Need help with my timing

[arjun_r81]

I did my GMAT prep 1 again with a 770(50Q 44V). I made 3 mistakes in quant and 4 in verbal. I saw a lot of repeats. So does not really reflect anything....I plan to take my last GMAT Focus on Saturday before pulling the curtains...

Last Week
Quant:
I still have the first 60 problems in DS and PS that I haven't attempted in OG11. I dont know whether I should do them or not with my exam on the coming wednesday....But I am just going to do a few random ones but I am not sure if I will have any "take aways". Are the first 60 problems in each section worth doing just for the sake of completion?

Verbal:
I have first 50 questions on SC and 20 questions on CR left on Verbal review. I also have a BIG leasons learnt list that runs for miles...It may take two days to just go through that!! I have all the Manhattan Guides for verbal to go through..atleast the SC guide..What in your opinion should be my priorities?

General: I also plan to do a few questions from each area every day....just to keep in touch....I need to come up with a to-do list so that I consolidate(easier said than done...any tips??)

Haven't practised the essays yet...I will just go by your template and not spend too much in preparation....

Finally, Thanks for all your answers, precise and perfect as always. I received my marker/pad from Manhattan...It was a good idea to buy it....the grid lines are little invisible for my eye...but I used the first column(left end) as my "A"line and next four for B through E...

Thanks for all the help(and patience!!)

[StaceyKoprince]

At this point, you really just want to do high-level review of everything. Probably don't need to do the first 60 / 50 questions, unless you really feel the need for a bit of light practice. Spend more time solidifying your strengths than trying to do anything about your weaknesses - your weaknesses aren't going to change much in the last few days.

So, mostly a high-level review of strategies (including pacing), a few practice problems just to keep yourself sharp.

It is important to practice the essays a little bit just so that you know how to do them easily, without taking too much energy / brain power. You don't want them to suck up energy that you'd rather spend on the multiple choice portion of the test.

[arjun_r81]

Thanks again for your advice.

I took my GMAT and scored 710( 87% quant and 83% verbal). I am a bit disappointed with my quant score. I needed a better quant score than that for the programs I am applying to. Verbal is in line with what I scored in my second GMAT prep(38V), although I have regularly scored higher.

I am a licensed bridge/structural engineer in the US with 5 years experience and the percentile in quant, in my opinion, does not quite reflect my potential and does not help my application. in the last GMAT focus test the last saturday, I got only one question wrong. I am OK with my verbal score.
Test day:
I did not sleep the night before the exam. Did my usual Daily show and half of letterman...I went to sleep at 12:00....thunderstorms in my area didnt help....so I had about 3 to 4 hours of sleep max.....had a protein shake and coffee in the morning....did some OG problems(was pretty sleepy at this point)

Test was at 10:00AM.
AWAs: I just used your templates for the essays. I think I did a 5.

Quant: I finished quant about 5 minutes ahead of time. Thats a red flag right there.I am sure I would have made some silly mistakes as the questions seemed fairly straight forward. Cant really say where I screwed up except I may slept through the first few questions in a rush.

Verbal : I think it went well except towards the end. I even got a Bold faced Question around qn 25. I got two long and two short RC. CRs and SCs were fairly similar to GMAT prep. I think I had two minutes to solve the last three questions. I think it went down south somewhere towards the end.

710 was the minimum I expected and that ended up being my score! If there is one thing I want to change, it will be my quant score. So I want to give it another shot.
I live in Miami and I have already suspended my life for the past three months. Another month will make it cruel. I will apply for R1 with my 710 for some schools. I have to prepare my applications for the univs from scratch. I am kinda confused as to what to do. One thing that I feel I need to do is improve my quant score.

Having decided to take it again, I need your advice. What do you suggest I do from here on? Can I take a week off from studying for the GMAT? I dont even have any new tests to take!! I need to start researching my univs too. I thought of even visiting a few of top ten univs that I maybe applying to. Now I am short on time. I feel a bit overwhelmed. I need your advice to make things a little clearer for me.

Thanks a lot for all the help. You truly were my only source of direction/guidance.

[StaceyKoprince]

I know you weren't happy with your score, but you did a fantastic job - 710 is a GREAT score. So you really should take some time to congratulate yourself.

At this point, honestly, your major focus should be the applications, not the GMAT. You said that you scored in the 87th percentile on quant and you said that you think you need more than that for the schools to which you plan to apply. I'm not an admissions expert, but I'm not aware of any school that asks for more than an 80/80 (at least 80th percentile in each section), even in the top 5. You may want to go ask in the Admissions Consulting folder, but I think you've already got what you need as far as the GMAT is concerned.

