Need some new study techniques

[j_sibal]

Hello,

I took the GMAT exam in August and scored an unacceptable 480 Q26/V29. Thereafter with about 3 months of study with MGMAT books I took the test again today and scored a demoralizing 530 Q29/V34. Since I am sitting on the other side of the globe I cannot participate in your classes which would probably help me a great deal.

What really disturbs me is that my verbal score is responsible for the majority of the increase in total score, even though I have only very casually browsed through the verbal Manhattan guides, and instead dedicated 2-4 hours of daily study to Quants as that has always been my weak point throughout my life.

The only improvement (big as a personal achievement but meaningless as far as the GMAT result is concerned) in my math ability is from getting 90% of the questions wrong (except for the very basic) under no time constraint to about 90% of them right (including many of the hardest ones) under very generous time constraints.

I recently read a response of one of your instructors to a student, in which it is claimed that all students scoring between 400-700 answer only 60-70% (raw) of the questions correctly in the given time frame of the exam. The difference of course being at the difficulty level at which the questions are being answered correctly, and of course at which point of the exam this happens i.e.: answering the first 10 questions incorrectly (thus the computer binning you in the "easy" bracket), and answering the remainder correctly will give you a terrible overall score even though you answered 70% of them correctly.

I had conducted a small experiment (only in the Quants section) based on the above insight using your online exam in which I purposefully tried to answer the first 10 questions correctly (regardless of time), and subsequently answered every second question incorrectly (I did this to simulate a situation in which one spent extra time on the first 10 questions, and subsequently spending 10-30 secs to evaluate if a question is too difficult based on ones strengths and weaknesses and guessing on it if necessary). The resulting score pegged me in the 70th percentile in spite of getting 2 questions wrong in the first 10, and 4-5 in a row towards the end of the section (approximately 54% instead of the target of 60%). If I could achieve such a result on an actual exam that would be an encouraging starting point.

Sadly the exam is more about time management than anything else, and I have not practised the above technique (to game for time) enough as I discovered this only a few days ago. Would like your thoughts on whether or not this can work on the real exam, and of course suggestions on how to improve time management in the Quants. I find my mind racing around when faced with a quant question, and I am always mentally double checking myself many times over before I can convince myself that one must apply a certain formula or equation to this question. On harder questions at least 2 minutes would pass by before I even am on track on getting the right answer - I jump from technique to technique - formula to formula until I am convinced. I cannot decide at the time how to test numbers (inequality DS, VIC problems)- I just test randomly until I am convinced (I always question too many things such as negative or positive) - usually I realize how simple it is a little too late.

I am at a loss how to go about this. Is this simply a matter of practising 1000s of questions following a fixed pattern until it sinks in subconsciously? If so how can I get access to such volumes of questions? On the Verbal side I always have extra time left, and I must slow myself down.

My target score is a 680-700, and I am planning to take the next exam end of April. That gives me around 4 months. That would mean an improvement of at least 150 points. If I am to use the previous "improvement" as a benchmark this time frame may be insufficient, but I cannot stretch it out further. I really do need tips on how to manage this

Please help!

[j_sibal]

Any suggestions?

[rkim81]

j_sibal, I sympathize with your situation, I feel like your beginning was very similar to mine. I'm not scoring in the 700 level, but 650+, highest being 670 so far. Please refer to this post help-needed-t9078.html, I outline some of the material and strategies I have used. Hope it helps and good luck!

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm sorry I'm only getting to your post now; I've been on vacation since 15 Dec.

Since I am sitting on the other side of the globe I cannot participate in your classes which would probably help me a great deal.

Actually, I have people on the other side of the globe in my classes all the time. We hold our classes online as well. I've had people from India, China, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa...

The time difference can be a bit challenging, but it is possible to find something that can work even with the time change. If you want to, you can sit in on a first class for free (it's called a Trial Class) to see whether you like the medium, the instructors, the course set-up, etc.

The only improvement in my math ability is from getting 90% of the questions wrong (except for the very basic) under no time constraint to about 90% of them right (including many of the hardest ones) under very generous time constraints.

I don't think this is meaningless as far as the GMAT is concerned. You still have more work to do, but this was a necessary step to get there - so, great job.

You do, of course, have to start working under those time constraints. You are also right that most people answer only about 60% of the questions correctly (except at the highest and lowest levels). The test does not, though, "lock" you into a certain bracket after the first 10 questions - that one's a myth. (Certainly, if you did get the first 10 questions wrong, it would be very difficult to recover - but it's highly unlikely that anyone would ever get the first 10 questions wrong unless they were actually trying to do so. :)

It would be very dangerous to employ a strategy in which you spent a lot more time on the first 10 questions at the expense of the later questions. As I mentioned, it is a myth that the earlier questions are worth more than the later ones, and the penalty for getting a string of questions wrong in a row is very high. If you get lucky and get one right to break up the string, or get a couple right at the end after you've gotten some wrong, then you don't feel the full effect of the penalty in practice. On the real test, you can't depend upon luck; you have to assume the worst case scenario: that you'll have a ton wrong in a row with NO right ones at the end to bring your score back up.

I agree that the test is very much about time management, but the issue / strategy is this (on quant):

Spend at least 1m on each question. Actually try to figure out how to get to the right answer during that 1st minute. If, at the halfway mark, you know what you're doing and think you can finish the problem in another minute to minute and a half, keep going. If, on the other hand, you don't know what you're doing, switch tactics. Instead of trying to find the right answer, spend the 2nd minute trying to find wrong answers and crossing them off; then guess at (or before) the 2m mark. (This is what's called educated guessing.)

Don't go beyond the 3m mark on any one question pretty much ever. The penalty is too high later in the test. And if you're going to go much beyond the 2m mark on a question, there's really only one acceptable circumstance: you know exactly what you're doing and how to finish the problem - no question - but it's just long or complicated for some reason so you need a little extra time.

From the other things you described, it sounds like you need to develop your recognition skills (that ability to decide, within the first 15-30sec, what the best approach is based on recognizing something you've seen before). It also sounds like you need some help with how to analyze practice problems in general. (That's where most of your learning comes from, by the way - not the time you take to do the problem in the first place, but the time you take to analyze and study it after.)

This article might be of some help to you:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/10/09/how-to-analyze-a-practice-problem

And here's another one about how to analyze your practice tests (so that you know where you need to work!):
http://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/09/23/evaluating-your-practice-tests