Stacey Help! What do these scores mean? 2.5 weeks to go!

[andreas.apostolatos]

So, I've completed 3 practice tests to date. I'm adamant about simulating testing conditions to the max, so all have been:

(a) under actual time constraints
(b) completing both essays first
(c) actually completed at the MGMAT testing center in NYC
(d) normal breaks between sections

Here's the breakdown:

3/20: 660 (Q43, V37) - this was before taking class session 1

5/14: 670 (Q47, V34) - this was after class session 5/6

6/6: 680 (Q41, V41) - this past weekend, class is complete, studying on my own until actual test day at the end of this month.

Basically, I'm a little worried by the lack of section consistency, feeling that my numbers thus far could lead to a great day or a disappointing day.

Also the strange thing is that my pacing was technically best on my last exam (the previous two, I did not finish quant, had 3-4 problems to go).

At this point, I've pretty much completed all the class material with the exception of some advanced sections. I'm going back and re-reviewing the strat guides and focusing on the advanced. I've completed about 80% of the OG problems.

Any guidance/help would be appreciated! Is it rare to see such inconsistency? Overall, I definitely feel more confident on the verbal.

Thanks so much!

[StaceyKoprince]

Yes, you do have some inconsistency, and no, it isn't rare to have such inconsistency. It is a good idea, though, to try to diagnose that inconsistency (and do something about it) before test day. Otherwise, as you said, you could have a great test day or you could have a terrible one.

What's your goal score?

We can see that quant and verbal are fluctuating. You did tests under official test conditions, so that doesn't factor in. The three likely culprits left are timing issues, content / knowledge, and careless error issues. (Note: you can still have timing problems even when you finish the section on time - just finishing the section on time does not guarantee that you have avoided timing problems.)

Do the analysis described in the below article on your last two practice tests. Really dig in and make sure you assess EVERY last thing - we need to make sure we get an accurate diagnosis in order to cure the problem.

http://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/09/23 ... tice-tests

If you notice a lot of careless errors, read this article to help learn how to minimize these:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/04/ ... our-errors

If you have timing problems, start here:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2009/12/ ... management

If you have content / technique issues (holes in your foundational knowledge about the material tested on the exam or techniques used to answer the types of questions found on the exam), then you're going to have to go back to your red books to shore up your weaknesses.

Also, come back here and let us know what you discover in your analysis, and we'll help with additional ideas of what to do.

[andreas.apostolatos]

Hi Stacey,

First off, thank you so much for your help and quick reply!!

I've done what you recommended and did the thorough analysis outlined in your article. For some reason, it seems that what significantly affected my Verbal score on test #2 was a poor finish, and same with my Quant score on test #3. The below is a (sorry) very detailed account of each test across each thing you said you "look" for. Any specific insights or red flags?

My goal score is 700, and I'm taking the test in 2.5 weeks.


Exam #2 - May 14th

Overall Score 670 (Q47, V34)

Conditions - official test taking

Quantitative Problem List
- No strings of 4+ questions wrong (no more than 2 wrong in a row at any point)
- Timing of last 5 questions (ran out of time):
o #33: 600-700 diff, correct in 1:22
o #34: 700-800 diff, wrong in 59 seconds
o #35: 600-700 diff, correct in 5 seconds (guess)
o #36: 700-800 diff, wrong in 1 second (guess)
o #37: 700-800 diff, wrong in 5 seconds (guess)

- Way Too Slow
ABOVE 3 MINUTES
o #10: 600-700 diff, correct in 3:58 SUBJ: PS VIC
o #12: 600-700 diff, wrong in 3:18 SUBJ: PS PERCENTS
o #13: 500-600 diff, correct in 3:21 SUBJ: PS LINES AND ANGLES
o #20: 700-800 diff, correct in 3:10 SUBJ: PS OVERLAPPING SETS

