Need guidance in taking the decision to give GMAT in 10 days

[gp1s]

I have been preparing for GMAT for last 3 months very seriously.
I took the date for Exam date in April and planned to give it on 25th May.

I am yet to finish all the practice sets i posses e.g. LSAT RC, LSAT CR, latest Quant etc but felt comfortable to try the FULL GMATPrep1 test i.e. i sat for 4 hours and wrote the Argument and Issue essays too. (I had attempted it approximately an year before with 590 score and didn't dare touch again )

I still have 2 more day to get into the 7 day range and can save $200 or spend $50 more. I have already rescheduled in past from 25th may to 01 June and had spend $50 :-(

GMAC is making real money from this rescheduling and retaking stuff.
My MOCK test till now:

GMATPrep 1 710 (13th May)
GMATPrep 2 720 (16th May)
MGMAT CAT 1 690 (21st may)

I gave a full MGMAT CAT 1 yesterday and try to have conditions similar to Test Day and Center and realized that i may need to reschedule again. (I need at list 700 for my target colleges (1 year course in ISB/IIM-A/IIM-C). I am an Indian Male and Software Engineer (4 year in Oracle and 3 Years in HP) from a college which is Non-IIT, Non-NIT and not anywhere in top 100 Indian Colleges)

======================
Quant 45 77 % Review
Verbal 38 85 % Review
Total 690 91%

Following are my findings:

Quant
PS 11 Wrong, 8Q of 700 to 800 level and 3Q of 600 to 700 level, (3 Silly calculation mistakes)

DS 6 Wrong, 3Q of 700 800 level, 2Q of 600 700 level, 1Q 300 500 level, (2 traps, 1 Silly Mistakes of choosing wrong answer on screen)

Verbal
SC (3-4 repeat Q) 4Q wrong, 3Q of 700 800 level, 1Q of 600 700 level
In SC, 2Q wrong due to lack of concept clarity e.g. using would or will, Infinitive or Gerund as a subject , 1Q for Meaning Clarity, 1Q is due to a SC trap I was not not able to identify the SC trap of correcting the mistake but inserting a new error in wrong answer choice.

CR (3-4 Repeat Q) 5Q wrong , 3Q of 700 800 level, 1Q of 600 700 level, 1Q of 300 500 level,
I took 3 min and 45 second for each of the two wrong Q

RC (1 Repeat RC passage and 3 new RC passages)
In RC, 6Q wrong, 3Q Inference (All 3 700 800 level), 3Q Specific Detail (Anchor Phrase) (2Q 600 700 level and 1 Q 700 800 level) I took 5 min to answer a wrong Q ad 5 min to answer a Right Q, Its criminal , i should have guessed and move on after 2 min but didn't realize that its already 4-5 minutes as i was ahead of time as per y mile stones and thought of sparing a minute or two extra

======================

I feel that i am not prepared and i should not hurry for giving GMAT soon.
Somewhere within myself i am feeling it but not accepting it due to false sense of satisfaction from the Prep Tests.

I still have issues in:

1) Pacing the test specially in Quant
2) Accuracy in stress and time constraints ( Without time constraints i am scoring 100% in RC/CR of even at 700 800 level but in exam it reduced to 50% and 60%, I was able to do the RC 100% correct post exam)
3) Concept Clarity in SC is still an issue on top of it my not so good Vocab causing issues instrictly Meaning Clarity SC problems.
4) CR Mimic the argument and Strengthen questions are still an issue

Some general stuff e.g.
What is the ideal time to stop finding answer to a CR Q and move with a guess?
How to find that I am taking more than 2 minutes?
I understand pacing will improve with more practice but realization doesn't come very efficiently in the practice exam. I don't think looking at watch after every Q is a good practice?

[StaceyKoprince]

If you're not confident, then you should consider postponing, yes.

But two things:
(1) You are roughly in the range you want; you can't guarantee a 700 of course, but it's possible that you could hit 700 now
(2) The test is changing on June 5th and will include a new section (IR)

If #2 didn't exist, then I'd say - hey, take another few weeks and feel comfortable. But it'd be nice not to have to study for IR. So you could decide to do this: take the test on 1 June, but consider it a practice run. Assume you're going to take it again. If you get lucky, then yay. But you won't be disappointed because you'll already be expecting to take it again.

IF, though, you think you'd secretly expect to get the score the first time or be really demoralized or discouraged if you don't get it the first time, then just postpone.

