write2ksid wrote:
I dont know where did i go wrong. This is my second attempt and there is no improvement at all. In my first attempt i secured a score of 560 Q46 & V22.
.....i got busy with business for a short while and again started my preparation with a solid plan on September 1, 2011. This time i went through all the
manhattan gmat english strategy guides. Solved all questions in
OG and Verbal Review. Gave a total of 9 CATs, still there has been no improvement in my score. What is the magic formula that i am missing. My efforts have been true.
MGMAT 1: 640 Q51 V29 Started 2 Weeks before my final test
MGMAT 2: 660 Q50 V32
MGMAT 3: 690 Q50 V34
Kaplan 1: 670 Q51 V31
Kaplan 2: 720 Q50 V42
Kaplan 3: 660 Q49 V29
Gmat Prep 1: 680 Q48 V34 5 days before my final test
Gmat prep 2: 690 Q50 V33 (with AWA) 3 days before my final test
Gmat prep 3: 690 Q49 V34 (with AWA) 2 days before my final test
I just not able to understand where am i going wrong. I have given all the tests as per standard test conditions. Should i give an another attempt? or is my capability is limited to 580. I actually found the final gmat questions very tough compared to all others CATS!
I am thoroughly confused.
Here are reasons why you may not have done as well on the real test day as you have done in practice.
1. Are you taking the practice exams at different times than during the time of your real test? If you take your practice exams on the weekend in the afternoons after a nice good night sleep, but you take your real GMAT starting at 8 in the morning and you wake up at 6 AM (and let's say you don't normally wake up that early), then you obviously are not performing at your peak. Take at least some tests at around the same time you take your real one. Before my first GMAT I always made sure (except for one test) to be taking my practice exams in the afternoon because my real test is in the afternoon. I was scoring mostly in the mid 600's, and my real test was in the mid 600's, so I wasn't too surprised though the distribution was a bit diff b/w quant and verbal.
2. Are you getting bogged down on certain problems and spending 4-5 minutes on a single one? If you're in the middle of the section, if you start getting to 3 minutes, just guess, and confirm. Sure you'll prob get that problem wrong and get an easier problem for the next one, but eventually, you're gonna get a problem right, and the next problem will be harder (to the general population) and hopefully in an area that is your strength, not your weakness.
3. I think you're took way too many tests in the last two weeks. I only took one test a week, some weeks two, and that's with a full work schedule (and 90+% of us are in that category). After every test, look at the kinds of problems you were getting wrong and work on those areas. Also try to see if there were problems that you got right, but guessed. Work on augmenting your weaknesses, and maintain your strengths. On my first GMAT, I took time on questions that I knew I could do, and I whizzed past questions that I had no idea about to get a 47 in Q and I was normally in the lower to mid 40's. Now that I'm about two weeks away from test day, I'm going to wrap up working on weaknesses, and just making sure that I can work on my strengths and see if I can learn to solve them in less time.
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08 Dec 2011, 23:04
