MGMAT diagnostic test (Day 0: 550 plan for 740)

[RAHULZ400]

Hi Stacey ,

This is in continuation of my post regarding the diagnostic test thus I have created a new thread. Now as you just advised to get a sense of the basic components of GMAT so I have already researched well about the exam and as far as DS is concerned I know what it actually tests. Also i have gone through the list of topics tested on PS. Since I have appeared for some other domestic exams as well before so I have a basic sense of what the topics are all about. So now will you advise me to take the diagnostic test without any prep or do you generally advise people to go through the basics and then take the test?

[StaceyKoprince]

You have prepped! You know what the basic question types are about.

Yes, I recommend that you now take a test. This is exactly what I have every student of mine do, whether they're taking a class or tutoring. The point of your first test is not to see how well you do after you've spent x number of days or weeks prepping. The point is to see what your starting point is across all areas -- what your strengths and weaknesses are so that you can set up your study plan and prioritize appropriately.

So go ahead and do it! Don't worry about the score you get; that doesn't matter at all. Just use it to see what this is all about and to figure out where you need to start studying.

You may also want to read this:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... our-score/
That article links to some others; follow the links.

And this:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2015/07/ ... s-say-what

This one talks about how to thoroughly analyze your practice test data:
http://tinyurl.com/analyzeyourcats
BUT! I would recommend not getting to deep into that for your first test. Your first test is really just more about looking at what you got vs. what you missed and deciding, oh, I really didn't do well on lower-level fractions and percents, so I'm going to start there (or whatever). Also, pay attention not just to what you got wrong or what took you a long time but also what "felt funny," even if you got it right in a reasonable amount of time. If it felt funny, there's probably still some work to be done there.

Good luck!

[RAHULZ400]

Hi Stacey,

I have been a bit late in responding as I was a bit preoccupied with certain things. I am currently not working though I have a past work ex of around 3.5 yrs, just recently left my job and I am searching for a job apart from planning for the GMAT as well. I want to appear for the GMAT in June/July and I am aiming for a score of 730 and above since I am an Indian applicant who are supposed to be an over represented pool in GMAT and also I do not have stellar GPAs to boost my profile. Since I would also like to have a scholarship and want to pursue MBA from a top program, thus the need of this score. So couple of questions:

1) Can I start my preparation even though I do not have a job right now. I have already got all 6th edition Manhattan strategy guides and OG 2016 as my intention is to start right away. I will continue looking out for job opportunity while preparing and would continue once I get the same.
2) If yes then as per our previous discussion above, shall I then start by taking the Manhattan Free Cat in a day or two.As per the suggestion in your website one should go ahead with taking only the quant and verbal sections when taking the diagnostic so I will be following that. Shall I analyze this CAT the same way as you have mentioned in your article about analysing CATs?
3) I have got the 8 Manhattan guides along with IR and roadmap which are already used and I purchased those, so I understand that I will not be able to register them for accessing CATs and question banks. I will be definitely buying just one new guide maybe an ebook to access the CATs. Now I also have the OG 2016 ebook and I really need access to the recommended problem sets with each chapter of the guides. At least can Manhattan prep provide me this so that there is a certain strategy to my approach of completing the material. If not will buying a single ebook provide me problem sets for OG for all guides since there is absolutely no point to buy all the guides since I already have those. Since you have suggested this strategy to do the recommended OG problems for each guide chapter that is why I want access to this.

I know this has been a long post but I would really appreciate your insight on these.

Awaiting your response,

Thanks,
Rahul

[StaceyKoprince]

Yes, start studying now. Yes, take the practice test and analyze, etc.

I'm not sure about the answer to your third question; contact our Student Services team to find out that answer. Send an email to gmat@manhattanprep.com or call 800.576.GMAT from the US or Canada.