ABOVE 2:40
o #8: 600-700 diff, wrong in 2:53 SUBJ: DS RATIOS
o #11: 700-800 diff, wrong in 2:42 SUBJ: PS EXP/ROOTS
o #17: 700-800 diff, wrong in 2:50 SUBJ: PS OVERLAPPING SETS
o #21: 700-800 diff, correct in 2:46 SUBJ: PS FRACTIONS (EXP/ROOTS)
o #25: 600-700 diff, correct in 2:59 SUBJ: DS STATISTICS
o #26: 700-800 diff, correct in 2:42 SUBJ: DS QUADRATIC EQUATIONS
o #29: 700-800 diff, correct in 2:58 SUBJ: PS CIRCLES AND CYLANDERS

- Way Too Fast and Incorrect:
o #34: 700-800 diff, wrong in 59 seconds
o #36: 700-800 diff, wrong in 1 second (guess)
o #37: 700-800 diff, wrong in 5 seconds (guess)


Verbal Problem List
- Strings of Wrong Answers
o #8: 700-800 diff, wrong in 2:01 SUBJ: CR STRENGTHEN CONCLUSION
o #9: 600-700 diff, wrong in 1:26 SUBJ: SC IDIOM MODIFYERS
o #10: 700-800 diff, wrong in :40 SUBJ: SC CONCISION
o #11: 600-700 diff, wrong in 2:52 SUBJ: CR ANALYZE ARG STRUCTURE

The end of the section did me in (7 out of last 9 incorrect) - but wasn’t just timing, didn’t feel that pressured time wise!
o #33: 700-800 diff, wrong in 1:00 SUBJ: SC IDIOMS
o #34: 700-800 diff, wrong in 2:49 SUBJ: CR DRAW CONCLUSION
o #35: 700-800 diff, wrong in 3:12 SUBJ: RC SPECIFIC DETAIL
o #36: 700-800 diff, wrong in 1:00 SUBJ: RC INFERENCE
o #37: 600-700 diff, correct in :43 SUBJ RC PASSAGE STRUCTURE
o #38: 700-800 diff, wrong in 1:38 SUBJ: SC PARALLELISM
o #39: 700-800 diff, correct in 1:01 SUBJ: SC CLARITY OF MEANING
o #40: 600-700 diff, wrong in :52 SUBJ: SC VERBS
o #41: 600-700 diff, wrong in :49 SUBJ: CR INFERENCE

- Timing of last 5 questions:
o See above

- Way Too Slow
ABOVE 3 MINUTES
o None - except 1st in string of RC, which overall were fine for question + reading

ABOVE 2:00 for SC
o #28: 600-700 diff, correct in 2:01

ABOVE 2:30 for CR
o #11: 600-700 diff, wrong in 2:52
o #15: 500-600 diff, wrong in 2:32
o #30: 500-700 diff, correct in 2:44
o #34: 700-800 diff, wrong in 2:49

- Way Too Fast and Incorrect
o #10: 700-800 diff, wrong in :40 SUBJ: SC CONCISION
o #33: 700-800 diff, wrong in 1:00 SUBJ: SC IDIOMS
o #36: 700-800 diff, wrong in 1:00 SUBJ: RC INFERENCE
o #40: 600-700 diff, wrong in :52 SUBJ: SC VERBS
o #41: 600-700 diff, wrong in :49 SUBJ: CR INFERENCE

Assessment Summary

PS: 55% correct, right answers in 2:15, wrong answers in 1:54, 600 diff right, 690 diff wrong
DS: 67% correct, right answers in 1:50, wrong answers in 2:08, 640 diff right, 670 diff wrong

Word Trans: 70% correct, right in 2:20, wrong in 2:14
Geometry: 60% correct, right in 2:55, wrong in 1:19
Number P: 29% correct, right in 1:33, wrong in 1:39
Algebra: 75% correct, right in 2:06, wrong in 2:02
FDPs: 57% correct, right in 1:09, wrong in 2:42


