty good with this when I started , getting an accuracy of 90% in OG [Timed] , and this was my strongest on all tests I took.
Have suddenly just lost it :) .
Picked up PowerScore , but that is very detailed , esp because I have just 10 days to go :(

Any help suggestions would be an immense help.

Also , am not really sure of scoring algorithms by each.
MGMCAT 1 Verbal : 15 wrong , V 42
MGMCAT 2 Verbal : 20 wrong , V 34
GMATPrep1 : 15 wrong , V 36
PoweScore1 : 10 wrong , V 34

Should I just take GMATPrep2 and gauge my performance against that or save that for last [ which is 10 days from now ] ?

Please come to my rescue yet again :)
Best Re'
Neha

[StaceyKoprince]

Nice work on the quant!

Here are some resources for RC:
Reading and main idea:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/04/ ... mp-passage
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/07/ ... rc-passage
infer:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/a ... estion.cfm

CR:
I've heard good things about PowerScore, but agree that it wouldn't be wise to dive into that with just 10 days to go. Here are another couple of articles on CR:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/05/ ... -reasoning

http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/CR-assumption.cfm

Re: your comments on scores vs. # incorrect, the scores are not based on the number incorrect. You can have the same # incorrect and get wildly different scores depending upon the specific mix of questions you missed and things like how the pattern played out (eg, if you have a bunch wrong in a row at the end, that's going to be worse than a spread out mix of wrong answers).

You've already identified some problem areas, so I would use the above articles to try to improve those specific things (but just for 2-3 days), then take GMATPrep and see what's going on!

[nesrivas]

Dear Stacey,

Read these and practiced a few questions.

Here are two additional tests I took :
- Manhatten CAT 3
700 [ Quants 43 , Verbal 41]

- PowerPrep 2
720 [ Quants 49 , Verbal 38].

My scores across most manhatten CATs differ in quants and verbal.Not sure what inference I make from that.

I am taking GMAT in 6 days .
Here are a few questions :
- How close is Poweprep score to actual ?
- In the last 5/6 days , with above scoring patters , what can I work on to reach a 700 mark.

Best Regards,
Neha

[StaceyKoprince]

Did you take GMATPrep or PowerPrep? GMATPrep is the most recent version of the official GMAT practice CAT software - it is the closest thing to the real test. PowerPrep is the older version - it's around 4+ years old now and not as close as GMATPrep.

Assuming that you took your practice tests under 100% official conditions, including essays, you are in the 700 range right now. What you want to do, then, is review overall. The two articles below talk about what to do during the final 2 weeks. Don't try to cram everything they say into the final 5 days; just do what they say for the last week roughly. (Assume you've taken your final practice test already - use the results from your most recent test or two.)

http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/08/ ... -game-plan
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/08/ ... -to-review

Good luck with everything!!

[nesrivas]

Dear Stacey ,

Just got back from the test center with a 720 [Q 49 , V40].
Thanks so much for your help and direction.

It was impossible for me to put this score together within 5 weeks of preparation, without your consistent guidance n support.

Both Ron and your explanations on this forum are the best guide for anyone preparing for GMAT.

Am sure , if you ever plan to put together a book on GMAT , it'll be a bestseller :).

The next big step is applications , any direction on that would be a great help. Would be great if you could point me to the right forum to discuss the same.

Best Regards,
Neha

[StaceyKoprince]

Congrats! Great score - I'm really happy for you!

Well, let's see - we've got a forum folder right here called Ask An Admissions Consultant. The questions are answered by one of our partner companies, MBAMission. (I've met the founder several times - I like their approach.)

I can't remember whether you took one of our classes or self-study programs - if so, you might be eligible for a free half-hour consultation with one of the MBAMission consultants. Take a look in your student center or call the office to see.

Also, you can check out www.beatthegmat.com. There are a bunch of admissions consulting companies that both write articles and answer questions.

Good luck with apps!