I would also recommend doing some research into scholarships, etc - and you may want to talk to an admissions consultant. If you want a scholarship to a top program, your entire package needs to be pretty amazing. I'm not sure that offsetting a lower GPA with a higher GMAT score would be enough for that kind of circumstance. You may need to look at good but not top-top programs if the scholarship is a major consideration.

But I'm not an admissions consultant, so you should talk to someone who really knows.

[RAHULZ400]

Hi Stacey,

Thanks for your response. I will be taking the diagnostic test and will let you know the analysis so that you can help me with the study plan. I got a reply from student services that OG problem sets are part of the MGMAT syllabus as in the course I believe. When we will discuss about the study plan kindly also guide me regarding how and which problem sets to do for OG after completing a chapter from a guide.

Thanks,
Rahul

[RAHULZ400]

Hi Stacey,
As discussed I appeared for the Free Manhattan CAT taking this as a diagnostic test. This was taken without any prep whatsoever and just going through the format/content of the GMAT. Appeared for the test without including the IR section. Scored a dismal 550 (45 %tile) with Quant score as Q39 (43 %tile) and Verbal score as V28 (51 %tile).
I have tried to break down and organise the data in the format suggested in your article on analysing practice CATs following it up with my findings/analysis.



Here is my Data for Quant:

19 correct, 17 incorrect, 1 Unattempted (Last Question – ran out of time)
Questions breakup is as follows:
300-500 – 1 Q - Correct
500-600 – 15 Q – 9 Correct
600-700 – 19Q – 8 Correct
700-800 – 2 Q – 1 correct

Overall I guessed on 7 Questions out of which 1 was still a little bit estimated others were blind guesses: The topic-wise breakup of these questions along with their Q no. are as follows:
Statistics – 1 Question (# 1)
Overlapping Sets – 2 questions (#7, #14)
Extra Problem Types – 1 Question (#9)
Polygons (Circles & Cylinders) – 1 Question (#18)
Percents – 1 Question (#19)
Rates & Work – 1 Question (#35)
Maximum got 2 wrong in a row 4 times (most were 600-700)
Took more than 3mins on 7 questions out of which 2 were correct
Total time spent was 29 mins 27 seconds on these
3 questions taking 4+ mins in 30-37 (2 were from rates and work one from fractions (got confused for some time then finally did that)
Did 7 questions in less than 1 min out of which 4 were right
Less than 50% accuracy on geometry and word problems
Algebra (49 secs difference between right and wrong answers)
Word Problems (41 secs difference between right and wrong answers)
Fractions (48 secs difference between right and wrong answers)



PS Overall accuracy 64%
Level (600-700) – 36%

DS Overall accuracy – 33%

Level (500-600) – 17%
Level (700-800) – 0%

Average Time Discrepancy

PS
(300-500) – Average Time is just 13 secs correct
(600-700) – Avg time Correct questions was 3:24 secs and wrong were 2:49 secs a bit high
DS
500-600 – 52 secs for correct responses
700-800 - 4min 17 secs for incorrect responses

Right vs wrong Ques

PS
600—700 - Discrepancy is 35 secs with right answers taking more time
DS
500-600 - Discrepancy is 35 secs with wrong answers taking more time

Content Category Data




I) Algebra – Overall Accuracy 50% (4 correct out of 8)

Category 1 - Linear Equations and Quadratic Equations
Category 2 – Exponents/roots and Inequalities

II) Geometry - Overall Accuracy 40% (2 correct out of 5)

Category 1 - Polygons and Coordinate Plane
Category 3 – Triangles & Diagonals

III) Number Properties – Overall Accuracy 83%( 5 correct out of 6)

Category 1 – All topics (However probability questions took 29 secs more)

IV) FDP – Overall Accuracy 57% (4 correct out of 7)

Category 3 – Digits & Decimals
Category 4 – Fractions & Percents
Category 5 – FDPs

V) Word Problems – Overall Accuracy 36% (4 correct out of 11)

Category 1 – Statistics, Consecutive Integers
Category 2 - Translations
Category 3 – Extra Problem Types
Category 5 – Overlapping Sets

