Hi Stacey: I've been taking a test every week for the last 3 weeks. I am enrolled in the self guided study program and have gone through most of your material. I do fairly well on short times tests. However my MGMAT test scores in the last 3 tests have been very poor with similar issues. In each test I ran out of time on both Q and V. I have typically 5-10 questions left in the end to quickly scan and guess. Any tips or test taking strategies I should consider?
Here are my scores so far:
MGMAT1 (2/15/09): Q44 V19 T:530
MGMAT2 (2/22/09): Q39 V21 T:510
MGMAT3 (3/01/09): Q38 V29 T:560
Thanks for your help
Amit
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- hi.varm
- Course Students
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2009 4:49 pm
- JonathanSchneider
- ManhattanGMAT Staff
- Posts: 477
- Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2007 5:40 am
- Location: Durham, NC
Re: Unable to finish MGMAT tests in the allocated time
Hi Amit. Thanks for your note.
When we run out of time, we sacrifice a great deal of points. On average, you can expect each blank to drop you about 3 percentile points - a huge number! Random guesses hurt slightly less than that of course, primarily because we will get about 20% of them right. But still, running out of time hurts us a lot.
You say that you are doing well on smaller timed sets. Do you feel that there is a stamina issue on the longer CATs? Also, are you completing the essays when you do these CATs? (You ought to, at least most of the time - it simulates the real thing.)
When I review students' CAT exams, I often notice that they lose their timing control around questions 10-20. It seems that for the first ten questions, they do a pretty good job of pacing themselves; after that, though, they "cheat" and spend far too long on a number of problems in a row. You might want to look over your CATs to see if there is a particularly point at which you lose your pacing, so that you can be more aware of that temptation next time.
Moreover, good timing comes not simply from knowing when to make an educated guess (although this is an important skill), but from recognizing the content/approach for each problem. In other words, the first 30 seconds on any problem are more important that the last 30 seconds, in terms of timing. Recognition skills are tough to develop, but it is possible! A couple of suggestions: whenever you review a problem, ask yourself: 1) how do I know what this problem is testing? (Can you categorize the problem specifically, so that you could place it within the context of one chapter of our guidebooks?); and 2) how do I know what is the best approach? (Are there key words in the problem that tip you off?) Furthermore, you can practice random sets of 10-20 problems, giving yourself only 30 seconds apiece, not to solve the problem, but merely to write down what is being tested, and what might be a good approach. From there, go ahead and solve in the remaining 1:30. But if you can't answer those preliminary questions in the first thirty seconds, you've found an area to review (and go back to the questions listed above).
When we run out of time, we sacrifice a great deal of points. On average, you can expect each blank to drop you about 3 percentile points - a huge number! Random guesses hurt slightly less than that of course, primarily because we will get about 20% of them right. But still, running out of time hurts us a lot.
You say that you are doing well on smaller timed sets. Do you feel that there is a stamina issue on the longer CATs? Also, are you completing the essays when you do these CATs? (You ought to, at least most of the time - it simulates the real thing.)
When I review students' CAT exams, I often notice that they lose their timing control around questions 10-20. It seems that for the first ten questions, they do a pretty good job of pacing themselves; after that, though, they "cheat" and spend far too long on a number of problems in a row. You might want to look over your CATs to see if there is a particularly point at which you lose your pacing, so that you can be more aware of that temptation next time.
Moreover, good timing comes not simply from knowing when to make an educated guess (although this is an important skill), but from recognizing the content/approach for each problem. In other words, the first 30 seconds on any problem are more important that the last 30 seconds, in terms of timing. Recognition skills are tough to develop, but it is possible! A couple of suggestions: whenever you review a problem, ask yourself: 1) how do I know what this problem is testing? (Can you categorize the problem specifically, so that you could place it within the context of one chapter of our guidebooks?); and 2) how do I know what is the best approach? (Are there key words in the problem that tip you off?) Furthermore, you can practice random sets of 10-20 problems, giving yourself only 30 seconds apiece, not to solve the problem, but merely to write down what is being tested, and what might be a good approach. From there, go ahead and solve in the remaining 1:30. But if you can't answer those preliminary questions in the first thirty seconds, you've found an area to review (and go back to the questions listed above).
- hi.varm
- Course Students
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2009 4:49 pm
Re: Unable to finish MGMAT tests in the allocated time
Jonathan: Thanks for your reply. I will try your suggestions. To answer your question yes I did write the essays on all three tests simulating actual conditions. Also I ended up spending the extra time in the first 10-15 questions trying to get them right but I did not and then in the end I either left the questions unanswered or took random guesses which also came out to be wrong. I was hoping to take the test in the 3rd week of March but it does not appear that I can score 700+(my target score) based on the current performance.
Any thoughts are welcome!
Regards
Amit
Any thoughts are welcome!
Regards
Amit
- JonathanSchneider
- ManhattanGMAT Staff
- Posts: 477
- Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2007 5:40 am
- Location: Durham, NC
Re: Unable to finish MGMAT tests in the allocated time
Hi Amit,
First of all, don't get too discouraged. Preparing for the GMAT can be an arduous journey. Focus on mastering one small content area at a time. (AKA, don't sit down to learn all of the Quant section at once. Just choose one topic, for example, absolute value.) As for timing, again, good timing comes from recognition, so do whatever you can to boost your recognition skills. Also, be wary of spending extra time on the first ten questions - it's not worth it! Too many people make that mistake, and it costs them dearly at the end of the exam.
Keep your chin up!
First of all, don't get too discouraged. Preparing for the GMAT can be an arduous journey. Focus on mastering one small content area at a time. (AKA, don't sit down to learn all of the Quant section at once. Just choose one topic, for example, absolute value.) As for timing, again, good timing comes from recognition, so do whatever you can to boost your recognition skills. Also, be wary of spending extra time on the first ten questions - it's not worth it! Too many people make that mistake, and it costs them dearly at the end of the exam.
Keep your chin up!
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