Strange CAT Results....

[mikeseanoneill]

All,

Prior to buying any of the Manhattan books, I just looked at the OG for a week and a half. I then realized I was an idiot and would need to start from scatch. I bought all the Manhattan books. Prior to going through each of them, I took one of the CATs to see where I stood. My minimum goal prior to starting this adventure was to score 650. Anything over 700 would be outstanding.

CAT #1 (4/29): Q-35 / V-32 / 560

I did not do the essay and the IR was not available at the time. I actually wasn't discouraged by the 560. Considering I really hadn't studied and my current work does not even touch the realm of the material in these tests, I figured it wasn't a bad starting spot.

I diligently worked through the Manhattan books. After working through each one, I went back again and hit the weak spot. I felt good that I was understanding the concepts. I continued to review my notes and the books after the initial 9 weeks it took to get through the books. Then it was time for test numer #2....

CAT #2 (8/5): Q-35 / V-31 / 550

Obviously, after 3 months of studying, I went into a rage after seeing the results. I woke up the next morning with a pretty bad hangover. I reviewed the exam the next day to see where it went wrong. On the quant side, I just got off to a terrible start. I know you can recover, but I remember thinking the questions are just too easy (which meant I was answering the previous ones wrong). I felt rushed by the time, and it sort of snow-balled to an extent. To be honest, it felt like all the questions being asked were a weakness of mine. Unlucky? I don't know.

Regarding the verbal, I just made numerous stupid mistakes. I think I was fatigued and it showed. Some of my answers were embarassing. I think part of the reason I suffered so much on the verbal was I actually took the IR and Essay. That extra hour taxes the brain more than I thought.

Overall, I just did not execute. I wasn't in the Q&A mode. I wasn't making 'educated' guesses. Things just went poorly. I decided I would just hammer myself with the OG for a week and then give it another go. The next 6 days I would did 40 problems (combo of quant and verb) every night. I tried to get familiar with making good decisions. I had the concepts at this point, but I didn't execute them on Test #2. After a week, I was in a better mind set and ready to see what could happen.

CAT #3 (4/29): Q-42 / V-38 / 660

I was estatic when I got the results back from this test. Once again, I started with the essay and IR. This time, I tried not to be so mentally drained with the essay and IR. I think I'll do fine on the essay. My IR is terrible right now, but I've put little practice into it (nor did I know you need to answer all questions right to receive full credit until today).

During the test, I didn't feel good about the quant at all. I had numerous problems where I was clueless. I suppose that is good to a certain extent (better than seeing easy problem after easy problem), but I wasn't in the 'zone.' I did do a better job of managing my time.

After reviewing the results, I noted 4 problems that I guessed on and got right. Obviously, I guessed on other and got them wrong, but I'm a little concerned these 4 problems might have been that added boost to my score. To be perfectly honest, I didn't feel like I did much better than the previous week. Could I have just 'lucked' out here?

Regarding the verbal, I was simply more focused this time and got to a point where I thought I was in that 'zone'. I was making good decisions. Any 'tough' problems were worked out to where I was fairly confident I had two possible answers that could be right. I wasn't fatigued and I paced myself really well.

Bottom line, has anyone seen weird results such as mine? Study for 3 months and see no improvement, but then swich up studying habbits (doing problems / not concepts) and jumping 100 points in a week? I suppose the only way to see if this is just an extereme outlier is to take another test next week. That is what I intend on doing.

[StaceyKoprince]

I felt rushed by the time, and it sort of snow-balled to an extent.

As you learned, it's not uncommon for the practice CAT #2 score to stay the same or even go down. You haven't really learned how to put it all together yet, balance your timing well, etc. The goal at this stage is just to dig into the details and figure out what needs to happen to improve. Also, it looks like you went 9 weeks (through all of the course material) before taking CAT #2. For others reading this, don't do that. Take a CAT in the middle somewhere, around week 6-ish. That lets you start putting it all together and figure out timing issues earlier so that you can start working that stuff out sooner.

