Timing Strategy Help-GMAT Exam Close

[BenjaminC428]

Hello,

I am a week away from taking the GMAT and am having trouble to nail down my timing strategy and implement it effectively. As far as a I can tell, this is the main factor holding back my score. Fundamentally I feel good, my % questions answered correctly is good, but i'm getting crushed by timing. I'd say on average I have 5-6 questions left to answer on the Quant.

I have read the timing strategy information on MGMAT prep including the timing benchmarks. I'm going to focus on developing the 1 minute sense a little better, but was looking for some additional guidance. I am shooting for 700+, and I am confident I can get there, if I can just nail down my timing strategy. My main issue is Quantitative, and it seems like DS is a little more problematic than PS is. I seem to get lost at times trying to figure things out, and I think i'm naturally slower to perform the reflect and analyze part of the process. I know that I should be skipping my weaker areas, but the problem is my weak areas are dependent on the difficulty of the problem. I am very hesitant to skip a combinatorics problem if its 600-700 level, since I know i can solve it. If its 700-800, I would gladly skip it. I think the issue is the 1 minute or so i'm using to evaluate whether its worth skipping or not....

Here are my MGMAT scores (Quant/verbal):
CAT 6: 40/34 - 610
CAT 5: 40/35- 620
CAT 4: 44/37- 670
CAT 3: 35/33 - 570
CAT 2: 31/35 - 550

Thanks for any feedback you are able to give. I am also considering pushing back the test if needed (although I am very sick of studying and hope not to do this).

Ben

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm sorry I'm just getting to your post now. This time of year, we are very busy.

You said that you are running out of time with 5-6 questions to go (on quant). I couldn't have helped you to fix that problem in a week. That's a significant enough issue that you are likely looking at something like 3 to 6 weeks to fix it.

In your reply, let me know whether you kept your test date or postponed. If you kept it, let me know how things went.

Here is the start of the problem:

I am very hesitant to skip a combinatorics problem if its 600-700 level, since I know i can solve it.

This test is not about whether you can solve the problem. It's whether you can solve the problem with a reasonable amount of time and energy expended. Your mindset is still skewed too far towards getting things right.

Read this right now:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -the-gmat/

Then tell me why I told you to read it.

(By the way, for something as infrequently tested as combinatorics, you can skip any one that you see. I do - I hate combinatorics. And I score in the 99th percentile on the GMAT.

Does that mean that you skip all problems of any particular weakness? Not necessarily. I can do some absolute value problems, but if they get too messy, I might get lost - they're not a strength. So I read the problem and jot some stuff down to see whether I get any spark of recognition: "Oh, I've seen something like this before and I know what worked then, and this one looks similar, so I can try that now."

If, instead, I think, "I don't understand what this is asking," or "I don't know what to do here," or even, "I get what they're asking and even have an idea how to solve, but the math seems pretty terrible / complicated," then I'm going to see whether I can make an educated guess. Or I'm going to pick my favorite letter. Either way, I'm going to move on in less than 2m total for this problem.

Sometimes, I start down a path, thinking that I know exactly what I'm doing, and around 2m or so, I realize things didn't work out the way I thought they would. And now I'm done with that problem, too. Business decision: I've just invested full (average) time and I'm back at the beginning...why would I invest more $$ in this new business idea that isn't going anywhere? I'm a good business person; I'm going to cut my losses and look for other opportunities.

Etc. That's what you're really trying to do on this test. And teaching yourself how to take the test from this business mindset angle isn't something that's going to come together in just 1 week.

Okay, next, let's address this:

I am very sick of studying

Take a week off. Seriously. If your brain isn't working well, then your study time is inefficient and that's a waste. Let your brain replenish itself and then come back to it.

Okay, right before you take your week off, you can do one thing: figure out what your new plan is going to be going forward. (And we'll help.) Then you can take your break knowing that you've got everything laid out for when you come back.

First, read these two articles:
http://tinyurl.com/executivereasoning
http://tinyurl.com/2ndlevelofgmat

Think about how what you've been doing does and does NOT match up with that and how you may need to change your approach accordingly.

Then, use the below to analyze your most recent MPrep CATs (this should take you a minimum of 1 hour):
http://tinyurl.com/analyzeyourcats

Based on all of that, figure out your strengths and weaknesses as well as any ideas you have for what you think you should do. Then come back here and tell us; we'll tell you whether we agree and advise you further. (Note: do share an analysis with us, not just the raw data. Your analysis should include a discussion of your buckets - you'll understand what that means when you read the last article. 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!)