Analysis

- I believe I am exceeding time limit on the 600-700 level questions even for correct responses some of them were a bit calculation intensive based on percents and proportions over which I took a bit more time to figure out the correct approach with regard to the steps though I had an idea that they could be done correctly
- At present I believe the 2 question on 700-800 level were quite tough for me as far as taking the right approach was concerned though 1 of the questions was of exponents dealing with prime powers but since that was the second question only so I perhaps got a bit unsettled even after exceeding time limit I thought probably I could have done since I am comparatively comfortable dealing with exponents. Other Question dealt with cylinders and circles wherein I could not figure out the approach. I also believe that I am not that strong in solids/mensuration wherein I can only attempt basic questions and perhaps not those wherein there is a bit of tweaking.
- Few questions I got correct wherein I really exceeded time limit to even 6 mins on 1 question and 2.5 to 4 mins on some others. I felt I took a bit more time in figuring out the approach to do the questions which actually ended up taking more time. E.g. such as rates & work and fractions
- I feel I am fairly good in numbers and even algebra though this time I got only 50% accuracy in algebra probably messed up in DS. I believe I can attempt DS in lesser time however it impacts my accuracy even though I believe I am selecting the right answer. It might have happened since these questions are more approachable and do not really require too many steps to complete if one clearly analyses the options and so there is greater chance of committing an error.
- As far as the timing was concerned I was keeping an eye over the Question number with the approach that the time elapsed should be roughly twice of the Question number though I still think I need to attack the questions I can approach in lesser time.
- The area Sets can get a bit uncomfortable for me if the questions are lengthy or been made a bit complex. I have approach sets with the technique of taking variables for all combinations however if pressed for time I can mess it up. Same is the case with geometry which I find a bit monotonous as compared to numbers/algebra/arithmetic and my first instinct would probably to avoid the questions if I do not get it soon and would perhaps not like to delve deep and find out the right approach when it comes to topics such as sets and geometry (I feel I can still approach lines and angles without much thought). Also in algebra I think I forgot some basic principles of inequality due to which I messed up a simple question on DS.
- Made a careless mistake on statistics question on mean since I followed the approach of calculating and going the conventional manner in that process initially later on when I got an easier and logical way to approach it I made a silly mistake in that.
- Another point I noticed is that when a question becomes lengthy or has some complex variables I get a bit nervous while approaching it even though in general I might be comfortable in that area as I observed in some questions even in algebra/arithmetic. I tend to feel the pressure of time and perhaps at times would not properly read the question clearly even though I could have attempted it.
- In general I feel if I can brush up on certain topics with respect to their concepts and then practice more on areas such as algebra/numbers/arithmetic I can build up on my strengths and get higher accuracy on these hopefully with less time. Word problems specially need one to read and understand the question completely since they can be also made lengthy enough to add to the ambiguity.

Data for Verbal

- 22 correct, 19 incorrect (Attempted all finished 3 min 12 secs before time)
- Did not really blindly guess on questions
- There were 4 Questions wrong in a row (16-19) out of these first two were (600-700) level and other two were 500-600 level. Took 3:25 secs for the 16th Ques which was an RC question type.
- There was just 1 question on SC (Concision, Meaning, Idioms) wherein I exceeded the limit of 2 min by 18 secs and got it right though.
- There were 7 Questions in RC on which I exceeded the limit and total time spent on these were 23 min 12 secs. I got 4 correct. There were 3 questions on specific detail and 2 on main idea.
- When it comes to questions which were too fast and were incorrect the following were the numbers:
a) SC – 1 Question
b) CR – 6 Questions
c) RC – 1 Question



