trying to break 680

[jmuduke08]

Hello, I was hoping for some assistance. On my last three MGMAT's, I have yet to break 680 (680, 670, 680). I went back and dove into my problem areas after the first two tests in this sequence but did not improve my overall test score.

I am three weeks away from my test and it feels as though my recent studying dedicated toward my weaker areas did not help me improve.

Any suggestions being three weeks away?

[StaceyKoprince]

We'd be happy to help - we just need a lot more data in order to give you detailed advice. :)

Analyze your most recent tests using this article:
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!)

Also, most people have timing problems, in particular people who hit a "plateau" - you're studying but not really seeing improvement. So if you do have timing problems, 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 ... anagement/

[jmuduke08]

Thank you for the response Stacey.

I just analyzed my results again after taking my 6th and final MGMAT CAT today (yet another 680).

CAT 3 (Q43 V39)
CAT 4 (Q45 V36)
CAT 5 (Q46 V36)
CAT 6 (Q43 V39)

After exams 3 and 4, I analyzed my problem areas. I have mainly focused on improving Quant bc my Verbal misses are on 700-800 level questions (which I feel like are reasonable misses).

In my Quant, my worst areas were Rates and Divisibility for exams 3 and 4. So I went back and reworked through the strategy guides and did the problem sets as well as watched some of the Thursdays with Ron videos.

After this, I went back and took another exam last weekend and one today. It appears I improved siginificantly on Word Problems but dropped in my stronger areas (Geometry and FDP)

I am somewhat frustrated as I have been studying for a few months now and have yet to improve in these areas. My test is in three weeks so I want to figure out the best method to most effectively boost my score into the 700s.

On the timing front, I wouldn't say I have had any extreme issues. At some points during the sections, I get stressed and lose focus for a few questions bc I always feel behind (I am not very good at keeping track of where I should be). I am pretty good at cutting my losses and passing on questions that I know I cannot solve. EDIT: I just looked over my last exam and it appears i was spending quite a bit of time on some questions (not necessarily higher level). In my head, I think that I can make up time for some of these as I know I take less than 2 minutes on some and it averages out. However, I missed questions 32-36 and only had 1 minute and 15 sec per question so I must have a timing issue. Not sure how to solve this though even after reading your article.

Anyway, I feel fatigued and lazy at this point in my studies. I feel that I may have taken too long to take my first real exam (since I finished my class in mid-April).

Hope this helps and thanks again!

[StaceyKoprince]

However, I missed questions 32-36 and only had 1 minute and 15 sec per question so I must have a timing issue.

So, yes, you do have a timing issue. Where was that time spent? How many questions were above 2m30s? They have to come down. Either you can do those, in which case you can learn to do them faster, or you can't, in which case you have to learn to cut yourself off faster.

I'll also just note one thing: if you EVER find yourself thinking, "Oh, but I do know how to do this, if I could just have a little more time..." or "Oh, but I studied this!" Cut. Yourself. Off. :) There is a 2-minute - or faster - solution, but you're not finding it right now and that's all that matters. Let it go.

How to cut yourself off? Go back to section 4 of the time management article: developing a 1-minute time sense. You need to develop this and start to use it in the way described in the article so that you can become aware when you're throwing time away and stop yourself.

This is likely the source of the scoring fluctuation on quant. Could something similar be going on in verbal?

Next, in your first post 10 days ago, you said you were 3 weeks away, so you are now presumably only about 1.5 weeks away. Given that you do have timing problems on quant at least, you are probably not going to fix those in 10-ish days.

You have a choice. You can go for it and just hope that everything comes together perfectly on test day. You can decide that 680 is your new goal and take the test as planned. You can postpone and try to fix the quant timing issues and figure out what's going on in verbal in order to try to get yourself up another 20 or so points.

What do you think?

p.s. If you're burned out (and you sound burned out), and if you decide to postpone, take a little time off. A week-end, up to a week - but truly take it off. Do nothing GMAT-related and don't stress about the fact that you're not doing anything. I just gave you permission.