You can also train yourself on the 1m time sense during your break - just while you're at work or doing anything else that requires mental concentration. After your break, use this to train yourself in how to use that 1m time sense:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2015/09/ ... gmat-quant

[BenjaminC428]

Hi Stacey,

No worries on the late response, I ended up pushing my test back 5 weeks. Over the last few weeks I have taken some time to address my timing issues. I have read all of the material supplied in your response and have attempted to drive home the business mindset. I recently took the GMAT Practice test and scored a 660 (46Q & 35V). I ended up not answering two of the quant questions, a decent improvement compared to the other tests. I also finished the verbal section early, which I think I can attribute to the different test (MGMAT vs. GMAT). I was little surprised to see that I answered >5 sentence correction questions wrong, where I usually get 2-3 incorrect.

My priorities in quant are going to be Work/Rate problems, probability, and translating problems. I also need to work on DS because there is something about this format that makes me uncomfortable and uneasy. I was wondering if you had any guidance regarding becoming more comfortable with DS questions (apart from doing more practice problems) and also getting better at translating problems. The point I tried to make in my original post was that my translation and comprehension of a problem is slow enough that even if I decide to skip it, maybe 1 minute or so is already wasted. I am hesitant to make the decision to skip it prior to that because many times I realize I do understand the problem after all (by nature I am a little slow to make decisions , which is obviously in direct conflict with this test).

Regarding the verbal section, I need to work on CR.

Just as an FYI, I have already read all MGMAT strategy guides and utilized many of the online resources. I'm just hoping for any last resources or guidance you are able to give me to improve to get me close to 700. And yes, I have seen your new article on the blog!

Thanks for your feedback and help,

Ben

[BenjaminC428]

And I love the question analysis for the practice tests . Analyzing your approach and making connections to previous experiences is key, not just on the GMAT!

[BenjaminC428]

Sorry, one last response...My other question was regarding mental fatigue. I was looking to build my stamina in order to be more accurate in the Verbal Section. I read one article about practicing meditation techniques and another article about studying less any distractions. Any other helpful ideas to build mental stamina?

[StaceyKoprince]

Great work on your latest test! Try these ideas for translation:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... them-real/
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... ms-part-1/

(Obviously you'll then need to practice what they say.) Don't prioritize probability. You'll typically see 0 or 1 on the real test (and if you see 2, one is almost certainly an experimental).

For DS, first make sure that you feel comfortable with the ins and outs of the problem type:
http://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/ ... ncy-works/

And that you feel comfortable rephrasing questions:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/2011/ ... questions/

Then make sure that you feel super comfortable with the strategy of Testing Cases. We've written a lot of articles on this, so just go to our blog and search for "testing cases" to find them.

I will note: everyone feels somewhat uncomfortable with DS, because no matter what you think or what mistake you make, you'll just be sent to one of the other answers. On PS, if you make a mistake, you might get an answer that isn't among the answer choices - so at least you know you've made a mistake. But, really: if you get all the way through and get an answer that isn't there, you pretty much just have to guess and move on anyway (you can check your work, but unless you find a careless mistake that fixes everything...). So really, there isn't any true advantage to PS having real answers. It just feels better.

For CR, take a look through this series:
http://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/ ... reasoning/

Use it to build a "cheat sheet" for yourself that articulates exactly what to look for and do for each of the 4 steps of the CR process for each question type. For example, for Describe the Role (boldface), the first type in our CR book:

Step 1 Identify the question
clue words: Boldface font in the argument; something about "role" in the question stem.
components: Will have premises and a conclusion. Likely to have counterpremises and maybe even a counterconclusion.
reasoning: Have to find the conclusion and then figure out how the boldface relates to the conclusion.

Step 2 Deconstruct the argument
Find the conclusion! If the argument is really long, I can just concentrate on the parts that help me find the main conclusion. Then, I have to figure out how the boldface portions relate to that conclusion. Three possibilities: (C) It is the conclusion; (P) It supports the conclusion; (X) It goes against the main argument (or, at least, is just not part of the main argument).

Step 3 Pause and state the Goal
Goal: Find an answer choice that is consistent with the labels I gave to the bolface statements. E.g., if I decide that it's statement 1 = P and statement 2 = X, then the answer should fit those labels.

Step 4 Work from wrong to right
Right answer: Has to fit the labels I assigned.
Wrong answers: TRAP: some answers will fit one label but not both. TRAP: some descriptions will be almost perfect, but one word (like "not" or "oppose") will change everything.

For mental stamina: let's say that you're going to sit down for a 2-hour study session. In advance, figure out what you're going to do for the entire 2 hours. In fact, plan extra, just in case you finish early. Then GO for 1 hour without stopping. No checking email, no chatting with a friend, etc. Take a 10-15 minute break, then GO again for another hour, no stopping.

Then stop. Don't do the above for 4 hours straight. It's actually a lot more mentally fatiguing to study than to take a test. When studying, you're both recalling existing memories and trying to create new memories to use in future. When taking a test, you're only trying to recall existing memories.

So if you try to study for 4 hours straight, you'll be so mentally fatigued for the last couple of hours that you won't make very good memories... and your study time will be very inefficient.