making mistakes at the end of the exam.

[AnuH387]

Hi ,

I have been preparing for gmat for last 4months. My gmat Prep score was 600. One of the problems of mine is that I tend to make lot of mistakes at the end of the exam. Quants : Even-though I had enough time ( 2 min for each problem ) I made 8 questions incorrect amoung the last 10 problems.

In verbal session , I don't usually get time especially if the RCS appear last. When I analysed the timing , I found out that I take a lot of time for CR. I follow the manhattan method of solving CRs and it helped me to avoid mistakes .
But I'm not quite sure of how to get rid of this issue.
Please help..


Thanks in advance ,
Anu .

[StaceyKoprince]

That many wrong at the end will definitely kill your score. On quant, it sounds like this is more of a mental stamina issue - you have the time, but you're making mistakes anyway. On verbal, it sounds like you have a timing issue - and you must also have a mental stamina issue, because mental fatigue just gets worse as the test progresses, so if you're already experiencing it during quant, then you'll also experience it during verbal.

So the first thing we need to talk about is how to improve your mental stamina, which is mostly going to come down to improving how you're making decisions. Read this (right now, then come back here):
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... you-crazy/

And also know this: there are some questions on the test for which you should be deciding to guess and move on because you know that they will take more mental energy than you're willing to spend. I almost never do combinatorics questions on the test, unless they're super easy, because I know those are just harder for my brain. (Why? No idea. Nor do I care. I just pick my favorite letter and move on.

So part of your decision-making process has to involve making good decisions about what you're NOT going to do. Read this (again, right now):
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -the-gmat/

Now, start a reply to me. Tell me what you need to change about the way in which you've been making decisions so far. (And ask any questions you have.)

Next, in terms of the timing issue on verbal, the above partially speaks to that: you want to let some of those questions go faster so that you can have adequate time left towards the end of the section. How to practice / learn how to do that?

Read this:
http://tinyurl.com/GMATTimeManagement

For now, pay particular attention to sections 2 and 4. Over time, add in section 5 (although, if you have access to our Interact lessons in your online syllabus, I recommend that you watch the Timing lesson in class 6 - use those strategies for managing the time in each section).

The most common CRs are Find the Assumption, Strengthen, and Weaken. That will probably cover half of your CRs on the real test. The other types will probably show up just once each - so you can blow off any that are tending to take too much time and/or mental energy. Not worth it for just one question!

Okay, now continue your reply to me. From the above, what have you learned about how you need to approach your timing / decision making while working through each section and while working on individual problems? How is that different from what you've been doing so far and how do you propose to practice the new way / solidify this all into habits? (Don't worry - I'll tell you if I disagree on anything or have any other suggestions. You just have to tell me what you think first.

[AnuH387]

HI Stacey,

Thanks a lot for your reply. I went through all the blogs that you posted and I have been following some of the rules you mentioned ( from the book Gmat Roadmap) . .
I have one month and 16 days left for the G-Day. And I'm aiming for a 700+ score .

First and foremost , I'm little anxious about the test and I'm not quite sure how to let it go..
Also,I get anxious at the end of the test and I'm not able to concentrate in the questions .. Mental stamina might also be one of the causes .

I'm quite sure that If I reduce the silly mistakes which I make at the end of the exam , I will be able to score 650-670 .And then I will need to stretch my learning to get a 700+ .

I find Verbal session tougher than the quants(I'm not a native speaker) and recently when I analysed my critical reasoning timing ,I realized that the sub-vocalization is preventing me from reading fast. And I take an average of 2.15 -2.30 min to complete a critical reasoning question.Please give me some tips to solve this issue .

Regarding the decision fatigue, I'm on my way ...(I certainly improved in tackling this issue just because of this exam. I realized that I have this problem when i started preparing my Gmat study plan ) .. but I'm still striving hard to stay within the time limits . Especially Verbal .
I read all your blogs(part one and part two ) regarding time management but I still have a couple of doubts .


As Sentence correction has a different time limit when compared with RC , and if we face a lot of RC questions at the end of the exam , how can we stay in track if we follow a timing strategy based on the number of questions we completed .I read the blogs and Gmat road map book but I'm still confused about the timing in verbal session though I know each SC ,RC and CR question's time limits.
Would be grateful for your response ..

