How to analyse my tests ??? Please Help

[hershpuri18885]

Dear Instructors,

Please help in analysing tests, how should i analyse my CATs.
What are the things i ought to be looking at ??

Regards

[StaceyKoprince]

great question! Here you go:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/

If you'd like, you can then come back here and tell us the results of your analysis and what you think you should do based on that analysis. 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!)

[hershpuri18885]

Dear Stacey,

Thanks for your post and reply.
Will surely post the results with the analysis with you.

Your posts are much appreciated.

Regards\\Hersh

[StaceyKoprince]

Great - looking forward to reading your analysis!

[hershpuri18885]

Dear Stacy,

I have taken two full length exams with IR//AWA with no breaks while taking the exams. In the two tests i tried two different approachs---

[A] Test 1-- In the first test, i concentrated on getting the first 20 question right in each section(this strategy has been advised by some professionals.. i think you mention that the first few questions are actually harder, the latter questions are easier in the article[How to analyze your practice tests] ). I got a score of 570(Q-33/Verbal-29) which was a major disappointment(This'll be my second crack at GMAT.. my score actually dropped).
Quant---
After analysing, i got 14 wrong in quantitative section[11-Problem Solving//3-Data Sufficiency]. Out of the 14 questions that i got wrong, 7 of those questions were at the end. Time spent on each of the 7 questions was less than 10 seconds.
After categorizing all the questions i calculated that i had got around 4 questions in Category 5[Wrong -- Slow]. I had spent more than 5 minutes per question on an average. This leads me to the topics that i need to study hard-- Word Translations, need to follow the 4 step strategy... What are they testing me on ??//What exactly do they want?/what do i know??/---After taking two tests i think that i need to work on my speed, i tend to get lost in word translations.

Verbal

Reading Comprehension is the biggest hurdle in my verbal section.
I have taken two tests, reading comprehension have pulled down my scores. I don't know how to read[summarize each para and write the purpose] the passage in 2:30 mins. In Test 1, there were three passages. The first question of the 2 passages i was able to attempt properly took me 7:28 mins and 6:08 minutes.. I really need some help in this.

The last questions 10 question were attempted 2:40 minutes. Took a lot of time in RC in Test 1.

Test 2-- This was a total let down, i was pacing .. It went horribly wrong.

Right now i am finishing up all the practice problems of another prep... will take another full length test in ten days or so... I have a few questions about taking a test--

[A]Please do tell me what i ought to thinking when i take a test??
[B] Whats are the skills in need to build to be an effective test taker ??
[C] I do intend to buy the Manhattan GMAT tests[after i have finished all the full length tests of prep that i am now trying..], will taking a lot of tests harm my score in any way ??


If you've gone through the entire mail, sincere thanks for doing so. Await your comments.

Regards\Hersh

[StaceyKoprince]

In order of your comments:

Do take the normal breaks - you want the practice test to be just like the real test. On the real test, you'll have one 8-min break after IR and another after quant. In practice, the break feels more like 5-6 minutes because it takes a couple of minutes to check in and out of the room.

i think you mention that the first few questions are actually harder, the latter questions are easier in the article

Nope - I don't mention that anywhere because it's not true. :) The idea that the earlier questions are worth more is a myth - don't believe it! Read the Scoring section of our free e-book The GMAT Uncovered Guide (it's already in your Student Center - everyone who has an account with us has access to it).

I'm going to say that you need to read that even more now that I've read your next comment - the first thing you told me was the # of questions you got wrong overall... but that data point doesn't mean much. :) Go learn about the scoring.

The big message is that you have significant timing problems; you need to start addressing that right away.

Read these two short "mindset" articles first:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... to-win-it/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -to-do-it/

Then dive into this long article on time management and start doing what it says:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... nt-part-1/

Here's a resource on translation in general:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... into-Math/

Here are some resources on how to read RC:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... p-passage/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -passages/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -passages/

I just submitted another RC article that should go live on our blog next week - just keep checking our blog till you see it.

will take another full length test in ten days or so

Probably not what you want to do. You've just taken two - you should now have a very good idea of your strengths and weaknesses. Take the time to make some significant progress before you bother to spend 3.5 hours taking another test - it's mostly just going to tell you what you already know, because 10 days isn't a huge amount of time.

In general, take a test, analyze it, then spend *weeks* dealing with the issues that arose during that test. Only when you feel you've made significant progress and tackled all or most of the major issues should you then go take another test and repeat the cycle. Practice CATs are really good for (a) figuring out where you're scoring right now, (b) practicing stamina, and (c) analyzing your strengths and weaknesses. The actual act of just taking the exam is NOT so useful for improving.

Re: your question [C] no, it won't harm directly, but it won't really help so much either. And it will harm in the sense that you'll be wasting a lot of time doing something that doesn't really help that much.

Read the "how to study" section of this article:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

That's how you should be studying. :) Look through and let me know if you have any questions about it.