Study Plan (Target Score - 720-730)

[jasonmaehara]

Hello,

I started studying towards the end of November (2010). Wrote the official CAT as a benchmark without prior testing of any sort and scored approximately 540. (36-Math, 28-Verbal).

After doing this I ordered the MGMAT guides and since then I've gone through the math based books, and am starting the verbal now.

I have not done any practice CATs since the initial test, and plan on doing one now to see where my progress is in the math area.

Going forward I plan on doing the verbal books, then practicing as many CATs I can get my hands on while evaluating which areas I need to improve on (i.e. Number Properties, Geometry, etc.) I have also purchased the Kaplan 800 to get a better grasp on some of the more difficult problems should I require that additional practice.

My test is scheduled for mid-April. Given this, can you suggest any possible improvements to my study plan to help achieve my targeted score? Is an increase in score of 180 reasonably attainable within ~5 months of studying?

Thank you in advance!

EDIT: Did CAT #1 today and scored 47 Quant, 31 Verbal for a 640. Guess it is reflective of the fact that I have done some studying for the quantitative portion and none for the verbal as of yet. Lots of room for improvement though on my de-brief I noticed that I know a lot of the concepts just didn't think to apply them at the time (i.e. subbing in values for VICs, re-arranging equations in the question before even looking at the possible solutions)

[StaceyKoprince]

Nice job on your second test! You've made good progress. That also bodes well for your ability to lift yourself on the verbal side as well. I'm curious - do you generally consider yourself more a quant person or a verbal person? If you like verbal better, then it should be easier to lift that side, which really bodes well. If you like quant better, then just be prepared to find verbal more of a challenge.

I do think you have set a reasonable timeframe for your goal - though obviously I can't say that any one person will definitely hit a certain goal, or will in a certain timeframe - standard disclaimers apply. :)

Use this article to do a more thorough analysis of your CAT:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/e ... -part1.cfm

You can use your analysis to pinpoint specific areas that need work, and then you can come back here to tell us what those areas are. We'll direct you toward resources that can help.

Also note that it's VERY important to take CATS under 100% official conditions (including the essays!) in order to ensure that your results are as valid as possible. I can't tell you how many students I've spoken with who skip the essays, use the pause button, take really long breaks, or do something else non-official-test-like on their CATs and then they get a lower score than they were expecting on the real test.

You may also find these articles useful at a high level:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/02/ ... study-plan
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/09/ ... your-study

http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/a ... roblem.cfm

http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/07/ ... s-on-quant
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/08/ ... -on-verbal

Those articles above apply across broad areas of the test or study experience - so they're very useful from that perspective. In addition, after you've analyzed your test results in more detail, let us know what you found, and we'll point you toward more specific resources.

[jasonmaehara]

Generally I enjoy verbal more (maybe not SC, but I will learn). So far I'm doing quite well with grasping the concepts for the Critical Reasoning book.

I did skip the essay this time around, how do I go about getting feedback on my essays though? In the end the essays do not affect your score but do schools look at them for admissions? Otherwise what are they used for?

Thanks for your response Stacey

[StaceyKoprince]

If you're taking a class or are in one of our self-study package programs, you have access to GMAT Write, the official essay grading software from the real test-makers. Log in to your student center, click on the Homework & Practice tab, then click on GMAT Write in the list to the right.

If you don't already have access through our program, you can buy access yourself directly from the www.mba.com website.

Really, the essays are there to make sure that you're the one who wrote your application essays, because they know you're really you when you take the GMAT. The schools get access to the text of your essays themselves. If the score is "high enough," they don't bother to check. If the score is low but your application essays were great... then they check. :)

[jasonmaehara]

Thanks Stacy

Do you guys have general guidelines and/or tips for essay writing that I should follow? Writing isn't a weakness of mine, but since marking or written work is so subjective I'd like to see if there is some basis for me to work off.