- Now coming to the accuracy part of the questions overall I got 43% accuracy in CR did not get any 700-800 Question correct and low accuracy on 500-600 (40%)
- In SC only the 600-700 level questions had accuracy of 40% overall it was 60%
- There was average timing discrepancy in the following areas:
a) CR – 300-500, 600-700
b) RC – 500-600
c) SC- 300-500, 600-700
- The timing discrepancy in corr vs incorrect questions were as follows:
a) CR – 300-500, 600-700 (Wrong ques took lesser time)
b) RC – 600-700 (Wrong ques took lesser time)

- Now the content category data is as follows:



a) CR (Overall accuracy 43%):

Category 1 – weaken argument, draw a conclusion, explain discrepancy, provide example

Category 2 – Find assumption, evaluate argument, strengthen argument, restate conclusion

b) RC (Overall accuracy 58%):

Category 1: Passage Structure
Category 3 : Main Idea
Category 4: Specific Detail
Category 5: Inference

c) SC (Overall accuracy 60%):

Category 1: Pronouns, Meaning, Parallelism, comparisons, quantity, connecting punc, concision
Category 2: Modifiers
Category 3: Verbs

ANALYSIS

Here are my observations which are on a high level and probably not specific enough based on sub areas/content types since I would be more aware of these when I will be going through the study material:

- I believe CR is my weakest point out of all the three sections which I have noticed in general as well. While going through the questions in CAT I was able to single out a response however it seems there is an inability to see through the subtlety and probably there is a need to build the fundamentals. I can observe that when it comes to evaluating arguments I tend to make mistakes (assumptions, strengthening/weakening/conclusions). It happens that out of 5 options I can narrow down to 2 but the 2 options have different interpretations of virtually the same answer and there it is I get confused and probably select the wrong answer based on my instinct and understanding and this is what happens in most of these question types. So perhaps there is a need to thoroughly understand the argument and see through the subtlety in order to clearly differentiate between the answer responses
- I believe I have a fair grasp of grammar though I am not sure how it is going to be on GMAT which is based on American style and usage. SC is perhaps my strongest area out of all the three testing areas. I would generally be able to attempt them in a short time however there are instances where I instinctively select the answers and end up making mistakes even though I think I might be correct i.e. These mistakes would not necessarily be silly/forced but based on my instinct. That can be a threat since I wouldn’t know that I am going wrong.
- In RCs I tend to take a bit more time than usual and may rush into things under pressure. At times I might just skim through the passage and would overlook the main idea. Otherwise when I am properly reading a passage I still think about the time factor and get nervous. Though I believe I can attain higher accuracy if I completely read the passage and comprehend it. I tend to get confused in inference/main idea based questions wherein there is a lot of subtlety and one really needs to grasp the passage. I feel at times I probably think too much on certain questions and just infer an answer as probably I believe the passage is hinting towards a response which is at a deeper level though I do this only for certain questions mostly inference based and end up making a mistake along with taking up too much time. Overall I believe there is an inconsistency in RCs and as pointed above similar to SCs I might not know that I am going wrong. At times I may get the purpose/tone of the passage and then on other questions I truly misinterpret and get confused between 2-3 options.

This was my analysis based on my observations and the data too. I would like to also add that I have a basic aptitude for both verbal and quant and have been regularly cracking aptitude tests conducted by companies during the interview processes though obviously the GMAT is quite different in terms of the course as well as the format/difficulty level. Though I have appeared for some domestic competitive exams conducted for getting into a post graduate program but I did not fair really well on those even though I thought I had done reasonably well on my attempt. Obviously they were not adaptive and focused on accuracy and speed. Now I am looking to score high near about 730-740 so I clearly need 170-180 points jump. Kindly let me know your feedback for the above analysis and then I will post my rough study plan to seek your advice.

[StaceyKoprince]

Hi, Rahul, quick question. Your analysis talks about 5 "categories." I think you may be looking at an old version of the analysis article; now, we use just 3 categories and we call them Buckets.

This is the article I linked to earlier in this thread (and this is the most current / the one with the Buckets):
http://tinyurl.com/analyzeyourcats

The old categorization was far too cumbersome; that's why we replaced it.

