Strategy for last 3 weeks- need to improve by 40 points.

[rishi4you]

Hi Stacey,

I have a test in 3 weeks from now. I have been preparing for past 2.5 months, devoting 2-3 hrs daily and this is my second attempt at GMAT. Earlier i had scored a 610(Q44, V 26). This time i wanted to focus on my verbal and had prepared mainly for that(specially on SC and CR)revising the Quant along the same time. My target was to get into the 80-80 mark. means scored around 680-690 range if not 700. I have taken 3 CAT test so far

1) MGMAT - 610 (Q41 V33)

2) MGMAT 2 - 640(Q44,V34)

3) Kaplan - 620( There was no break up but it said Quant 83 percentile and Verbal 87 percentile- overall 76% percentile)

4) GMATPrep 1 - 640(Q47,V31) - I did recollect some questions from my last attempt 2 years back, so this is not an exact indication, though i did devote 2 mins for 2-3 such questions which i could recollect.

I also took the GMAT focus in between, bcoz i know after the 2 initial MGMAT exam that i can score a lot decent on Quant and i got a score of 36-44 range. With less than 3 weeks left and after doing a thorough analysis of the MGMAT Tests, I have been working on

a) Getting my pacing correctly as i was running out of time inicidentally in Verbal( this is unusual, but with me this was happeinng) Not to mention i had to rush through last 5 questions on Quant too. Have been working on areas which i would like to do calculative guess, with my current level of preps.

b) Working on my strong areas and trying to reinforce the concepts(specially in combinatorics, divisibility and primes, overlapping sets, Verbs(SC), Inference based Questions(CR and RC).

c) Revising all the SC error logs, flashcards

d) Doing 20 problems on CR and SC from OG 11 as i have exhausted OG 12 and also RC and PS from OG 12

I intend to take 3 more MGMAT CAT and 2 more GMAT Prep and 2 more attempt with GMAT focus before i take the actual test.

I would like to know 2 things, with my current level,

A)---> what is the score i should be expecting .

B)---> What should be my strategy to reach near to 680+ in the nest 3 weeks, assuming i give 2-3 hrs daily on weekdays and 4-5 hours on weekend

[rishi4you]

Stacey,

Need your guidance and advise, kindly help.

Regards

[StaceyKoprince]

Please don't "bump" your own posts unless you have new info to add! We answer every single post and we do so oldest first. The time stamp on a thread is based on the most recent post - so all you do when you "bump" your post is put yourself later in line. You probably would have gotten an answer yesterday or the day before if you hadn't bumped your post!

Your current scoring range is whatever you have been scoring on practice tests taken under official conditions (including essays). If you have been taking tests under non-official conditions, then your practice scores may be inflated and you should take that into account.

As a general rule, whatever you're scoring about 1-2 weeks before the test is roughly what you should expect to score on the real test. You recently scored a 640 on a GMATPrep (the best practice test), but that score might be a little inflated because you had seen some of the questions before, so to be safe, let's call your current scoring range about a 620. You want to get to a 680+.

That may happen in 3 weeks, but most people would need more time. Is it more important for you to take the test in 3 weeks or to get the 680+ score? If the score is more important, then be aware that you may need to postpone your test.

You mention timing problems. Read this article and start doing what it discusses. Note that it can take 4 to 6 weeks to fix timing problems.

http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... anagement/

I intend to take 3 more MGMAT CAT and 2 more GMAT Prep and 2 more attempt with GMAT focus before i take the actual test.

This is WAY too much for 3 weeks. Don't take a test more than once a week. CAT exams are really good for (a) figuring out where you're scoring right now, (b) practicing stamina, and (c) analyzing your strengths and weaknesses. The actual act of just taking the exam is NOT so useful for improving. It's what you do with the test results / between tests that helps you to improve.

In general, you're describing a lot of what we call "doing" - doing practice problems, doing practice tests - but "doing" is not where we learn the most. Analyzing our work is where we learn the most. See this article to understand what I mean:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/a ... roblem.cfm

I can spend 10 or 15 minute analyzing a single problem (even if I got it right!). You won't spend that much time analyzing every single problem, but the analysis in general is more important than doing a bunch of problems. The analysis is where you actually learn to get better.

In terms of what else to do, I need more specific data in order to advise you. Please analyze your most recent MGMAT test using the below article, then come back here to share your analysis (Note: NOT just the data; your actual analysis of the data):

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

Also let us know what materials / resources you have. What are you using to study?