Moving Forward Post GMAT

[JohnR806]

Hey!

I recently took the official GMAT exam and scored a 680 overall! I am happy with the results but I really wanted to get above the 700 mark (GMATprep exam week before was 730 - Quant 47 Verbal 44). My breakdown on the official exam is below:

IR: 8
Quant: 43
Verbal: 40

Overall: 680

I noticed on the actual exam a larger than normal amount of Geometry questions. I understand this is not a very frequent topic and was taken aback by the number of geometry questions I saw. I will be purchasing the extra breakdown on my test (and will post it here). I knew going in geometry was more of a weak aspect than a strength. Studying in between this test and the next I will undoubtedly study more of the formulas and tactics for geometry.

All in all, I am seeking advice on how to move forward as I will be taking the test again. What would be a good time frame to take the test again (I would ideally take it within the next 2 months)? What should my main focus be when studying to improve?

Dropping 50 points from the week before on the GMATprep to the actual GMAT was a nice sting, but I am encouraged to sting back harder next go around.

I appreciate any and all help. Thanks!

[StaceyKoprince]

Nice work! Excellent job - congratulations!

I knew going in geometry was more of a weak aspect than a strength. Studying in between this test and the next I will undoubtedly study more of the formulas and tactics for geometry.

Every test-taker sees the same # of counted questions in each of the main categories - so your counted geometry questions were not any more than anyone else. You could have seen a few more overall than the next person because of experimentals - but those extra ones wouldn't have counted towards your score.

It's also likely that you thought you saw more geometry than you actually did...precisely because you know that this area is a weakness. You notice (and actually over-notice, if I can make up a word) the things that make you more nervous. I can't tell you the number of times that I've had a student tell me, " I say X <whatever> questions on my last practice CAT! How come there were so many?" And then when we go count up the questions, they are flabbergasted to find out that there weren't that many after all. (This is the same mental phenomenon that has us convinced that, whenever we're in a traffic jam, we're always in the slow lane. )

Okay, the re-take plan. Agree that you want to get in there sooner rather than later. You're not that far from your ultimate goal.

Did you take our course? If so, then you're eligible for a free Post-Exam Assessment (if you haven't done it already). This is a phone call with an instructor to debrief from test day and come up with a plan to re-take the test. If this applies to you, please send an email to gmat@manhattanprep.com and request the Post-Exam Assessment. (I can still help / talk to you here...but the PEA is definitely the best way to get customized help, if you're eligible.)

Given that both your Q and V dropped a bit from your last practice CAT, I'd say you want to concentrate on both sections—every bit helps lift the overall. You may find it easier to lift V (since that's your stronger area).

If you're going for a 700+, then you may be looking at top-10 programs. If so, you'll want to try to get your Q to 45+. (The top schools do tend to look at the sub-scores. Your V is already excellent, but Q could be a little higher for top-10 programs.) If you're not looking at top-10 programs, then both Q and V are already high enough, so just study them equally, looking for the biggest bang for the buck to lift your score.

Biggest bang for the buck = low-hanging fruit: careless mistakes, things you already get right but take longer than average to do, things you legitimately get wrong but, when you read the explanation, you 100% get what you should have done. Don't go into your biggest weaknesses; the ROI is a lot lower there. (Think about what I said about Geo, above. You don't want to get all geo wrong—you've got to have enough skills to be able to handle lower-level questions—but think about whether the harder ones are really where you can lift your score...)

Okay, if you're eligible for the PEA, go sign up for it now. If not, follow the instructions below.

First, read these two articles:
http://tinyurl.com/executivereasoning
http://tinyurl.com/2ndlevelofgmat

Think about how what you've been doing does and doesn't match up with that and how you may need to change your approach accordingly.

Then, use the below to analyze your most recent MPrep CATs (this should take you a minimum of 1 hour):
http://tinyurl.com/analyzeyourcats

Based on all of that, figure out your strengths and weaknesses as well as any ideas you have for what you think you should do. Then come back here and tell us; we'll tell you whether we agree and advise you further. (Note: do share an analysis with us, not just the raw data. Your analysis should include a discussion of your buckets - you'll understand what that means when you read the last article. 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!)