Note also that it's important to take this huge volume of data and be able to summarize it to come up with your several most important priorities and takeaways. I could do that for you - but it's really better if you try to do so yourself. Otherwise, you may get overwhelmed by all of the data and all of the things that you could be doing.

For instance, most of your analysis is about what happened. Not much is about what you think you should do about what happened. eg, Why did you spend 6m on that one question? At what point in the actual work should you have known that this problem was getting ridiculous and you should have cut yourself off? What indicators are you going to use next time, so that you don't spend 6m without realizing it again?

What can you do when you get nervous - what steps are you going to take to try to calm yourself down? Take a deep breath. Look at the problem objectively: maybe the problem IS actually too annoying to bother doing, and that nervousness is really a sign that you should guess and move on beacuse this problem isn't worth your time.
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2016/02/ ... n-the-gmat

And so on. So take one more step and try to distill all of this data and analysis into some action items. (And take a look at the CAT analysis article that I linked above and try to recategorize into those 3 buckets. That will make your life a whole lot easier.)

[RAHULZ400]

Hi Stacey,
As you had mentioned I have tried my best to analyse and even elaborated on the ways I can tackle my weaknesses. I have categorised the topics into buckets.
Quant Analysis
Bucket 1: Numbers, Algebra
Bucket 2: Word Problems, FDPs
Bucket 3: Geometry
I still feel FDPs can be on strengths and algebra somewhere in between. This is a high level categorization which I have tried my best to do based on the test and my feeling in general whenever I appear for tests.
Now I will categorise these based on individual topics

I) Numbers

Bucket 1: Odd eves, Positives negatives
Bucket 2: Probability, Divisibility & Primes, Combinatorics
Bucket 3: Nothing as such as of now

II) Algebra

Bucket 1: Linear Equations, Quadratic Equations
Bucket 2: Exponents and Roots, Inequalities
Bucket 3: Nothing as such as of now

III) Geometry

Bucket 1: Lines & Angles
Bucket 2: Triangles & Diagonals, Polygons
Bucket 3: Circles & Cylinders, Coordinate Plane

IV) Word Problems

Bucket 1: Consecutive Integers
Bucket 2: Statistics, Rates & Work
Bucket 3: Extra Problem Types, Overlapping sets

V) FDP

Bucket 1: Fractions, Digits & Decimals
Bucket 2: Percents, Ratios
Bucket 3: Nothing as such

I have come up with more accurate observations/takeaways about certain points as you had mentioned:
- The problem for which I took 6 min was actually solvable within 2 mins (I actually got that right eventually). What I did was I took an arbitrary number (smart number 120) to simplify calculations for the fractions. However I made a mistake and arrived at a wrong figure for one of the contents. That consumed some time. Then I left that and used the fractions as they were adding them as per the problem and finally got it right.

- So I feel although I was just under the cumulative time still I think I made a silly mistake even though I chose a nice approach of a smart number, probably because I was under that time pressure and felt I had to complete the section hopefully without making any guesses. Although this is a first test without any preparation so I believe with more practice and strategies I hope I will be confident and calm while tackling simple problems like
these without taking much time and using the right approach.

- For some other problems which I got right but exceeded the usual time I probably had to read the question multiple times (e.g. for 1 speed/dist question) to understand and screened the options one by one instead to solve however the steps took time which should not have happened. On other question I took the usual approach of solving but still had to read the data twice. So I feel if I can cover questions of similar type more I can recognize the pattern and work fast through the problem because frankly what happens is that one is attempting a diagnostic and seen a question which could be done but one knows it will take time since one is out of touch with regard to approach of solving such question types. I also feel I get sort of nervous seeing long questions or some questions in geometry even though on careful analysis I can easily attempt them. So I need not be nervous and if I am strong in my basics I should calmly read the question and proceed with the steps.