Next, time management:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... anagement/

It typically takes about 4-6 weeks to fix timing issues, FYI. That article will address all of your specific questions about timing. That will help with RC because you won't be feeling the same stress due to timing problems.

For SC Meaning:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... orrection/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... on-part-2/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... h-meaning/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... problem-2/

For CR Strengthen:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... g-problem/
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2011/04/ ... en-problem

For CR Mimic:
Very rare, don't worry about these. Know how to guess and NEVER spend more than 2m (if you even happen to get one!).

[gp1s]

Thanks a lot :-)

[gp1s]

I spend $80 more and rescheduled the exam to August first week. This will still be within last application date to my target colleges. I realized that basic of few Quant topics are not clear, need more concept clarity on SC and lot more practice on RC and CR. I have already finished the MGMAT guides (4th edition) and planning to go through Quant and Verbal strategy guides. My plan is get more confidence in my weaker areas and give the first IR based MGMAT CAT in June first of 2nd week. I need guidance to decide my strategy for next two months:

1. Am i going to get any significant benefit if i read 5th Edition books?
2. I have decided to buy MGMAT CAT's as they are closet to the real GMAT and received excellent reviews in all the forums. How to utilize my MGMAT CATs? I have approximately 8 weekend from june first week and i am planning to give at least one each weekend. Is that the right strategy?
3. I have enough concept related material and have finished most of it. I am kind of comfortable in easy and medium difficulty level GMAT Problems. My target is 700+ score otherwise i will find difficult to get through in my target colleges with lesser score.
I also have lot of Practice Questions and already bought the GMAC Question Pack1. So, what is the best MGMAT package for me? I am keen on CAT's but should be able to combine with any other material if it can be useful in my plan.

Regards

[StaceyKoprince]

Do you already have 4th edition? If so, you need the IR book (which is new, since IR didn't exist when we published the 4th edition). Also, if you're struggling with CR, then you may want to get the new CR book - that's the book that changed the most. The other books do have changes, but those are probably not substantial enough to buy a whole new set if you already have 4th edition. If you don't, and you're wondering which ones to buy, that depends on your strengths and weaknesses. You may decide you need only certain books that cover your weaker areas or you may decide that you want all the books in order to have comprehensive coverage. In 8 weeks, you probably won't cover every page of every book, but you will be able to cover substantial material.

If you buy (or already have) one of the books, then you get access to the CATs. Check the prices - it's actually cheaper (or it used to be, at least) to buy one book and get access to the CATs than to buy the CATs by themselves.

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. It's what you do with the test results / between tests that helps you to improve.

So, don't take any CATs on a regular, pre-determined schedule. Take a CAT when you feel that you have made substantial progress with whatever you identified as weaknesses on your last CAT. You don't need to have fixed everything, but you do need to feel as though you've learned enough to make a difference - to show that you've improved your old weaknesses, and to identify new weaknesses - since last time.

Analyze your CATs using this:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/

You talk about having lots of practice questions and CATs. That's good, but you also need to identify material that's going to teach you how to get better - practice questions and CATs let you test what you already learned, but they don't actually teach you techniques for how to recognize what's going on, how to answer efficiently, etc. And that circles us back around to your first question about what books to get.

Use your last CAT analysis to decide what areas are your big weaknesses and get books at least for those areas. You may realize that you're going to need 5 or 6 books out of the set, in which case you may want to check the prices because sometimes there are discounts for buying the whole set - so it may be the same price or cheaper to get all of them at once.

[gp1s]

I already have 4th edition guides and bought the IR recently. I am comfortable with CR. I read the relevant powercore LR bible and finished all the VR2 and OG12 CR Q's. I am still struggling with speed issue in CR with high difficulty Q's in strengthen and inference.
I have realized that my weakness is not the concepts but in applying the concepts in Test conditions. In most of the Verbal Q and all the Quant section i just lost the track of all the stuff i learned about traps, trick and tips in the recent MGMAT CAT.

What the should be my approach or strategy to overcome this in next few weeks?

Its the performance in test condition which needs improvement.

[StaceyKoprince]

You need to make sure that you have solid strategies for each of the question types / subtypes (eg, there's an overall strategy for CR, and then there are some detail variations based upon whether the question is, say, weaken vs. find the assumption).

So start by reviewing your basic strategies, which includes expected timeframe as well as common mistake areas for you (individual to you), common traps (put in by the testwriters), and educated guessing strategies. Then do actual problems under timed conditions and in random sets (because that's how the real test is) and see where you're still falling short. Ask yourself WHY - what do I need to learn or review in order to handle XYZ better next time? Write that down as a takeaway and keep your takeaways handy somewhere so you can keep reviewing them.