Looking forward for your reply .Thanks in advance,

Regards,
Anu

[StaceyKoprince]

Let's address the anxiety piece first. Try this:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... mat-score/

Your mental stamina will also improve as you get better at making decisions about what NOT to do. You simply won't be using as much mental energy earlier in the test, so you'll save more for verbal.

I take an average of 2.15 -2.30 min to complete a critical reasoning question.

This is an average, so you have some that are faster and some that are slower. Your average is not that far off from where it needs to be. First, are there any patterns to ones that tend to be slower? A certain question type, an argument that includes numbers or is science-y, a longer argument, whatever.

There's a very simple way to fix this. Pick one CR on which you just guess immediately - like 10 seconds in. Choose based on the patterns you've noticed for questions that tend to take you longer. Voila: you've just cut one question that would've taken you 2.5+ minutes, so you've saved more than 2 minutes. There are only typically 11 CR questions on the real test. If you're averaging 2.15m, you've just moved your average to 2m. If you're averaging 2.5m, you've just moved your average to 2.15 minutes (so if you need to do this a second time, go ahead!).

Right now, you're probably thinking, "But...I just bail on that question? I'm going to get it wrong!" Yes, probably. But you're goal is not to get everything right. Your goal is to make the best series of business decisions, and that means bailing on bad opportunities.

https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -the-gmat/

Yes, you're right that managing time on verbal is more annoying because of the different lengths of time for question types. The timing strategies that you read about are based on the idea that the passages are spread out roughly evenly throughout the test section: you'll start one new passage for every "quarter" of the test (1-10, 11-20, 21-30, 31-41).

I keep track of when I start a new passage - I draw a dot on my left hand (I'm right-handed). For each quarter of the test, I'm expecting one dot. If I get to question 11 and I already have 2 dots, then I know that I should be a few minutes behind what I'd normally expected, because I've had to start two passages instead of one. If I get to question 11 and I have zero dots, the reverse is true: I should be a few minutes ahead of schedule, since I haven't had a passage yet. (Extrapolate this idea throughout the section.) This way, if I get to that last set of questions and I still have two passages coming, I'm also a little ahead on time.

This means, of course, that if my time is off earlier in the test, I adjust accordingly - if I'm more than a few minutes behind, I guess immediately on the next annoying / hard question I see. If I'm more than a few minutes ahead, I start making sure I write things down more carefully and double-check my work (I don't want to make careless mistakes due to rushing too much!).

It takes some practice to make this happen smoothly, but you can do it. And just remember that you do want to have some questions where you're able to quickly recognize, "Ugh, this would be a waste of time / mental energy. I'm picking my favorite letter and moving on!" (This is true in IR, quant, and verbal.) Identify bad opportunities and blow them off!

[AnuH387]

Hi Stacey,


First of all,thanks a lot for your reply .
Here I come with some new problems for you to solve
I applied all your strategies and wrote my second GMAT Prep exam. I got 680 .I spent some extra time on a tough RC passage (long). Sadly , I got 3 questions wrong out of the 4 questions . I lost a considerable amount of time in reading the passage ,forced me to rush through the last questions.
I was wondering , if its fine to leave an RC passage completely and manage to get a 700+ score . In my case I got 49 in quants 36 Verbal ( I dont remember exactly).If I had skipped the RC passage , I could have spent more time on the questions i skipped .. I had read in Gmat Road map book that if one is not aiming 700+ its fine to skip a passage .But I aim for a 700+ score .. please advice Stacey .

Secondly,can you please explain why should we track freebies .. how can we incorporate the time we have left with and the time obtained by skipping a question..is there any time calculating strategy with the time obtained by leaving a question ? What is max limit of freebies??

How can we tame tough RCs ? I tend to spend more time on Tough RC and get all the answers wrong.. Is there any strategy to deal with inference questions for non natives.. The passage itself is very tough to understand . How can we infer from it


Also, I have a new issue which I face after starting my GMAT preparation.. I think a lot before writing a sentence now. I always feel that that there is something wrong in the sentence when I write . To my dismay , this feeling is at its worst form when I write AWA .. I re-write the sentences and as a result I loose a lot of time .. When I'm conscious that something is going wrong , I'm not able to write anything confidently .. I know 'this' sounds silly(this cant be used to refer a clause rit ).. hmm but please help me ..


Read your posts for Scs and CRs..Though I had already read the CR and SC books of Manhattan , those blogs were extremely useful..Thank you Stacey .