- For 3-4 wrong questions where I had exceeded the time I observed I used a time consuming approach and finally due to time pressure I just guessed. I took time because I felt I could have done those questions but then while solving I realised I wasn’t going anywhere and it would still take longer time and I might not be able to get it correct after all. I think I need to just leave such questions after 2 mins and just let go. This is perhaps the most difficult part.

- For rest of the questions which I got wrong (e.g. 700-800 problem on exponents & roots) wherein I guessed after some time probably there was a weak content topic in that particular area. So I need to just brush those particular concepts and practice well (More in word problems i.e. translations, sets, extra problem types wherein I will have to read and understand the questions calmly and then decide on the approach).

- As far as DS is concerned at times I looked at the question and if 1st statement was evaluated to be and second statement had similar data I assumed both are required and made silly mistakes. In my areas of strength atleast I need to put some time and clearly use the statements in the data presented and not presume when I am through with 1st option. For other questions I need to interpret the question correctly which will come by practice and conceptual clarity. In general I have to be extra attentive while approaching these questions as one can easily get tricked as in general I was well within the time limit and even did some very quickly which I can avoid.

I actually tried to go through all the incorrect questions/guesses/unattempted question in the paper and tried to first solve them without looking at the solution and then if I couldn't do it I looked the explanation. I realized I could have done 10 more questions correctly (which meant 29 correct in total) had I avoided some mistakes as stated above. But then its the beginning and this was bound to happen.

Verbal Bucketing

Now the categorization of areas in the buckets are as follows:

SC:

Bucket 1(Strengths): Pronouns, Meaning, Parallelism, comparisons, quantity, connecting punc, concision

Bucket 2 (Prioritize) – Modifiers & Verbs

RC:

Bucket 1 (Strengths): Specific Detail
Bucket 2 (Prioritize): Main Idea, Inference
Bucket 3: Not sure (may be tone based question but I can work on those

CR:

Bucket 1: weaken argument, draw a conclusion, explain discrepancy, provide example
Bucket 2: Find assumption, evaluate argument, strengthen argument, restate conclusion
Bucket 3: Not sure (I do not spend long time in verbal sections though in general some portions of CR might be there)

Since I am yet to go through certain concepts and then would be more conversant with the terminology used(modifiers for example) in further CATs I would be able to clearly demarcate topics by names. Though I have done my best to do so above but this is just based on one diagnostic test and I may have done better on these topics otherwise

As far as verbal is there these are my takeaways:

- I need to cut down my time on RCs without compromising accuracy. Especially for inference and main idea based questions. For this I think if I work on the MGMAT guide and also read recommended articles/fiction books more often I can improve my reading speed and comprehension.
- For the other two types of content areas (SCs and CRs especially SCs) I need to brush up on some basic rules and not just go by my instinct due to which I end up marking answers fairly quickly but then compromise on accuracy. I believe reading the SC guide will help me in understanding sentence structures and rules clearly and I would then rely less on my ear to mark the answers.
- As far as CR is concerned I need to spend time clearly on understanding the arguments/premise relating it well to the options. I generally narrow down to 2 options but then I need to clearly differentiate and this would come with more practice and reading. I specially falter wherein I tend to assume certain facts which are not even there in argument but which would actually impact the argument so I select them. I need to clearly stay away from these mistakes/traps that would come only by more practice and thus ability of clear analysis/interpretation of arguments.

In general when it comes to verbal at times I feel I need to dedicate more time and analyse as questions are subtle. I tend to stress my brain less and become complacent if probably that’s the right word and thus go with my natural instinct which I need to work on even if I have to spend a bit more time on the question.

Now looking at this analysis and even my previous posts and data kindly provide your feedback/advise how should I proceed since I think I should start my prep/studies right away. Please also look at my following post http://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/forums/post120887.html#p120887 wherein I have elaborated my study plan based on this analysis. You can let me know your feedback and comments/advice on the plan in that post.

[StaceyKoprince]

Good work. I just responded in the other thread - check it out.