Need Help Creating/Refining a Game Plan for the Last 3 Weeks

[NaomiD519]

Background: I'm studying for the GMAT full-time right now. I'm fairly fresh out of undergrad and start work at the end of the month and thought it would be good to get it done even though I'm not applying for 2-4 years. I made myself a 7 week plan and now have only 3 weeks until test day (well, just over 2.5 weeks now). I thought this would be good since anytime later would mean balancing it with work. I can put in basically any amount of time any given day, but this may not mean much.
I bought MGMAT Interact and worked through all 9 sessions - I have done all the core chapters and almost all the "extra" chapters in the strategy guides too.
I'm aiming for at least a 700 because that fits with the rest of my profile, but am starting to doubt that it's possible.

The Results:
CAT 1 (Diagnostic Only)- 620 (Q40/V35, IR 2.4)
CAT 2 (Interact Session 6)- 650 (Q41/V38, IR 3.1)
CAT 3 (Interact Session 9)- (Q40/V38, IR 4.5)

My concerns:
IR - I know this is not that important right now but I'm not planning on applying for a while. I don't want to prioritize it too much but I can't have a score that's abysmal. My work experience will be in management consulting so I don't know if that makes this better or worse.

Quant Timing - I left the very last question blank of CAT 2 and 3. I felt timing becoming an issue with 2 so used the scratch paper method with 3 but still got too distracted in the last minute to put in an answer. I'm planning on using the scratch paper method on future practices and the real test. Sidenote: I'm finding it's taking wayyyy longer than the "advertised" 30 seconds to set up my scratch paper. Even counting down from 64 to 8 and writing it all down takes a good minute.

Quant Accuracy - I don't think I have huge content holes considering my Quant Diagnostic was fine. I also find the MGMAT questions harder than the OG ones- although this may be luck. I often see a question on a practice CAT and think "wtf" and end up guessing or spending way too much time. I reviewed my results and see certain sub areas of weakness (e.g. Statistics) to work on, but I don't know what else to do here.

Verbal - I guess I'm mostly cool with letting it ride. I would like to improve a bit here. My errors are not concentrated in any area, but I think improving stamina could help slightly as I get antsy towards the end.

Any advice? I know I'm supposed to spend ages analyzing my CAT but besides looking at the assessment report and pinpointing a few areas of weakness, I don't know what to do. Doing timed OG problem sets in the Navigator doesn't simulate the experience as much because of all the time flipping pages in the book and individually timing each question. Maybe I should just do 5 consecutive problems in 10 minutes?

[StaceyKoprince]

You didn't list your most recent test score but the subscores are about the same as the test on which you scored a 650, so you're about 50 points from your goal. Your score about 2 weeks out is approximately what you will score on the real test - scores don't change a huge amount (50+ points) in 2 weeks.

So your suspicions are accurate - it is probably the case that you won't yet be at 700 in two weeks. Would you rather go ahead and take that test as a "dry run," knowing that you'll probably still need to study more and take the test again? Or would you rather postpone that test and give yourself more time to get to your goal?

Next, you have questions about timing, analyzing questions and your results, and studying.

It's crucial to master this mindset in order to get the timing right:
http://tinyurl.com/executivereasoning

Seriously, read that every day for the next week. Two weeks if needed! Make it second nature.

Next, this is how you analyze / study individual problems:
http://tinyurl.com/2ndlevelofgmat

Your analysis of the problem will then tell you what you need to study in order to get better at that particular thing. For example, you mentioned that Stats are a weakness but you're not sure what to do. Go back and analyze those problems in the ways described in that last article and then you'll know what you need to do in order to get better at stats.

Next, timing. Is part of the problem that you're getting sucked in by the "But I should know how to do this?" feeling?
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/2013/ ... -to-do-it/

You'll need to learn the 1-minute time sense (section 4 of the article below):
http://tinyurl.com/GMATTimeManagement

and start using that 1-minute time sense to make (better!) decisions about when to keep going and when to cut yourself off and move on. (Hint: any time you find yourself thinking anything starting with "But": but I studied this....but I should know how....but if I just had some more time, I'm sure.... then you are done with this problem. If you actually did know how to do it, you wouldn't be thinking anything that started with the word "but.")

For Verbal, I agree that this isn't your major focus, but if you can pick up a few points, that's great. Your stamina will be greatly improved by NOT wasting valuable mental energy on IR and Quant problems that are too mentally draining (and that you'll probably get wrong anyway). So this is another important aspect of making good decisions about when to move on: you have a finite amount of mental energy. Once it's gone, it's gone. You have to take that into account when deciding whether to keep going on any particular problem.

http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/2011/ ... you-crazy/

Finally, you mentioned that you're not sure how to analyze your practice CATs. Have you looked at this?
http://tinyurl.com/analyzeyourcats

If not, do that analysis and come up with your Bucket 2 items. Then, run those individual problems (from bucket 2) through the problem analysis process discussed earlier in this post. That analysis will tell you why you messed up certain things, which will tell you what you need to do to get better.

On verbal, if your timing is on the faster side, be really anal. Check for proof in the passage or argument. Read through the final full SC sentence. (Don't do this if you're finishing on time or sometimes struggling with time.)

Practice verbal about twice a week - particularly when you're getting sick of quant and need a break. :)

For IR, if you have that "management consulting" type brain, then you may not find IR too terrible. Plus, you scored 4.5 on our IR, which means you're probably at about a 6 for the real thing (our IR is harder than the real thing). So you're probably okay, but still keep doing IR on practice tests and just do the IR Interact lessons so that you know the main strategies for the different IR question types.

Oh, and here's a guide for making up timed sets for yourself:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/2014 ... blem-sets/

If you're trying to do a set, time yourself separately (use your smart phone Lap function) and put little tabs / pieces of paper in the book to help flip around quickly. Then enter the answers and time in Navigator afterwards.

[NaomiD519]

I took the first GMATPrep CAT and got 730 (Q47, V44, IR 7) - now I'm just under two weeks from the test, which I plan to take. The GMATPrep test felt quite easy compared to Manhattan ones, but I wasn't familiar with the questions beforehand so it's probably relatively accurate (maybe on the higher end of my ability level).

Timing has been a lot better and I'm sticking with the scratch paper method for Quant and just general benchmarks for verbal. I'm working on developing a one-minute sense, but it is very difficult.

I have always analyzed by CATs in the way the article described - it's just so heavily emphasized I thought I was missing. I pinpointed a handful of quant weaknesses and have been working on those while trying to watch timing.

Anyway, this is the final stretch and I'm just focusing on keeping motivation and performing to the max of my current ability.

[StaceyKoprince]

That's great - keep up the good work! Let us know if you have any questions or issues. And, of course, let us know how it goes!

[NaomiD519]

I got a 740 on the real thing. Quant and IR scores were not the best (Q47, V45, IR 5) but it went well overall.

[StaceyKoprince]

Great job!! Congratulations!

Those scores are more than good enough - nothing to worry about! :)

Good luck with apps!