Thanks!
Jason

[StaceyKoprince]

Yes - here you go!
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2009/12/ ... -no-thanks

[jasonmaehara]

After going through the verbal books I've taken a couple of practice tests and unfortunately I seem to be hitting a wall.

My last two scores were 640 (44/33) and 630 (43/33) both of which I am very disappointed in.

For the quants I seem to be getting all of the 700-800 level questions wrong which is very disheartening. Any suggestions as to where to go from here?

[StaceyKoprince]

Yes! Start with a test analysis, using this article (I linked to it before, too):

http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/e ... -part1.cfm

Come back here and tell us what you discover from this test analysis. We'll help you dive into the detailed data and figure out where to go from here!

Note: it's not unusual to "plateau." Progress seems to come in fits and starts for most people - you make some progress, you hit a wall for a while, then you make some progress again, then you hit a wall for a while longer... so don't be too discouraged. :)

[jasonmaehara]

Hi Stacey

Did some of your suggested analysis:

Too Slow:

3+ min on Math and CR
Math
- #8 - Probability 3:21 - Wrong (700-800) - PS
- #31 - Triangles and Diagonals 3:43 - Wrong (600-700) - PS
- #18 - Rates and Work 3:58 - Wrong (600-700) - PS
- #7 - Fractions 4:20 - Right (600-700) - PS
- #27 - Circles and Cylinders 4:21- Wrong (700-800) - PS
- #17 - VIC Rates and Work 5:40 - Wrong (700-800) - PS
- #37 - Formulas 6:27 - Wrong (500-600) - PS
CR
- N/A

2+ min on SC
 #41 - Parallelism 2:03 - Right (500-600)
 #25 - Parallelism 2:24 - Right (700-800)
2.5+ or 5+ min on RC
 #10 - Specific Detail 5:51 - Wrong (700-800)


Way Too Fast (and wrong)
 Math
- #20 - Fraction Approximation 1:24 - Wrong (600-700) - PS
- #15 - Basic Equations 1:23 - Wrong (600-700) - DS
- #6 - Power Factors 1:02 - Wrong (700-800) - PS
- #4 - Inscribed Triangles 0:53 - Wrong (700-800) - DS
- #30 - FDP Connections 0:51 - Wrong (600-700) - DS
- #3 - Divisbility and Primes 0:46 - Wrong (700-800) - DS
- #35 - Algebraic Translations 0:41 - Wrong (600-700) - DS
- #9 - Overlapping Sets 0:41 - Wrong (600-700) - PS
- #33 - Percents - 0:34 - Wrong (500-600) - DS
 Verbal
- #31 - CR - Strengthen Conclusion - 1:09 - (700-800) Wrong
- #38 - SC - Idioms and Pronouns - 0:54 - (600-700) Wrong
- #8 - SC - Comparisons - 0:52 - (700-800) Wrong
- #35 - RC - Specific Detail - 1:04 - (700-800) Wrong
- #12 - RC - Specific Detail - 0:54 - (700-800) Wrong
- #14 - RC - Specific Detail - 0:40 - (700-800) Wrong
- #20 - RC - Inference - 0:33 - (600-700) Wrong


Category Summary

o DS - (7/15) - Total Time = 19:45
o PS - (12/22) - Total Time = 50:45
o CR - (7/14) - Total Time = 22:44
o SC - (11/15) - Total Time = 19:20
o RC - (4/12) - Total Time = 26:35


Was hoping I could get some feedback!

Thanks,
Jason

[StaceyKoprince]

what do you think? This is the data, but I don't see your analysis. :)

I'll tell you what I think, but next time you're going to have to tell me what you think first - you have to be able to analyze this stuff yourself, too.

Clearly, you have a PS timing problem, and that's hurting you on both PS and DS problems. You had 9 too fast and wrong questions that you sacrificed to spend extra time on only 7 other problems - and you got 6 of those ones wrong anyway!

