Lost in the preparation:( need help :0

[raimadhu1]

Hi,

I have neen preparing for last 2 months .Some basic studies from kaplan & PR.Then i started with Manhatten SC guide 'a must'.After that I jumped to OG10. I have solved each and every question line by line from og10.

my practice test scores are
powerprep 1: 610 (dont rememebr exactly but q48 , vsome in 20's without preparation)
gmatprep 1:600 (dont rememebr exactly but q48 , vsome in 20's without preparation)

after a month of preparation
Kaplan 1:660 (q50, v36)
kaplan 2:600 (q50, v29)
kaplan 3: 620 (q50, v31)
kaplan 4:620 (q50, v31)

after OG 10
powerprep 2: 740 (q49,v41 few verbal questions were from OG10)
gmatprep 2: 700 (q49,v39)

gmatprep1 :(730 q50,v39)
gmatprep2 :(760 q50, v41)3, 4 question in verbal repeat.

I was not sure of my varied scores,so i just bought mgmat tests as i didnt have any other test left. I was feeling confident that now i m in 720 + range. My idea was when i get 700 + in 3 consecutive test, i would schedule the test.But seeing the score i am more lost. Can you please see my mgmat scores and guide me as in what exactly i am doing wrong?

mgmat catfree (650 q51, v31)
mgmat cat1 (660 q47, v33)
mgmat cat2 (680 q47, v36)
mgmat cat3 (680 q49, v34)

My weakest area is verbal, that also not consistent.In gmatprep, i do well in RC, though it has been my weakest section. But in MGMAT tests in some RC's i get all 3 or 4 correct.For some I get all 3 wrong.
As far as SC, i feel I have made a lot of progress, but the score do not reflect the same.
CR has been good. few very tough assumption questions I get wrong.

I am planning to give the exam in another 2 weeks.

Thanks in advance.

[raimadhu1]

No replies ...

[StaceyKoprince]

You'll actually get replies sooner if you don't respond to your own post - we answer questions starting with oldest posts first, so when you respond to your own post, you put yourself later in the queue!

Also, as you may have noticed, the forums are quite large and we are answering a lot of questions. It's very unusual to have a question answered in less than 12 hours. It typically takes 2-4 days in this folder, and it takes longer in other folders.

You're not doing anything wrong. Your GMATPrep scores were inflated because you had repeat questions (questions you'd seen before). The inflation is two-fold; first, you likely already know the answer to the question and, second, you can answer the question very quickly and then you have extra time that you really should not have had.

You can still take such tests 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.

When did you take these practice tests? Did you take them all in a short period of time? (Anything more frequent than once a week is a short period of time.) The overall test scores are pretty consistent (within the standard deviation of these kinds of tests) but, as you noted, the quant and verbal subscores are fluctuating a bit.

So, first, CAT exams 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. It's what you do with the test results / between tests that helps you to improve.

When you review your work on verbal, here are some questions to ask yourself:
- if you got it wrong, why? what tempted you to pick the wrong answer? why is it wrong anyway? what tempted you to eliminate the right answer? why is it right anyway?
- if you spent too much time, why? specifically, which part of the problem? did that extra time help? did that extra time hurt on a later problem? (if you spent more than 30sec over, the answer is yes, even if you got this problem right) how did that extra time hurt? specifically, where did you then not have enough time?
- if you spent too little time, why? were you rushing b/c you were behind? why were you behind; on which ones did you spend too much time? or did you think the problem was easy and you didn't need that much time? how often did you make mistakes on those "easy" problems on which you felt you didn't need full time? (On problems like that, you should make almost no mistakes - 95%+ accuracy. So if it's anything lower than that, you're hurting yourself by choosing to go fast when you think a problem is really easy.)

You can apply the second and third sets of above questions to quant problems as well.

It would also be nice to figure out why your score is fluctuating. Are you having some timing issues? What about your stamina? Are you taking the tests under full official conditions (with essays, 10-min break only between sections)? Are you taking the tests at the same general time of day as you plan to take the real test? Are you NOT taking a bunch of tests multiple days in a row?

[raimadhu1]

Thanks for the reply:-
I gave mgmat cat 4 today : q51, v36 710

I switched 7 questions from right to wrong in verbal. This has been consistent , in every test I have switched answers from right to wrong.

Can you please suggest some ideas to have some confidence while giving the test:(

I am really worried about my test taking skils, I seriously do not know what to expect in the real exam.

[StaceyKoprince]

Lots of people switch answers - that's why we put that info in the reports. The general rule to follow:

IF you know you made a mistake, and you can put your finger on the actual mistake (literally!), then it's okay to change your answer.

That's the only reason it's okay to change your answer. Otherwise, don't change it - stick with your first answer.

Do NOT second-guess yourself. You're wasting precious time, and you're a lot more likely to switch to a wrong answer than to the right answer. Think about the math:

When you pick your first answer, there's a 80% chance it's wrong and a 20% chance it's right.

If you picked wrong first, then you have a 75% chance of switching to another wrong answer and a 25% chance of switching to the right answer.

If you picked right first, then you have a 100% chance of switching to a wrong answer.

Now, yes, it's true that not all answers are created equal, and you're not randomly picking your second answer. But if you're already struggling enough with this question that you are second-guessing yourself (that is, NOT saying "Oops, I overlooked this thing over here that makes this choice wrong and that other choice right!"), then you are struggling enough that the odds are low that you're going to hit on the right answer for your second guess.