Also start looking for clues that alert you to certain solution methods, certain traps, etc. Make flashcards that say "When I see _______" on one side and "I'll think / do ________" on the other. (These are part of your take-aways!)

The "When I see" half can (and often should!) include specific language from real problems, as well as any variations of language you might brainstorm that can mean the same thing. (eg, in "product of two integers" the two integers are another way to say "factor")

Also, read this:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... to-win-it/

The takeaway there: don't mess up the timing by trying to get everything right. If you do, you're just creating additional pressure that will make it even more difficult to keep calm and do what you need to do!

[gp1s]

Suggestions for me(?) and a word of advice 4 Non-IIT Engg
=======================
You may have read many 700 plus stories but this is not about 700 :-(
This is about 640 (Q47, V31) and wasted efforts of 5 months of rigorous study :-(
I (an Indian, non native so verbal is my weakness) have started preparing in March 2012 and started with a GMATPrep1 of 540.
I studied regularly 2 hours in weekdays and 6-8 hours in weekend.
In the last leg of the study (May, June, and July) this study time increased to 4-5 hours in weekdays and 8-10 hours in weekends.

Study Material Used:
Quant:
MGMAT Quant Books
MGMAT Advance Quant Strategy Guide
GMATClub Tests (Now, i know these tests are closet to the real Quant)
MGMAT Tests

Verbal
MGMAT SC/RC/CR guides (4th Edition)
MGMAT Verbal Foundation
Powerscore LR Bible
MGMAT LSAT CR Guide
MGMAT LSAT RC Guide

Following are my Mock Test Results:

GMATPrep 2 (AWA + IR) 710 (06th Aug)
Kaplna 610 (28th July)
GMATPrep 1 (AWA + IR) 710 (22nd July)
MGMAT CAT 2 (AWA + IR) 680 (1st July)
MGMAT CAT 1 (AWA + IR) 680 (24th June)
MGMAT CAT 1 (AWA)690 (21st May)
GMATPrep 2 (AWA) 720 (16th May)
GMATPrep 1 (AWA) 710 (13th May)

I was expecting Q47 and Q48 and it was not a surprise for me.
In Verbal, I was not confident of my Mock Tests scores because in each of these tests i faced many previously attempted Q's. Though i tried to spend appropriate time for the corresponding but didn't deliberately marked them wrong. SO yes, it was inflated. But i was not expecting V31 :-(

The good part is that i was able to finish IR, Quant and Verbal in time without any hurry. I have decided to maintain my pacing strategy as suggested by MGMAT. I guessed a 1 or 2 alternate Q's if i am behind mile stones. I end up guessing 5-6 Verbal Q but not consecutively. In quant it was all on the time.

Now the bad story, in introspection, i was confident in answering majority of Quant Q's and opposite is true for Verbal.
In particular:
RC and CR:
I was not able to confidently eliminate the wrong answers choice from the final two choices and may be i marked the wrong answer.
SC:
I was hardly confident in any of the SC Q.

So here are my Question:
1. I my next attempt i am targetting Q50 (minimum) and V40 (minimum).
Is it a realistic (SMART Goal) target?

2. What is the best retaking strategy for me?

Advice to Non-IIT Engg. Grads from India
1. Don't think that GMAT is an easier exam than CAT (IIM Entrance Exam). In AWA terminology its a conclusion based on many questionable assumptions and unsupported premise. This can be true for IIT Grads but not for us lesser mortals. I know many Non-IT Engg. Grads, misled by 770 GMAT Briefs, who go through the OG's and a basic study of concept and end up with a 500-600 score. Be aware, it is as tough an exam as IIM-CAT if want to get into a good MBA college. We are the overrepresented in MBA colleges across the GLOBE and a low GMAt score doesn't help.
2. You have to toil hard and study harder than you ever did. Learn time management. On top of it this also is not enough, you have learn to study smarter. Smart use of your time and resources. Choosing best material from terabytes of study material and thousands of GMAT Q's.

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm sorry that you didn't reach your goal score.

Your practice test scores were in the 680 to 720 range but you said that you knew your scores were inflated because you saw "many" repeated questions. You ultimately scored a 640, so that was not that much of a drop - it is possible that your scoring range was closer to 650 and that the repeated questions were adding enough (artificial) points to get you in the 700 range.