SC: 60% correct, right answers in 1:24, wrong answers in 1:11, 680 diff right, 720 diff wrong
CR: 43% correct, right answers in 2:05, wrong answers in 2:08, 600 diff right, 680 diff wrong
RC: 67% correct, right answers in 2:13, wrong answers in 1:59, 630 diff right, 700 diff wrong

Exam #3 - June 6th

Overall Score 680 (Q41, V41)

Conditions - official test taking

Quantitative Problem List
- Strings of Wrong Answers
o #17: 700-800 diff, wrong in 2:58 SUBJ: PS OVERLAPPING SETS
o #18: 600-700 diff, wrong in 2:11 SUBJ: DS RATIOS (Percents)
o #19: 700-800 diff, wrong in 2:38 SUBJ: DS EXPONENTIAL EQUATIONS
o #20: 700-800 diff, wrong in 3:18 SUBJ: PS VIC RATES AND WORK
o #21: 700-800 diff, wrong in 1:03 SUBJ: PS TRIANGLES/PROBABILITY

o While not 4+, I ended the section very poorly (see below)

- Last 11 Questions (8 of last 11 incorrect!):
o #27: 700-800 diff, wrong in 2:14 SUBJ: PS CYLANDERS AND CIRCLES
o #28: 600-700 diff, wrong in 1:41 SUBJ: PS CONSECUTIVE INTEGERS
o #29: 600-700 diff, wrong in 2:19 SUBJ: PS QUADRATIC EQUATIONS
o #30: 600-700 diff, correct in 1:25 SUBJ: PS VIC RATES AND WORK
o #31: 500-600 diff, wrong in 1:30 SUBJ: DS POS/NEGATIVES
o #32: 600-700 diff, wrong in 1:32 SUBJ: PS COMBINATORICS
o #33: 500-600 diff, correct in 1:25 SUBJ: PS PERCENTS
o #34: 600-700 diff, wrong in 1:53 SUBJ: DS RATIOS
o #35: 600-700 diff, wrong in 1:32 SUBJ: DS EXP/ROOTS
o #36: 500-600 diff, wrong in 2:38 SUBJ: PS BASIC EQUATIONS
o #37: 500-600 diff, wrong in 1:04 SUBJ: PS PERCENTS

- Way Too Slow
ABOVE 3 MINUTES
o #20: 700-800 diff, wrong in 3:18 SUBJ: PS VIC RATES AND WORK
o #9: 600-700 diff, correct in 3:34 SUBJ: PS FRACTIONS

ABOVE 2:40
o #24: 600-700 diff, correct in 2:48 SUBJ: DS COMBINATORICS
o #6: 600-700 diff, correct in 2:55 SUBJ: PS PROBABILITY
o #10: 600-700 diff, wrong in 2:55 SUBJ: PS VIC
o #17: 700-800 diff, wrong in 2:58 SUBJ: PS OVERLAPPING SETS
o 2-3 more in the 2:30s

- Way Too Fast and Incorrect:
o #21: 700-800 diff, wrong in 1:03 seconds
o Besides that, most of other fast problems (i.e. under 1:30) were correct, although had about 4-5 incorrect around the 1:30



Verbal Problem List
- Strings of Wrong Answers
o No more than 2 in a row wrong

- Timing of last 5 questions (ran out of time):
o #37: 600-700 diff, wrong in 1:18 SUBJ: SC PRONOUNS
o #38: 700-800 diff, correct in :57 SUBJ: CR ANALYZE ARG STRUCTURE
o #39: 700-800 diff, correct in :55 SUBJ: SC SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT
o #40: 600-700 diff, wrong in :23 SUBJ: SC CLARITY OF MEANING
o #41: 600-700 diff, wrong in :05 SUBJ: SC PARALLELISM


- Way Too Slow
ABOVE 3 MINUTES
o None - except 1st in string of RC, which overall were fine for question + reading

ABOVE 2:00 for SC
o None - one wrong at 1:59

ABOVE 2:30 for CR
o #2: 700-800 diff, correct in 2:32
o #24: 700-800 diff, correct in 2:36
o #17: 700-800 diff, correct in 3:01
o #18: 700-800 diff, correct in 3:23
o Seems it might have been worth it to spend extra time on those few??