The GMAT is not something that is ever going to get you admitted - even if you get a perfect 800. The GMAT is just something they use a threshold indicator - did you do well enough that we can check off the "GMAT is fine" box and then scrutinize the rest of your application? If you hit 700+ and 80+/80+, then schools are going to think, "ok, the GMAT is fine, let's go look at the rest of this application." (Again, I'm not an admissions expert, so you should really discuss this particular issue with the admissions folks. This is just my opinion.)

The reason I'm making this point is that you've got to set some priorities now. If you want to apply for first round, you've got a month to do the apps, and it's important to make all of the other aspects as great as they can be, as well. If you're spending a lot of time prepping for the GMAT, then that's time that can't be spent on other areas of the app, so there's a trade-off you have to make here.

Given that the apps take a lot of time, in my opinion, they need to be your primary focus at this point. It's also a great idea to visit your top-choice school (and maybe several others) - that shows the school how very interested you are in attending. At the least, most schools will hold information sessions at different locations around the country, and you should attend info sessions that are held in your area. (The schools don't necessarily expect you go get on a plane to visit, but they do expect you to attend an info session if you're really interested, and if you already live near the school, then they do expect you to take the time to visit.)

Go over and post in the Admissions Consulting section and ask them what they recommend at this point. Do make sure to mention, in your post, the names of some of the schools to which you plan to apply, as well as other relevant details of your work and extracurricular history. Ask them what they think in terms of where your time would be best spent at this point.

[arjun_r81]

Thanks again for valuable insight. As you were not here last week, I went into a spiral and ended up booking my exam on Sep 29th at 11 AM! I tried contacting adcoms and the best I could get out of anyone was "if you think the score does not show your potential, give it another try" (read "we cant answer your question"). I did consult my friends who said "730 is the new 700"....I think they pulled that one out of thin air.....Anyway your advice is by far the best I have heard.

I did have a plan B before I wrote my GMAT...in case I did not do well. That is simply to shift to round 2 for some of the univs and still try to get in round 1 for univs that had a late deadline like Duke.

I want to spend this month doing research on univs and also preparing for the GMAT. By now, I am used to doing insane hours after my 8 hour workday. If this gets above my head, I can always get a 80 dollar refund on my exam.

I will post my story in Ad consulting section as suggested by you. I will also attend info sessions(being in Miami really does not help in that regard....Miami does not even have MGMAT center). I am sure it will be a harrowing two months....

But if I am going to take the GMAT again, what steps should I take? 710(49Q 38V) to 740(50Q,40V) would be reasonable jump to aim for, given a months time. I know that does not mean I will get it. All I can do is give it a try. I have exhausted pretty much exhausted all of the good tests. (Manhattan and GMAT prep). What advice would you give your "retake students"? Should I do the Manhattan Challenge series? Please advice.

Thanks again for your advice.

PS: For folks taking the exam, the exam center is a well lit quiet environment. Dont lose sleep wondering what it would be like...All I can say is that the experience was very comfy.

[StaceyKoprince]

In order to make the jump that you're talking about, you actually need to study / analyze how these problems work. Just doing the problems and reviewing solutions is not enough for a 740 level.

We've had a lot of posts in this thread, now, so apologies if I repeat some of my earlier advice.

There are several main things to master:

1) Content (quant and grammar). At a 740 level, you need to know everything, even the little nit-picky stuff. That stuff is covered in our books, so if you know those books backwards and forwards, and you are able to recall the material very easily, and you are able to execute (do the calculations correctly, etc), then you're good.

2) Technique (ie, dealing with the specific, and sometimes strange, ways in which GMAT questions are worded / constructed. Your task here (beyond knowing the techniques very well, obviously) is to be able to recognize what to do when a new question pops up. Figuring things out from scratch takes too long and leaves you open to too many mistakes. One of the things to practice is literally: how do I recognize and categorize, in 10-20 seconds, any new problem that pops up? (Again, this is for a 740-level. At lower levels, you still want to do this, but you don't need to do it on almost all of the problems.) When studying a current problem, I need to ask myself (a) what is this problem really testing, (b) what is the most effective way to deal with the problem, and (c) how will I recognize a future, different problem that is nevertheless testing the same thing and should be done in the same way?