Regards,
Anu

[AnuH387]

Hi Stacey,

I purchased Gmat Practise questions pack1 from mba.com ..I find the RCs pretty difficult and even though I spent a lot of time in answering the
questions of RC , I get only one or two right answers.Mostly one.Because of this issue , I couldn't dedicate more time towards other questions.please advice

Waiting for your valuable response ..

Anu

[StaceyKoprince]

It *can* be okay to guess on a complete RC passage, but if you're going for a 700+ score, then I don't suggest that you automatically assume that you will do this. Decide to do this only because you get a nightmare passage. During the test, it might turn out to be the case that you get some nightmare CRs or SCs instead, and then those are the ones you should skip.

One other thing for a night mare passage: you may decide that you're going to try the main idea question but leave the rest. You don't need the whole passage for the main idea - just the big picture stuff.

Re: freebies, generally speaking, you should guess immediately if you get a nightmare (for you) question, period. That only saves you about 1 to 2 min (depending on question type), so there is no real impact to your overall time management, as you only need to take action if you are more than 3 minutes off of your expected time. It will all balance out.

I tell people to track freebies mostly because this gives them "permission" to go ahead and guess immediately / randomly. Otherwise, I find that people tend to hesitate / not want to just let go, even when they really should. As a general rule, the upper limit for a Q or V section is 7 freebies, though if you are looking for a score of 49+ on quant or 39+ on verbal, then I'd limit it to 5.

(Note: a freebie means that you guess randomly and move on. It doesn't apply when you've narrowed down answers - then, you've actually improved your odds / it's a legitimate answer.)

I tend to spend more time on Tough RC and get all the answers wrong.

What is the rational response to this situation? What if I said to you: "I tend to invest more of my retirement account in super-risky stocks, and I tend to lose money." What should I do?

Stop doing that in the first place! Stop trying to answer the hardest (for you) questions. Get your points someplace else. If you know, for example, that you can usually handle main idea and specific detail, but that all inference questions are your nemesis, then start making those your freebies. If you know you can handle inference on a business passage but not on a science passage, then make science-inference your freebies. Basically, know your own strengths and weaknesses and react accordingly.

I think a lot before writing a sentence now. I always feel that that there is something wrong in the sentence when I write . To my dismay , this feeling is at its worst form when I write AWA

Yes, this is not unusual. First of all, the AWA is impromptu, and the test writers make allowances for errors for this reason. Everyone would write a better essay if they could put it away for 24 hours and then re-read it. Further, the test writers will know if you are a non-native speaker, and they make even more allowances for that. The quality of your ideas matters more than the quality of your grammar and spelling. (If the grammar and spelling are so poor that people can't understand your ideas...then that's a problem. But if your ideas are coming across, you will be okay, even if the grammar and spelling aren't stellar.)

Finally, in terms of the GMATPrep questions (and practicing RC in general): how are you trying to learn from those questions after you're done? Are you doing this:
http://tinyurl.com/2ndlevelofgmat

If not, start using the 10 questions (you'll understand when you read the article). And always remember that the goal is not to learn how to do everything. The goal is to learn:
(1) how to get *some* things right, and
(2) how to know when something is too hard for you, so that you can let it go before wasting too much time and mental energy on it

[AnuH387]

Thanks a lot for your advice. I applied your techniques to review my quant and CR problems and they helped me a lot . For CR problems I categorized them using the POSE technique from one of the blogs by Neil .. It was highly useful for me . But I was wondering if I could categorize SC and RC in the same way we do for CRs. Is there any patterns of the sentences we can expect for the exam .. I mean can we use any advanced techniques to solve RC and SC. I learned most of the rules of Scs but still I tend to make mistakes in SC questions .( for the big sentences ) . It would be really helpful if you provide the link in this thread . Thanks in advance .
Regards,
Anu

[StaceyKoprince]

There aren't a small number of SC sentence patterns, no. They test all kinds of sentence structures - sometimes it seems like there's no end to the number of sentence structures you can have! So trying to memorize sentence structures is not an effective approach.

CR and RC have certain patterns / common things for different question types (and CR arguments), but for SC, the task is different: you're trying to recognize certain sub-structures of the sentence, sometimes all the way down to individual words.

Here is a resource that talks about each RC question type and how to tackle it:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... rehension/

For SC, this article talks about an overall process to tackle all SCs:
http://tinyurl.com/scprocess

And this series talks about how to break sentences down:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... ce-part-1/

That can help a lot with long sentences / long underlines.