- Way Too Fast and Incorrect
o None really, with the exception of the last couple question where rand out of time

Assessment Summary

PS: 50% correct, right answers in 2:01, wrong answers in 2:14, 610 diff right, 670 diff wrong
DS: 47% correct, right answers in 1:44, wrong answers in 2:00, 620 diff right, 650 diff wrong

Word Trans: 64% correct, right in 1:58, wrong in 2:09
Geometry: 25% correct, right in 2:11, wrong in 1:46
Number P: 38% correct, right in 1:54, wrong in 1:47
Algebra: 25% correct, right in 1:46, wrong in 2:43
FDPs: 83% correct, right in 1:51, wrong in 1:28


SC: 60% correct, right answers in 1:17, wrong answers in 1:13, 750 diff right, 700 diff wrong
CR: 86% correct, right answers in 2:05, wrong answers in 2:08, 700 diff right, 750 diff wrong
RC: 75% correct, right answers in 2:13, wrong answers in 1:59, 710 diff right, 720 diff wrong

[StaceyKoprince]

Good data. Let's see.

++ took tests under full official conditions

Quant:
- T2, got lucky on #35. On guesses, plan for worst case scenario, which would have been 4 wrong in a row. That may have lowered your overall score.
- Also got four in a row wrong at the end of T3. Somewhat pressed for time there too.
- 3+ min Qs. Only 4, which is not too bad. BUT still not great! That's where you lost the end of the test. ALL were PS. If you can, try to learn how to do the ones you got right in less time (2.5m or less). WHY did it take you so much extra time to get those 3 right?
- 2m40s+. 7 of these. Too many. On the ones you got right, how can you shave 20s? On the ones you got wrong, did you end up having to guess on any? How could you recognize sooner next time that you're going to have to guess eventually anyway, so you might as well guess now?

In general, tending to go over on PS, not DS. Word problems. VICs. Sometimes fractions or geom.

T2: Clear strength in DS. Possibly a few careless errors on PS (the right vs. wrong difficulty level is a little bit too widespread). Bit strengths in Alg, WT (though possibly some timing issues on some WT?). Geom right and FDP wrong too slow! Biggest problem: NP % correct way too low (and also really fast - why so fast?)

T3: DS performance dropped a lot. Why? Algebra and geom really dropped. Wrong algebra also averaged way too long. Why? Dig into those individual questions.

Verbal:
Timing better on T2, though a bit of pressure at the end, so possibly the issue was more stamina / mental fatigue. How did you feel? On T3, ran out of time.

On T2 when you went over 2.5m for CR, it didn't help. On T3, you did get them right, BUT you ran out of time at the end (and you got a bit lucky again on #38). It's okay to push the 2.5m mark a little (2:30-something), but 3+ is too long even if you get them right. You can't just look at those - that extra time cost you a chance at at least two questions at the end, and they were both lower-level than the 3+ m CRs that you got right.

T2: Big strength on SC, RC also quite strong. CR is biggest weakness.

T3: CR is the best! What happened to change that between T2 and T3? Did you get lucky? Or did you study CR a lot and actually knew what you were doing (in a way that you could replicate on future tests)?

Okay, so good data. We've got some things to work with - now you need to dig more. Go down to the individual question level and figure out specifically:
- on quant, why your algebra and geom performance dropped so much from T2 to T3
- on verbal, why your CR performance jumped so much from T2 to T3.

If we can figure out why the quant stuff dropped, then we can figure out what to do to prevent that from happening again. If we can figure out why CR jumped, then we can figure out how to make sure it stays up there!

[andreas.apostolatos]

Thank you Stacey!

Well, I know one reason the CR might have gone up. Basically, 4-5 days per week in between test 2 and 3 I made a point of setting aside time to do 10 CR questions in a row and then 1 RC passage. I did these timed and from the official guide, starting at about Q40 (I wanted to focus on the harder questions) and working my way to the end. This was in addition to all my other studying (which, for the most part focused on Quant).

