Urgent - 10 days to go - Help needed to move from 680 to 710

[ps123]

Hi,

I have my GMAT on Aug 25th. Yesterday I took a CAT and scored 680 
I have mentioned the details below
Argument essay - - Review

Integrated Reasoning 3.8 3 - 5 Review

Quant 47 81 % Review

Verbal 35 77 % Review

Total 680 90%

I just have 9-10 days for exam. I want to score 710+ in the exam. Please help me.
I have completed my prep. From the analysis, CR seems to be my weakest section. This comes as a surprise to me. I was able to solve qns in OG13 at around 70-80 percent accuracy. But that was without any time limit. Guess time limit makes me anxious. Also my performance in SC was worst in OG. Even without time limit, my accuracy was at around 50-60 percent. But in CAT I seem to do well.
So overall it’s surprising. Also I would like to know if the level of CR in MGMAT CAT is higher than that of real GMAT. (As I found it to be very different from questions in OG 13)
Kindly let me know what I should do to score 710+. I have mentioned the detailed analysis below
I took the Test under standard conditions (with Essay, IR and with 8 min break in between sections).


QUESTION FORMAT Total Right Wrong Blank % Right Average
Time
RIGHT
Answers Average
Time
WRONG
Answers Average
Difficulty
RIGHT
Answers Average
Difficulty
WRONG
Answers
Problem Solving 22 12 10 0 55% 1:54 2:19 670 720
Data Sufficiency 15 9 6 0 60% 1:32 2:13 670 720

Sentence Correction 15 9 6 0 60% 1:09 1:37 720 750
Critical Reasoning 14 5 9 0 36% 1:40 2:08 570 730
Reading Comprehension 12 9 3 0 75% 2:03 1:33 640 750
QUANTITATIVE
CONTENT AREA Total Right Wrong % Right Average
Time
RIGHT
Answers Average
Time
WRONG
Answers
BEST Geometry 5 4 1 80% 1:24 2:02 FASTEST
Number Properties 7 5 2 71% 1:18 2:34
Algebra 7 4 3 57% 1:31 2:07
WORST Word Problems 10 3 7 30% 2:56 2:23 SLOWEST
Fractions, Decimals, & Percents 8 5 3 63% 1:55 2:06
This report was generated with DATA from the following exams:



QUANTITATIVE: ANALYSIS BY QUESTION FORMAT & DIFFICULTY
QUESTION FORMAT Total Right Wrong Blank % Right Average
Time
RIGHT
Answers Average
Time
WRONG
Answers Average
Difficulty
RIGHT
Answers Average
Difficulty
WRONG
Answers


Problem Solving 22 12 10 0 55% 1:54 2:19 670 720
300 - 500 1 1 0 100% 0:49 NA
500 - 600 2 2 0 100% 2:04 NA
600 - 700 5 2 3 40% 1:24 3:30
700 - 800 14 7 7 50% 2:09 1:49

Data Sufficiency 15 9 6 0 60% 1:32 2:13 670 720
600 - 700 9 7 2 78% 1:18 1:27
700 - 800 6 2 4 33% 2:21 2:36
This report was generated with DATA from the following exams:


VERBAL: ANALYSIS BY QUESTION FORMAT & DIFFICULTY
QUESTION FORMAT Total Right Wrong Blank % Right Average
Time
RIGHT
Answers Average
Time
WRONG
Answers Average
Difficulty
RIGHT
Answers Average
Difficulty
WRONG
Answers


Critical Reasoning 14 5 9 0 36% 1:40 2:08 570 730
300 - 500 2 2 0 100% 2:13 NA
500 - 600 1 1 0 100% 0:56 NA
600 - 700 2 0 2 0% NA 1:32
700 - 800 9 2 7 22% 1:29 2:19

Reading Comprehension 12 9 3 0 75% 2:03 1:33 640 750
500 - 600 2 2 0 100% 2:37 NA
600 - 700 6 6 0 100% 1:29 NA
700 - 800 4 1 3 25% 4:21 1:33

Sentence Correction 15 9 6 0 60% 1:09 1:37 720 750
600 - 700 3 3 0 100% 0:56 NA
700 - 800 12 6 6 50% 1:16 1:37
This report was generated with DATA from the following exams:

[StaceyKoprince]

As a general rule, your scoring level 7-10 days before is about what you should expect to score on the real test. I know that's probably not what you want to hear... but that is typical.

So. Do you want the 710+ badly enough to postpone your test? Or would you be okay with a 680, even though you do want a 710, and so you're willing to take it and see what happens? (If you don't get the score you want, the only real downside is that you have to wait 31 days before you can take it again - assuming you haven't already taken it several times.)

Note: re: the data that you posted below, we don't actually do the analysis for you (unless you want to sign up for tutoring). :) You have to do the analysis - that is, tell me what you think the data means and what you think you should do about it - and then I'll tell you what I think. (Note: even if you were my tutoring student, I'd still also make you try to do some analysis before I told you what I thought. You need to learn how to read data and figure out what to do about it, because you have to do this constantly throughout your study!)