For your Enhanced Score Report data:
- do give us the data, including the timing data
- note that any sub-section percentiles within about 10-15 points = noise (eg, if SC is 83rd percentile and CR is 73rd percentile...you're basically about the same in the two
- tell us what you think the data means too (and, again, don't forget to take into account the timing data—I have people tell me, Oh, I'm worst at RC, but then the timing data shows that they were really rushing on RC...so then a lower performance makes sense!)

[JohnR806]

Stacey,

Thank you for getting back to me quickly on this. I did take a course and already did take my post post exam assessment (it was quit helpful)!

I ordered my score report as well and here is the data:

Time:
Verbal 1:49
- CR: 1:56
- RC: 2:14
- SC: 1:28

Quant: 2:01
- PS: 2:10
- DS: 2:04

Sub Section Percentile Ranking:
Verbal
- CR: 66th = 34 (knew this was a weakness going in but expected better)
- RC: 88th = 41
- SC: 94th = 42

Quant
- PS: 43rd = 39 (Very bad, usually a strength)
- DS: 70th = 48

Algebra and Geometry were at a 42 and Arithmetic was at a 44.

In the quant the second segment they like to provide showed that I was getting more questions wrong in the second half of the quant increasing from 29% wrong in the first 9 questions to 0% wrong between 9-18. The third segment had 43% wrong and the last segment I had 57% wrong. Moving forward I need to make sure I am getting more correct than not.


Overall I think my timing is near perfect and it was never a concern of mine going into the test. The discrepancies that stick out to me the most is in the CR and the disparity between the PS and DS. During my Post Class Eval I had the same spread between PS and DS. The person helping me basically told me that I knew all the concepts and what not due to the high DS but was not accurately integrating into PS. It seems the practice from the eval to the exam did not correlate into a stronger performance.

I have not studied since taking the test a month ago due to well earned R&R as well as moving apartments in NYC (total headache). I will 100% ramp up my studying again once all is settled. I still understand the test and know how it works and used that to the best of my ability when taking the official exam.

As I have provided the data it would be greatly appreciated if you can help me move forward with study plans to increase both Quant and Verbal and shoot for a 700+.

Thanks!

[StaceyKoprince]

Yes, usually when we see a much higher DS than PS performance, it means that you know the material but you are struggling to do the full computation / math. So you're okay on DS but you struggle on PS.

It could also be the case that you make a lot of careless mistakes when doing computations. If so, that would also hurt you more on PS than on DS. Do you think that could be a factor? How often do you notice careless mistakes when reviewing practice problems or exams?

You mentioned that your performance decreased in the second half of the quant section. What was your average time in those quarters? Also, when you look at the report live (from the link / in your browser, not the PDF), if you scroll your mouse over the timing pie charts, you'll see average timing data for correct vs. incorrect answers. Look at that data; does it help to explain the drop in performance in the second half of quant? Maybe you spent extra time on some of the incorrect ones, causing you to have to rush on others...that could increase your incidence of mistakes.

The report is clear that CR needs to be the focus on verbal (though you of course want to continue to practice everything to keep your skills up overall). Since CR is the weakest area of the three, feel free to choose a couple of not-super-common question types there to blow off (and guess immediately on the real test) and then focus your studies on other CR question types that are more common.

It may be the case that you haven't delineated for yourself clearly enough the different CR question types and what you're supposed to do for each one. Try this:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2015/12/ ... stion-type

And you can use both your CR strategy guide and the article below as resources to help you accomplish what the first article, above, describes:
http://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/ ... reasoning/

For quant, you'll need to dig into the data from whatever you did most recently (practice CATs, etc) to see whether the issue seems to be weaknesses in conducting certain kinds of computations, a high incidence of careless mistakes in certain areas, etc. Also: how much do you use test-taking strategies (smart numbers, working backwards, etc) in place of "textbook" math? That may be part of the problem; those test-taking strategies are often better / faster / more accurate when the problems get harder.

Review the strategy chapters in your guides and start building up those skills. Start using these strategies on easier problems first—even if you think the problem is so easy that you'd just use the textbook math approach. You didn't learn algebra by starting with quadratic equations. First, learn to get comfortable with the basic processes, then move up to medium and harder questions to learn how to adapt to different kinds of circumstances.

If you would like more detailed advice than that, please do the practice test analysis that I described in my previous post. I need to know what your buckets are. (You'll understand what that means when you do the analysis. )