That said, with about 2 weeks to go until test day, I want to continue these Verbal practice sessions for CR/RC, but I'm afraid I don't have enough material. I don't want to do the lower level (earlier) Qs in the OG bc I want to be "used to" seeing more challenging questions. I'm going to do the Verbal Review OG problems now, starting midway through the set of CR and RC, but that should only get me about 60 total "harder" CR questions and 5-7 or so "harder" RC passages.

As for why the quant dropped especially the algebra/geometry, I looked at some of the questions. There were only a few questions that I look at and say "wow, i really just have no idea how to do this." Most of them were questions that when I see the explanation I don't feel any significant deficiency in content mastery, more just I didn't see the correct appoach/didn't frame it in the right way. Certainly not saying I should have gotten them all right, but more that I wish I had just been able to "see it" the right way. I know, I feel like that's the point of the GMAT quant in the first place (as the foundational math skills aren't high level math, per se, as opposed to testing true mastery of basic content), but just my thoughts.

I'm going to take a 4th test this weekend, and we'll see how it goes. Hopefully the Verbal can stay where it is, and Quant can come up a few points...

Thanks for your dedication Stacey, you're the best.

[StaceyKoprince]

Couple of things. When you're doing OG RC practice, you should do only 3 or 4 questions with the passage, not all of the questions sitting there. Have you been doing this already? If you do more than 4, you're giving yourself an artificial advantage you'll never have on the real test (it's easier to answer the later questions because you already know a lot more about the passage).

What I do is this: read the passage and do every other question, then set that passage aside for a while (days, weeks, months!), then come back and do it again with the remaining questions.

Also, how much review are you doing of these problem sets? Generally speaking, if you do about 30m worth of problems, you should then spend about 1 to 1.5h reviewing those problems. If you aren't doing that, then you aren't learning everything you could from those problems - you're partially wasting them. (I ask this because you mention doing these problem sets in addition to your other studying, but this alone would take up 1.5 to 2h of your time every day. How much are you studying every day?)

You can also probably reuse some of the problems you did in the past - you will have forgotten some of them. Look at the first line of old problems and if you don't immediately remember what was going on, you could potentially re-do that one.

Re: quant, the issue then is that you haven't learned how to recognize what to do on certain kinds of problems. You're going to need to study in that way, starting with those particular ones that you missed. These articles should go you an idea of the kinds of things you should be asking yourself in order to learn how to recognize what to do:

All practice problems (generic):
http://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/10/09 ... ce-problem

Problem Solving-specific example:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/01/ ... g-question
DS-specific example:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/03/ ... y-question

[andreas.apostolatos]

Thanks for the feedback!

Two more tests taken under full condtions
Test 4: 690 (Q44, V39)
Test 5: 700 (Q47, V39)

Test day is just over a week away and goal score is 700.

What is the general recommendation with regard to going strong in studying till the 11th hour vs. taking the final week off to completely distance your mind from it?

[StaceyKoprince]

Nice job.

You do want to study over the last week, but the closer you get to the test, the more you should wind down.

The last week is NOT for learning a bunch of new stuff or trying to turn weaknesses into strengths. Acknowledge that your strengths and weaknesses are what they are. Work on review.

Review all of the major content and techniques you'll need to know / use. Review your pacing strategy. Review your educated guessing techniques. Know what you're going to do if various not-good scenarios happen. (What if I get way behind on time? Way ahead? What if I feel too anxious / nervous? What if I start to feel sick? What if I start psyching myself out, trying to figure out how difficult the problems are while I'm doing them, or thinking that I'm getting everything wrong? Etc.)

Don't take a practice test within 5 days of the real test.

Don't study / review for more than 2 hours on the day before the test. Do other things the rest of the day to keep your mind off of the test.

Go to sleep and get up at the same time every day for the next week. If you don't sleep well the night before because you're nervous, that's not necessarily terrible. If you got a good night's sleep 2 nights before, you might still be okay - so don't panic and just try to rest.