You mentioned that, on RC and CR, you did tend to be able to narrow things down to 2 answers but you then struggled between the final two. For SC, you said you weren't confident at all - does that mean that you were struggling to narrow down to 2 answers?

For RC and CR, one thing you need to do is ask yourself these two questions when studying a problem:

- why was the wrong answer so tempting? why did it look like it might be right? (be as explicit as possible; also, now you know this is not a good reason to pick an answer)

- why did the right answer seem wrong? what made it so tempting to cross off the right answer? why were those things actually okay; what was my error in thinking that they were wrong? (also, now you know that this is not a good reason to eliminate an answer)

I do this even when I answer something correctly. I try to pick out what I think is the most tempting wrong answer and then try to figure out how someone would justify eliminating the right answer.

Also, for RC and CR, try to study from official questions as much as possible. You might want to say to me, "But I already did all of those." Fine. Did you study them in the way that I described above? If not, go study them again. (Note that I didn't say "do" them again. You may or may not do the problem again. But you can still study it, even if you don't set a timer and do it again.)

For SC, tell me more about how and why you think you struggled. Look at this - does it sound like it might address what you faced?
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... orrection/

And, finally, take a look through this, particularly the "how to study" section. You might find some good resources and study ideas:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

Re: your new goal (Q50, V40). V40 is the 90th percentile. That's a 30-percentile-point jump from your last official test score. That is a LARGE increase. I'm not saying you shouldn't go for that, but I want to make sure you're aware of what V40 really means. Q50 is also the 90th percentile, so you're basically saying that you're going to make your verbal just as strong as your quant.

Also, that combination will be well above 700 - probaly 730 / 740 territory. Is that now what you think you need? Or is the overall goal still 700-ish?

Finally, you ask for the "best retaking strategy." There isn't one strategy that I can tell you - I can't say "here's your schedule every day for the next 3 months and then you'll take the test." Your task is to figure out what weaknesses you have and then address those weaknesses and then repeat until you get to the level that you want. The weaknesses could be knowledge-based (math and grammar rules, vocab words, etc), technique-based (how to solve the various types of problems), timing-based, or strategy-based (knowing when to give something up, knowing how to make an educated guess, etc.).

[gp1s]

Your practice test scores were in the 680 to 720 range but you said that you knew your scores were inflated because you saw "many" repeated questions. You ultimately scored a 640, so that was not that much of a drop - it is possible that your scoring range was closer to 650 and that the repeated questions were adding enough (artificial) points to get you in the 700 range.

I agree and i have a feeling from inside that i may not perform as good as in the mocks in the real exam :-( My worst fears became true :-(

But what should i do to judge my level in the future tests? What should i do if i see a known problem in future tests? I am planning to spend the time allocated to that particular Q type but mark it wrong knowingly? Is that a right strategy or any other best practice?

You mentioned that, on RC and CR, you did tend to be able to narrow things down to 2 answers but you then struggled between the final two. For SC, you said you weren't confident at all - does that mean that you were struggling to narrow down to 2 answers?

In most of the SC Q's, i wasn't confident of any choice :-( I wasn't confident of my chosen choice most of the time in the real exam. I marked most of the SC Q's as my best guess.

For RC and CR, one thing you need to do is ask yourself these two questions when studying a problem:

- why was the wrong answer so tempting? why did it look like it might be right? (be as explicit as possible; also, now you know this is not a good reason to pick an answer)

- why did the right answer seem wrong? what made it so tempting to cross off the right answer? why were those things actually okay; what was my error in thinking that they were wrong? (also, now you know that this is not a good reason to eliminate an answer)

I do this even when I answer something correctly. I try to pick out what I think is the most tempting wrong answer and then try to figure out how someone would justify eliminating the right answer.

I am able to execute the above mentioned steps but total time to solve a CR and RC Q goes into 2 minutes plus.

How to speed up this process?

Also, for RC and CR, try to study from official questions as much as possible. You might want to say to me, "But I already did all of those." Fine. Did you study them in the way that I described above? If not, go study them again. (Note that I didn't say "do" them again. You may or may not do the problem again. But you can still study it, even if you don't set a timer and do it again.)

I am starting with OG Q's or both Verbal and Quant and update you with my findings.

For SC, tell me more about how and why you think you struggled. Look at this - does it sound like it might address what you faced?
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... orrection/

I have reviewed it in past and i am aware of most of the tricks and techniques for SC. My problem in SC is about basics. I am looking at my error logs and redo the FULL OG12, Unique Q's of OG11 and OG13, and all Q's from Question Pack1. That should give me a more clear picture of what is wrong with SC.