3) Timing. For a 740, the timing needs to be flawless. Flawless timing = giving your best shot within the time constraints and moving on when it is apparent that you're not going to get this one within the expected per-question time constraint. Couple this with effective educated guessing: ideally, you want to recognize that a problem is "just not happening" around the half-way mark for that problem. Then, you switch your mindset to eliminating wrong answers rather than finding the right answer. Before the time limit for that question is up, make a guess (having narrowed down your answers by eliminating some wrong ones).

One tip: ask yourself WHY, constantly. Why is the problem worded in this specific way? How would it change the problem if we changed some specific part of the wording? Why did I get this problem wrong? Why did I not recognize what to do with this problem (and how can I recognize a similar problem in future)? On verbal, why is the wrong answer wrong and why did I think it was right? Why is the right answer right, and why did I think it was wrong? Why did the test-writer write this problem in precisely this way - what is really being tested, what traps did this create, etc?

[StaceyKoprince]

Oh, and I forgot to add:

You can still take both GMATPrep and MGMAT CATs as long as you follow a few guidelines to minimize the chance of artificially inflating your score via question repeats. First, anytime you see a problem that you remember (and this means: I know the answer or I'm pretty sure I remember the answer, not just "hmm, this looks familiar..."), immediately look at the timer and make yourself sit there for the full length of time for that question type. This way, you don't artificially give yourself more time than you should have. Second, think about whether you got this problem right the last time. If you did, get it right again this time. If you didn't, get it wrong again. If you *completely honestly* think that you would get it right this time around if it were a new question (even though you got it wrong last time) because you've studied that area and improved, then get it right this time.

[arjun_r81]

Thanks again for the great advice.

I took my GMAT prep 2 exam (my 1rst repeat of prep 2) and scored 770(51Q - 1 wrong,44V - 5 wrong).I followed your advice when I saw repeats.

I worked on my Grammar from GMAT prep Verbal Folder - I have learnt so much from that. All this while I had to figure out my own takeaways, but this forum is like a treasure chest. Explanations written by you and Ron (and the rest of the folks) were so informative and sometimes even funny! Infact I havent been doing anything else for the past two weeks but spending time here. Worth a ton! Thanks so much.

My test date is Sept 29. 11 AM. I am planning to take just one more test. I feel the need to strengthen my understanding of the "Content" (read tricks or takeaways) than to take more tests. Let me know if you find this logic faulty.

I also had few conversations with Alumni and second year students from few of the univs that I plan to apply. I had to prepare for each of those conservations(usually two days for one) as they last an hour. But apart from that I spent my time in this forum and with OG11.

I also got my AWA score of 5 a couple of weeks back. Good for me....Thanks for those templates that you provided me....made my life much easier.

Apart from literally following your advice from the previous post, I plan to spend the next two weeks doing:

1)problems from this forum(with great explanations).
2) Doing all the MGMAT MATH problems from the tests.
3)Finish OG verbal which I failed to do last time.
4)Keep doing timed sets of 37 problems in Quant and 41 problems in Verbal.(I usually make up my own set of problems - not really adaptive) - but it helps me keep a check on my pacing.
5) Do one more GMAT prep.

Let me know if you see any pitfalls.

Thanks for all the advice.

[StaceyKoprince]

I am planning to take just one more test. I feel the need to strengthen my understanding of the "Content" (read tricks or takeaways) than to take more tests. Let me know if you find this logic faulty.

Completely agree. Good plan.

Glad you got a 5 on the essays; that takes the pressure off for next time. Just do the basics and save your mental energy for the multiple choice.

I think the rest of your plan sounds good too. Good luck - let us know how it goes!

[arjun_r81]

Thanks again for your advice. I took my GMAT again and scored 730 - 96 percentile (50Q 38V).

I did not do the last three questions on either section.(Yes I filled in something and did not leave them blank). I tried not to do what I did last time, which is to finish early!. Ironic to the topic of the forum, I ended up short on Timing this time. Yes I am a little disappointed....that I will always be....So I am going to take the GMAT again to raise my score to 750....well just kidding...

Quant was fascinating. I just wish I could have attempted the last three questions. The questions started to look more like the Manhattan type. Performing actual calculations was never my strong point. I am good at logic, number properties, probability and all the tricky stuff. But to get to these "fun questions" one has to really clear all "labor" type questions.

Verbal I was doing fine till someone in the next cabin started her AWA. That was big distraction. That might seem like whining...but it was a big distraction.

So Timing was my problem today(it wasn't ..the last time... when I scored 710...well...it was in a sense because I finished early).