On verbal in particular, if you notice that you're better at official questions than questions written by someone else, that's good - although you have to take two things into account. (1) Did you do those official questions under timed conditions? If not, then it's meaningless that you're "better" at them because you won't get extra time on the real test. (2) Did you actually try decently hard official questions (decently hard for your level)? Practice CATs are adaptive, just like the real thing. If you're mostly trying easier OG questions, then of course you'll be better at them.

You may want to try GMATPrep to see whether there's much of a difference when using official questions in an adaptive format under timed conditions.

Back to the big question. If you want to keep your test date, then your focus for the next week should be a comprehensive review across everything - you're not actually trying to cram a 30-point improvement into that last week. (If you try, the most likely scenario is that it will backfire and your score will actually drop.)

If you decide that you want to push the test date out to give yourself a better shot at hitting the 710, then go through that test data and tell me, in detail, what you think it means and what you think you should do about it. I'll then tell you where I agree and disagree.

[ps123]

Hi Stacey... Thanks for your reply :)

Yead I did some analysis....I didnt manage my time well. Also I felt that I got very anxious during exam (I was focusing on final score instead of understanding the question and answering it)

So I kept the following things in mind....

1. I should focus on giving my best for each question which will eventually take me to a good score.
2. No matter what, I am not going to stick to a question beyond a cut off time....

I took the test yesterday and guess what....I score 730 in it..

Integrated Reasoning 3.17 2 - 4
Quant 50 95 %
Verbal 40 91 %
Total 730 97%


So felt better about it. Hope this is not an abberation. I just want to ask you something. I felt that CAT3 was easier than the other CATs (I understand that it is adaptive, but still I felt even the 700-800 level qns were relatively easy). Is it designed to be like that? Does MGMAT make some of the CATs easy (Hope you say no so that I can be happy that I scored well in a standard exam :P)

now my biggest worry is IR :(....I sticked to my time and concentrated well..I feel it is very dry and boring...got a pathetic score..still I feel I am far better than what my score says...any susggestions?

btw I have been following your replies, articles etc etc...It was very useful in analysing the test...so definitely I would like to thank you....even though you werent my tutor, u have made a difference :)(atleast from CAT 2 to CAT3)....Hope this happens in my real exam next sat as well :) (in the meantime planning to take some more tests...might come back again for help :))

[ps123]

Hi Stacey,

Today I took GMAT prep Test 1 and to my surprise I found my score to be 660(49 QA and 31 VA)....this infact comes as a shock to me...

In between I took MGMAT CAT and scored 700 in it....

In GMAT prep, surprisingly I find the quants a little tough (esp the ones I got wrong.....I am still not sure about the answer)

Again there is another surprise in verbal....I made a lot of mistakes in Grammar. This was my strongest area in MGMAT CATs..

I think again my Time Management was not up to the mark. I finished quants in 72 mins. Also I finished verbal in 68 mins. But this time I didnt feel tired, and I didnt want to mark the answer and move on. Infact I felt I thought well about the questions and marked the answers. This adds insult to injury :(

Only 3-4 days back I was happy that I will reach my target score of 710+...now its even more depressing as this is 'GMAT prep Test'...

Do you generally see so much variation among tests? When I went through the internet, I foound people scored better in GMAT prep than in MGMAT....

Still thinking what went wrong and if I can achieve my target :(

[mjr0410]

Hi ps123

How was your GMAT today? How much did you score?

[StaceyKoprince]

I felt that CAT3 was easier than the other CATs. Is it designed to be like that?

Nope - they're all pulling from the same question database and are set up exactly the same way. Nothing is artificially set to be easier or harder anywhere along the way.

Now, part of it could have been that you happened to get a few more questions that were more in your areas of strength. That's just luck and you don't know whether that will also happen on test day. But in general, it's very good that you scored a 730. :)

(You did take that test under 100% official conditions, right? I see that you did IR. Did you also do the essay, take only two 8-minute breaks, etc?)

Most students have been telling me that they find the real IR much easier than our IR, so hopefully you'll find the same on the real test. If you are applying this year, then you really don't need to worry about the IR score. Know what your strengths and weaknesses are, and immediately guess randomly on the questions in your biggest areas of weakness. Spend that extra time doing the ones that you know you're better at.

Okay, moving to your second post. Ah, I see, your score dropped on your next two tests, to 660 and 700. So we have to assume that this is your current scoring range - high 600s. That means you might need some more time to have a more secure chance of hitting your 710 goal.

Go back and look through the specific problems that you missed - especially SC, since you said you were better at those on our tests but struggled on GMATPrep. Why did you miss those questions? Were they testing rules that you didn't know? Or did you know the rules but the test writers were able to distract you with convoluted or funny-sounding sentences? You finished verbal 7 minutes early - did you rush a bit at times and make careless mistakes? A little of all of the above?

[sachin.w]

ps123,
Hw much did you score on the GMAT?

[StaceyKoprince]

He or she may no longer be using the forums. :( hopefully that means that s/he got the score s/he wanted!