This pattern is quite common, so don't feel bad. :) Know that this is the pattern: you choose to spend too long on questions that are too hard (and so you're likely to get them wrong anyway), and then you speed up on even more questions (you sped up on more than just those 9), and then you get a bunch of the "too fast" Qs wrong at least partly due to rushing.

Choose to cut the too-hard problems off instead. That gives you normal time to spend on other questions that you can actually get right... if you don't make yourself have to rush.

Read this timing article:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2009/12/ ... management

And try this timing exercise: learning about how long one minute is without looking at a watch or stopwatch. If you don't have one already, buy yourself a stopwatch with lap timing capability. When you go to do a set of problems, start the stopwatch but turn it over so you can't see the time. Every time you think you're one minute into a new problem, push the lap button. When you're done with that problem, push the lap button again, then repeat the process for the next problem. When you're done with the set, see how good you were - and whether you tend to over or underestimate. Get yourself to the point where you're within 15 seconds either way on a regular basis (that is, you can generally predict between 45 sec and 1min 15 sec). Also check your timing for the entire question, of course.

Now, how do you use that when doing problems? If you're not on track by one minute, make an educated guess** and move on. (The general idea is that if you're not on track by the halfway mark, you're unlikely to figure out what's holding you back AND have time to do the whole problem in the 1 min you have left.)

** This also requires you to know HOW to make an educated guess depending upon the type of problem and the content being tested. So that's something else to add to your study: how to make educated guesses on different kinds of problems.

(Also, note, the above is for quant - verbal's a bit different.)

Here are a couple of articles on educated guessing:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/07/ ... s-on-quant
http://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/e ... verbal.cfm

The good news is: your timing problems are significant enough that you will see a score boost once you fix them. The bad news: if you don't fix the timing problems, it'll be tough for your score to go up much more - that's really why you're hitting a plateau.

So off to the races - fix those timing problems! The short solution is just cutting yourself off on those too hard problems. But also make sure that you know how to get right the too-fast ones that you missed. If you made careless mistakes, set up some better habits / patterns (for while you do the work) to minimize repeats.

Then, later, you can see whether you want to try to learn more for those too-long-and-wrong problems. But for now, just stop them from bringing you down by getting them wrong faster!

[jasonmaehara]

If you were to ask me prior to that test I would have said that I spend too much time on the difficult questions as well. I made a bit of an effort on my next test (written this past weekend) to do this and I managed to score a 660. Here are my results:


String of 4 of More Answers Wrong?
o None

Way Too Slow
o 3+ min on Math and CR
Math
- #13 - Inequalities 4:15 - Right (700-800) - PS
- #14 - Combinatorics 4:01 - Right (700-800) - PS
- #25 - Circles and Cylinders 3:45 - Wrong (700-800) - PS
- #28 - Primes, Odds and Evens 3:41 - Right (600-700) - DS
- #8 - Overlapping Sets 3:28 - Right (600-700) - PS
CR
- #10 - Analyze Structure 3:46 - Right (700-800)
2+ min on SC
 #15 - Idioms 2:33 - Right (700-800)
2.5+ or 5+ min on RC
 N/A

Way Too Fast
Math
- #29 - Consecutive Integers 0:28 - Right (700-800) PS (Guessed)
- #36 - Circles and Cylinders 0:32 - Right (500-600) DS
- #34 - Rates and Work 0:49 - Wrong (700-800) PS (Guessed)
- #37 - Polygons 1:00 - Wrong (700-800) PS (Guessed)
- #35 - Percents 1:10 - Wrong (600-700) PS (Guessed)
- #3 - Digits 1:12 - Right (600-700) PS
- #19 - Polygons 1:15 - Right (700-800) DS
- #16 - Equations 1:17 - Wrong (700-800) DS
- #20 - Digits 1:20 - Wrong (600-700) DS
- #21 - Divisbility and Primes 1:21 - Right (600-700) PS
- #8 - Coordinate Plan 1:23 - Wrong (700-800) DS
Verbal
- #18 - RC - Main Idea - 0:28 - (600-700) - Right
- #40 - SC - Punctuation - 0:35 - (600-700) - Right
- #32 - RC - Inference - 0:36 - (700-800) - Wrong
- #13 - RC - Main Idea - 0:37 - (600-700) - Wrong
- #6 - SC - Pronouns - 0:40 - (700-800) - Right
- #37 - SC - Pronouns - 0:44 - (600-700) - Wrong
- #17 - RC - Inference - 0:51 - (700-800) - Wrong
- #14 - RC - Inference - 0:53 - (600-700) Right
- #21 - RC - Inference - 0:54 - (700-800) Wrong
- #29 - SC - Verbs and Pronouns - 0:54 (700-800) - Wrong
- #39 - CR - Restate Conclusion - 0:55 (600-700) - Right