So just don't switch in the first place. (Again, unless you KNOW you made a mistake with the first answer and you can say EXACTLY what that mistake is.)

Couple the above with my advice in the last post about analyzing / studying wrong answers vs. right answers on verbal. You're doing really well - keep up the good work and you can beat this thing!

[raimadhu1]

actual gmat 580 q50, v19.
dont know how to explain this.3 months of prep , i put my work on hold for this.
this is just not fair.
Verbal was so tough,from question 1 to 41 , none of the practice test i ever went below 31 in verbal, even in the starting of my prep.

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm sorry you didn't get the score you wanted to get. Excellent job on the quant - don't forget to congratulate yourself for that, even though you aren't happy with the verbal.

When you took the practice tests, did you also take the essays? Did you spend as much time and mental energy on the practice essays as you did on the real essays?

Did you take the tests under full official conditions? (30m each for two essays, 10m break, 75m quant, 10m break, 75m verbal)

How was your timing in the verbal section? Did you generally move steadily through the test, giving appropriate time and attention to each question? (1 to 1.25m for SC, 2m for CR, 2-4m to read a passage, 1m for general RC questions, 1.5 to 2m for specific RC questions) Or did you have to rush at times and possibly make random guesses? If you did have to rush and/or make random guesses, on how many questions would you say you did that? Did you do it on a lot of questions in a row or were the guesses scattered? Alternatively, did you move too quickly and finish with a lot of time (>3min) left over?

How was your stamina? How did you feel toward the middle and end of the verbal section? Did you have something to eat and drink on the breaks? Did you get up, walk around, and stretch?

What other differences can you think of between your practice test experiences and your real test experiences? Anything, no matter how small, and no matter whether you think it wouldn't have made a difference to your score. Any differences at all?

[raimadhu1]

Stacey,
Only thing I can rememeber is , I am very unlucky. I can not explain to u in words what I am going through right now.

I have seen people getting 25, 28 in verbal in practice tests and they get 40-41 in real test.

for me the wheel turned in a opposite direction.

I did give last 3 (repeat) gmatprep and 1 mgmat with AWA at the same time I scheduled my actual test.

The questions were way to diffcult in the real test.I am not saying this as I was not prepared.All the SC's were big ones. In these 3 months I have really improved in SC. And the diffculty started from Q1 to Q41. At one point i was like I am going to break 750 line as I was really getting some tough questions.

Yes, I did sleep well in night . I took Red -bull and couple of bananas with me.I was quite cool and calm.

I gave 6 mgmat tests and if I..you know all that..I just cant understand what went wrong.

Dont know what to do next.

[StaceyKoprince]

If we can figure out what went wrong in the first place, then we can possibly do something to make sure this doesn't happen again. But we have to figure out what went wrong in the first place.

Sit down and really try to think through the test, keeping in mind the questions I asked about timing and stamina. Write down or type whatever you're remembering**. Then take a look back through, edit for clarity, and share it with us here. We'll help you try to figure out what happened - but we need you to think about it, because all the useful data is currently locked inside your brain.

**Note: do NOT share any details of specific problems with us. That's a no-no. :)

[raimadhu1]

Stacey,

Thank you so much for helping me out through this:-

Now when I have cooled down a bit and trying to utilize my first experience ,I have some points to share with you:-

1. I had lot of pending work in office due to GMAT prepration. And I went to office till my last day i.e Friday. Saturday was my exam.

2. I remember I really made sure to perform very well in both sections. So, I was rechecking each answer in quant , so this consumed more energy.

3. I am really trying to remember some moments from the test ,after the 2nd RC, which was very very long and convoulted . That was the RC, I really could not get on and I think the disaster started from there due to time constraint.I remember i was looking at the clock quite regularly in verbal, I never do that in practice test.
4. I do want to let you know that to boost my confidence I gave test till wednesday on the same time I scheduled my test, saturday was my exam.

5. the most important part, which has ruined my whole verbal is RC. This time I really need to take some action on this. I did prepared a lot for RC , knowing it was my weakest aread, but after I saw a long RC i lost all my strategy..

Thanks for all yr help

[StaceyKoprince]

Ok, so you had a really tough RC, that caused you to lose your composure, and you weren't able to regain it after that.

What happened with the RC - did you struggle to understand it in the first place? Did you understand the main idea but got lost in the details? Did you struggle to find what you needed for each question because of the length of the passage? Really try to figure out what (very specifically) went wrong, so we can figure out how to deal with it next time.

As a short note to start, generally speaking, if you get a really convoluted RC that you are struggling to understand, you should start by assuming that you will understand even less than you usually do, and that's okay. Skim the detail even more than you usually do. Get the big picture and basically ignore all the details. If you get the big picture, you can at least get the "main idea" question. You can also use your understanding of the big picture to get rid of some wrong answers on the specific detail questions. (Practice how to do this - how can you tell something's wrong on a detail question even if you don't know the detail? Maybe the answer says something that contradicts the author's main point, but the question asks you to tell something that the author actually believes / says.)

Then, you MAY be able to answer one of the specific detail questions if it's got some keyword that you can find in the passage and it doesn't seem too convoluted - just that one paragraph or piece of it. You can even take a little longer because you should have taken LESS time than normal to read the passage in the first place. And probably you'll have to let another one go completely, but that's okay again - remember, the way the test works, you're always going to have lots of wrong answers!

So, now you've avoided the "3 questions wrong in a row" position, and you haven't spent too much time on this thing.

Let me know some more detail about what happened with that specific passage that threw you off.