I think part of the reason I suffered so much on the verbal was I actually took the IR and Essay. That extra hour taxes the brain more than I thought.

Yep, this is huge.

For IR, if you're applying this fall, you only need a 4 (~50th percentile) or better - so factor that into things. You can get a bunch of the Qs wrong.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't feel like I did much better than the previous week. Could I have just 'lucked' out here?

Maybe you did have some lucky guesses, but it wasn't just luck. You managed the timing better - your previous score was depressed b/c of timing problems. You were also more used to the length of the test and better prepared stamina-wise, which helped on both quant and verbal.

Bottom line, has anyone seen weird results such as mine?

So you probably already know my answer to this but, yes we have, and no your results are not that weird. :)

It is the case, though, that your results might not be consistent yet. In particular, with timing problems, scores can often fluctuate quite a bit - so it's important to address that.

Read these two articles and start doing what they say:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... to-win-it/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... nt-part-1/

There is also always a bit of serendipity involved - sometimes we get a few more Qs in our areas of strength and sometimes a few more in our areas of weakness. There's not a ton we can do about that besides continuing to address our weaknesses.

You may also want to take a look at the "how to study" section of this article:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

Finally, if you'd like to get more detailed advice, then use the below to analyze your most recent MGMAT CAT(s):

http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/

Then come back here and tell us the results of your analysis. (Note: do share an analysis with us, not just the raw data. Part of getting better is developing your ability to analyze your results - figure out what they mean and what you think you should do about them!)

[mikeseanoneill]

I felt rushed by the time, and it sort of snow-balled to an extent.

As you learned, it's not uncommon for the practice CAT #2 score to stay the same or even go down. You haven't really learned how to put it all together yet, balance your timing well, etc. The goal at this stage is just to dig into the details and figure out what needs to happen to improve. Also, it looks like you went 9 weeks (through all of the course material) before taking CAT #2. For others reading this, don't do that. Take a CAT in the middle somewhere, around week 6-ish. That lets you start putting it all together and figure out timing issues earlier so that you can start working that stuff out sooner.

I think part of the reason I suffered so much on the verbal was I actually took the IR and Essay. That extra hour taxes the brain more than I thought.

Yep, this is huge.

For IR, if you're applying this fall, you only need a 4 (~50th percentile) or better - so factor that into things. You can get a bunch of the Qs wrong.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't feel like I did much better than the previous week. Could I have just 'lucked' out here?

Maybe you did have some lucky guesses, but it wasn't just luck. You managed the timing better - your previous score was depressed b/c of timing problems. You were also more used to the length of the test and better prepared stamina-wise, which helped on both quant and verbal.

Bottom line, has anyone seen weird results such as mine?

So you probably already know my answer to this but, yes we have, and no your results are not that weird. :)

It is the case, though, that your results might not be consistent yet. In particular, with timing problems, scores can often fluctuate quite a bit - so it's important to address that.

Read these two articles and start doing what they say:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... to-win-it/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... nt-part-1/

There is also always a bit of serendipity involved - sometimes we get a few more Qs in our areas of strength and sometimes a few more in our areas of weakness. There's not a ton we can do about that besides continuing to address our weaknesses.

You may also want to take a look at the "how to study" section of this article:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

Finally, if you'd like to get more detailed advice, then use the below to analyze your most recent MGMAT CAT(s):

http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/

Then come back here and tell us the results of your analysis. (Note: do share an analysis with us, not just the raw data. Part of getting better is developing your ability to analyze your results - figure out what they mean and what you think you should do about them!)

Stacey,

Thanks for the input. I should have taken a CAT at the halfway point of working through the MGMAT books, but I just didn't want to get discouraged or excited about my progress (or non progression...). I'm going to take a practice test again this week (although not an MGMAT CAT) to see if it falls in line closer to the mid 500's or 600's so I can get an idea if the previous test score was a high outlier or true improvement.

I'll do a data analysis later this weekend on my the most recent CAT and post results of what I find. I'd be happy if I take the practice test this weekend and score a 650 or better.

We'll soon find out......

[StaceyKoprince]

good luck! :)