5 Major Areas - Right/Wrong?
o DS - (7/15) - Total Time = 27:40
o PS - (12/22) - Total Time = 45:02
o CR - (11/14) - Total Time = 27:05
o SC - (7/15) - Total Time = 19:40
o RC - (5/12) - Total Time = 24:20

One problem i had towards the end of the math section was that I began to panic a bit because I was running low on time. I'm used to finishing tests with plenty of time to spare so I think I just need to focus on keeping my cool towards the end and like you said, making educated guesses.

I tried to spend more time on the more simple questions and less time on the difficult this time around. My distribution of DS/PS is about the same as it was before. However my verbals changed a bit with more CR correct this time as opposed to SC which I did well on last time. Definitely need to work on my Inference questions for RC.

Anything else you might be able to gather from this analysis? Planning on writing another test this Saturday.

[jasonmaehara]

Just did another test and I'm back to 640. It's quite frustrating!

I seem to do well when I do exercises in my workbooks, but when I'm doing these practice tests for some reason!

[jasonmaehara]

Oh and just a thought, my verbal and math have been steady throughout (roughly the same percentile each time).

Should I maybe focus all of my efforts on one area going forward to try and boost my score? Maybe my focus on both areas equally isn't paying off entirely.

Also, given how I've been doing I think a more reasonable score target is 680. I'd be okay with scoring at that level.

[StaceyKoprince]

You took two tests 4 days apart. You scored 660 and 640. There's not a statistical difference between those two scores. Stop taking so many practice tests - there's nothing much new to learn 4 days later. Spend your time instead focusing on how to get better based on what you already know from the first of the two tests.

For instance, you had 5 way-too-long quant Qs. You got 4 of them right. Yay? Well, it's better than getting them wrong, but it's still not good, right? So. Can you learn how to do those kinds of questions correctly in the 2 to 2.5m timeframe? What took you so long the first time? Did it take you a long time to figure out what they wanted? Did you do it one way, and that way didn't work, and then you started an entirely different way? How could you have known to try the second way first? Did you make a mistake with something along the way and then have to re-do your work to find the error? What was the mistake, why did you make it, and how can you avoid making it again in future?

For those 4 questions, you might spend an hour or two on the above analysis - and that's how I'd rather have you spending your time (as opposed to taking another practice test 4 days later, I mean).

In my opinion, if you can master these timing issues and also deal with any lingering careless-error type issues, then you've probably already got what you need content-wise to get your 680. Really - you're almost there.

You gave me lots of timing data. You didn't give me data on your performance by question type / content area, so it's tough for me to pick out specifics there. For example, I can see that you need to work on RC inference because you got 4 way-too-fast Qs wrong there and there are only 12 RCs total. So, yes, RC inference is an issue. Are there other areas that are also problematic but I can't tell because I don't have the content data? Maybe.

[jasonmaehara]

Thanks for the reply Stacey.

I've actually been writing them one week apart, just didn't get around to putting my results up until a few days later!

Anyways I've been focusing much more on my timing lately and it's helped out! Gaining more confidence going into my exam in 3 weeks!

I think I know what to do now so hopefully not too many more questions from me and just more results in a few weeks!