Anyway I will post my Test day account soon. But I am here today to wholeheartedly thank you for your support. You were the only one I was talking to the whole three months. You personally fixed my timing problem. I went from 630 on MGMAT cat 3 to 740 MGMAT cat 4 just because of your tips. Your idea about how to use the grid lines in the laminated booklet (instead of writing ABCDE a thousad times) is simply genius. The posts under this topic is full of rich advice. I suggest someone reading this to go through all the posts under this topic. Every advice is worth in Gold. They helped me immensely. I cant thank you enough Stacey.....I have not seen a more thorough professional than you. I owe a lot to you.

I also owe a lot to Ron...I haven't personally interacted with him....some of his explanations in Sentence Correction are simply awesome you guys!! (trying to mimic Eric Cartman from South Park). His sense of humor helped me get through the long hours I spent in the forum.

I am going out for my well deserved beer!(and trying to get my life back..well atleast for two days before "application grind" begins.)

Thanks!!

[StaceyKoprince]

That's fantastic - congratulations! Thanks for the praise - we try our best to help. (You were the one who actually had to do the hard work, though!)

I'm sure other students would appreciate your insights into what worked and what didn't, so please do post in the "GMAT Test Day" folder when you get a chance. And let us know how applications go!

[arjun_r81]

I will post my test experience in the GMAT test day folder. But I am going to post it here too just for the sake of completion.

Apologize for the delay....In case you folks think that it gets easier after the GMAT....NOPE!

Sequence of events on Test day

After you are allocated a computer, these are what you will do. (You will take the locker key + your ID inside the testing room)

1)school selection. - (NOT TIMED - important to know)
2) Instructions - TIMED - you already know the instructions. So you can breeze through this without really reading.
3) AWA - 2x30 mins = 1 hr
4) Break - 8 mins
5) Extra 1 minute to read instructions when you get back to your computer- effectively you will have an extra minute after you sign back in. You can use it to quickly write down your pacing table/strategy.
6)Quant
7) Break - 8 mins
8)Extra 1 minute - Same as point 4
9) Verbal
10) Survey and scores. - I didnt fill anything up as I was too hungry! Report Scores? - Hell yea!

Quant: If you are aiming for 50 or 51, Math requires "patience". By the way I guessed the last two questions on Math....

What I mean by patience is read the question carefully - At higher levels, Math is going to be "wordy". Things look scary but they are not. Be Calm....not slow...but calm...there is a difference....The key is to not read the questions 20 times and waste time, but rather to read it slow/calm the first time.In my case, the first 20 questions needed some work. Then I think I got some experimental questions, which you can do in less than a minute. I dozed of a little bit in middle of Quant. Whenever I was a little ahead on time, I didnt know how to handle that. Plan in advance for this.

Verbal : Didnt find anything unusual...I got stuck with my third RC passage....should have let it go.....but didnt and got myself into time trouble in the end. I found that the RC passages were a little longer than GMAT prep.(or atleast it seemed so).

Some tips from my side:

This forum is a great source of information. USE IT! .It is hard to find places where you can take things for granted - THIS IS ONE OF THEM.

VERBAL : USE only Manhattan and GMAT PREP and OFFICIAL GUIDE - Get used to as many official problems as possible. IT REALLY HELPS.

MATH : in my opinion, you can wander around...can take the liberty to do random problem!.still very important to do as many official problems as possible. But doing problems from random sources wont really hurt you. After all it is MATH. there is only one right answer. It is not subjective like verbal.

VERBAL: stick to official material...juice out takeaways from every official problem you come across. Create your own note book for takeaways.....Unless you are absolutely sure, dont record the "takeaway" in the notebook. This forum provides you easy takeaways without doing all the hardwork.

Thats all I got for now. Feel free to post questions.

Ofcourse I will let you guys know how my applications go....for right now...my eyes are red....

THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP....

[StaceyKoprince]

Thanks for taking the time to supply this info to other students - we are all grateful!

We're looking forward to hearing how the apps go!

[vivek.bs2010]

Excellent thread! you have no idea how much this thread helped me!
I have my test next week...

I noticed this while going through the previous post -
5) Extra 1 minute to read instructions when you get back to your computer- effectively you will have an extra minute after you sign back in. You can use it to quickly write down your pacing table/strategy.

Is this mandatory in all testing centers? I mean, can I assume this while forming strategies?

Cheers!

[hemant.rao110]

hi stacey