Get everything ready the night before - ID, food and drink, map to the center, etc.

Good luck!!

[andreas.apostolatos]

Thanks for the tips!

Will do my best to follow them all as I prepare for the test...I really appreciate all your help in responding to this thread Stacey.

Have a great weekend.

[StaceyKoprince]

you're welcome!

[sachdeva_noor]

Hi Stacey,

I have a few questions for you. But before that i would like to tell you that after going through the explanations that you provide in both MGMAT forums and BeattheGMat forums, i have kind of become your fan; these explanations are great and better than all others.

You've been a great help to many !!
My GMAT history so far is:

I have already taken GMAT once, two months back. Got a score of 650( Q49, V31). I was targeting and hoping in the range of 700-730.
After first exam, i decided to take it again and enrolled into MGMAT. I am thinking of taking exam again within next month.

Already fully aware that you have always emphasized that before asking questions, one should go through discussions already done on the forums, i have few questions. i hope to get answers.

My main concern has been the exhausting pool of harder(700-800) Qs on MGMAT CATs:

My MGMAT( 1st to 5th in that order) scores for first five CATs:

680( q47, v35) -- got 30 "700-800" Q in Quant, and 24 "700-800" Qs in Verbal.

680( q47, v36) -- got 26 "700-800" Q in Quant, and 28 "700-800" Qs in Verbal.

680( q48, v35) -- got 23 "700-800" Q in Quant, and 25 "700-800" Qs in Verbal.

730( q48, v41) -- got 19 "700-800" Q in Quant, and 21 "700-800" Qs in Verbal.

770( q50, v45) -- got 10 "700-800" Q in Quant, and 12 "700-800" Qs in Verbal.


Although at first i was elated by improved score, when i use my mind my scores in last two CATs clearly look inflated because of the lack of harder questions in both sections.

I have already gone through many discussions such as these in other forums. Still i will ask few questions:

1) for quant, i agree that question pool exhausted because i was getting relatively high score since the first test, but why am i not getting harder Qs for verbal, in which i havent scored well since first test.

2) At my first attempt at GMAT, i scored 31 in verbal. So, my main concern is verbal.

I am targeting a score somewhat like ,

>= 50 in Quant
&
>= 40-41 in verbal.

I am quite ok at quant: have good content/subject knowledge, just need some strategy/time management tuning.

For verbal, probably u may guide me in some way that will help me crossing 40.

I can provide more detailed report of my MGMATs, if required.

Any suggestions/guidance regarding anything will do a lot of help !

Thanks in advance

[sachdeva_noor]

Kindly reply, stacey / MGMAT staff !

[tim]

Sachdeva, the bottom line with your CAT exams is that you've exhausted the 700-800 level problems, and your last couple of CATs have given totally unreliable scores as a result. That said, you need to focus on reviewing the problems themselves rather than taking any more practice tests or trying to analyze your performance on those..

There's not much I can suggest to help you with Verbal that I haven't already said elsewhere today (just take a look at my other posts), but as for the timing on Quant, I'll recommend that you create an outline where you organize the quant strategies and topics. Use the titles of the five math strategy guides as your top headings, with chapter titles as subheadings and strategies as the bottom level. At the chapter level, you should also include some indication of how you would recognize that particular problem (eg. do you know what the key words are to look for in a combinatorics problem or a divisibility problem?). Now use this framework to make decisions on the test itself: In which book would I have seen this question? Which chapter is it in? What are the strategies available to me for that topic? Which strategy will work best for me?

This approach can save you a lot of time if you usually stare at a problem for half a minute trying to go through scores of strategies in your mind to match one to the problem at hand. The reason is that this approach has you make a series of decisions narrowing down the topic, and each decision has only a few options to choose from..

Now if you're just slow in implementing strategies once you've found them, you just need to practice over and over to get faster. :) If you are going to be re-using old problems (a good idea BTW), at least change around some of the numbers. Good luck!