And, finally, take a look through this, particularly the "how to study" section. You might find some good resources and study ideas:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

I will review it again.

Re: your new goal (Q50, V40). V40 is the 90th percentile. That's a 30-percentile-point jump from your last official test score. That is a LARGE increase. I'm not saying you shouldn't go for that, but I want to make sure you're aware of what V40 really means. Q50 is also the 90th percentile, so you're basically saying that you're going to make your verbal just as strong as your quant.

Also, that combination will be well above 700 - probaly 730 / 740 territory. Is that now what you think you need? Or is the overall goal still 700-ish?

Overall goal is still 700-ish but as i have decided to give 70-80 more days to my second attempt, i am targeting to 90th percentile in both Verbal and Quant. IS that a realistic goal at my level?

Finally, you ask for the "best retaking strategy." There isn't one strategy that I can tell you - I can't say "here's your schedule every day for the next 3 months and then you'll take the test." Your task is to figure out what weaknesses you have and then address those weaknesses and then repeat until you get to the level that you want. The weaknesses could be knowledge-based (math and grammar rules, vocab words, etc), technique-based (how to solve the various types of problems), timing-based, or strategy-based (knowing when to give something up, knowing how to make an educated guess, etc.).

Thanks a lot for spending your valuable time to help me out :-)
I will try to figure out the best schedule for me. My main weakness in Quant is few weak topics and in verbal its mainly timing :-( I can solve all the Verbal Q type with close to 100% accuracy in non-timed conditions. As soon as i have to push for timing all verbal concepts (specially SC) and strategies (Specially RC) goes for a toss.

[StaceyKoprince]

If you do see a repeated question then, yes, you get it wrong on purpose unless you are 100% certain that you would have gotten it right even if it really had been totally new.

If this happens too many times in one section, though, then this is still not representative of your current scoring level.

So part of it is: stop studying the CAT questions so extensively that you remember them all. :) Also don't take a ton of CATs. That isn't how you get better anyway - you get better from the study you do between CATs. While you're still in "trying to raise my score" mode, taking a test more frequently than every 2-4 weeks, roughly, is a waste of time.

In most of the SC Q's, i wasn't confident of any choice

Was that different compared to your practice tests and OG practice? Or was that also true in practice?

If this was a difference, then I'm betting you saw a greater incidence of "long underline" sentences where large parts of the answer choices changed and moved around. This was that link I gave to you last time (I'll paste again for others reading this):
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... orrection/

If that was also true in practice, then you likely don't know the grammar well enough. I assume you've been studying from our SC book (because pretty much everyone uses our SC book :) - if so, then you may need some outside help in the form of a teacher or tutor. If not, then get it and start using it.

I am able to execute the above mentioned steps but total time to solve a CR and RC Q goes into 2 minutes plus.

Always? Or only sometimes? If only sometimes, on which question types? What are the patterns?

Are you losing that time on the readthrough of the argument / passage? Or on the question and answer choices? Or both?

For all of verbal, plan to do 2 passes through the answers.
On the 1st pass through answers: place answers into 1 of 2 categories, definitely wrong or maybe. DO NOT decide whether something is right at this stage. (Lots of people lose time trying to decide whether something's right when they haven't even looked at all the answers yet. Don't waste a second of time doing that. If it's a "maybe," then leave it in and immediately check the next one.)

On the 2nd pass through: look only at the "maybe" answers, compare (don't just look at them separately), choose one

Always: when you are down to two answers on verbal, look at each answer ONCE more, then pick one and move on. (Again, lots of people lose time agonizing back and forth multiple times. Never do this - it's a waste of time.)

Overall goal is still 700-ish but as i have decided to give 70-80 more days to my second attempt, i am targeting to 90th percentile in both Verbal and Quant. IS that a realistic goal at my level?

That's a large jump for verbal in that timeframe, especially if you're doing everything on your own (without the help of a teacher or tutor). Outside help is expensive, of course, and there are no guarantees - but things can generally move faster if you're working with someone.

verbal its mainly timing :-( I can solve all the Verbal Q type with close to 100% accuracy in non-timed conditions. As soon as i have to push for timing all verbal concepts (specially SC) and strategies (Specially RC) goes for a toss.

See how much time you can save / shave using the answer-choice process I talked about above (2 passes). If part of the problem is reading speed, start reading every day - books, articles, anything that interests you but also has a decently high vocab, etc, level. It can take months to make a significant difference in reading speed. :(