GMATPrep1: 700 (Q51,V33). ...2nd GMATPrep1: 770 (Q51,V42)

Walker, please explain how to get Q 51? I always get 50 no matter how focused I am. I've only gotten 51 on other providers' tests but those are not accurate.

Thanks Walker.
My main problem for now is speed. Once I get to the hard questions in the middle I start spending too much time on them. I am slow setting up equations and such. Then I almost always run out of time on the last few questions and have to guess. One thing I noticed - when I guess blindly I get the question wrong 100% of the time. Must be bad luck.
My second biggest problem is DS. Most of my mistakes are on DS questions. I think when I am pressed with time, I sometimes avoid writing down equations. Instead I try to do them in my head to save time and then make a mistake and pick the wrong answer.
Lastly, certain types of problems I don't feel very comfortable with and often get wrong - mixture problems and the harder rate problems in particular.
My last GMATPrep that I took I actually got only 4 wrong, none of which in the first 10 questions, but I still got 50. Which is funny, because even when I have 8-9 wrong it still gives me 50. The damn software must recognize me somehow.

- I wrote above that I also have a huge problem with time, especially in prob-comb and remainder problems.

"if I find the problem that I cannot solve in 2min, I try find as many ways to solve it as possible. Sometimes I spent a few hours to do so."

It maybe really sounds insane but every time when I said "Aha!" I definitely transfered to next level
For example, our dispute over a unfair coin led me to spent maybe an hour for revision of my probability background and to consider all probabilities of different events, and so on. So, I spent 90% of 100% of preparation time namely for solving such time-waste problems.

Go through quant threads, catch such inconvenient problems, post a few ways for solving and maybe make a set of such problems like I was here: https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/t56486

Hope this help

Hey Walker, Can you make an example for that? Your skill must be monster!

A or B vs. C-trap:

25. If x and y are consecutive odd integers, what is the sum of x and y?
(1) The product of x and y is negative.
(2) One of the integers is equal to –1.
Answer: A

Second condition is obviously insufficient and strongly support first one that seems to be insufficient.
7-t61637 (BTW you were caught by this C-trap )

___

What is the perimeter of quadrangle ABCD in which a circle is inscribed?
1) AB+DC=8
2) BC=5
Answer: A

Second condition is obviously insufficient and strongly support first one that seems to be insufficient.
7-t61627

___

A startting line up of a team consists of x men and y women. There are also 4 reserve players, 2 of whom are men. If one of the starting players is unable to play and needs to be replaced by one of the reserves, what is the probability that the number of women on the starting team will increase?
1) x+y =12
2) x/y=1/3
Answer: B

the problem depends on the ratio x/y rather than absolute value of x and y. This subtype of C-trap problems is a typical one for %- and average- problems.
7-t61627

___

A jewelry dealer initially offered a bracelet for sale at an asking price that would give a profit to the dealer of 40 percent of the original cost. What was the original cost of the bracelet?
(1) After reducing this asking price by 10 percent, the jewelry dealer sold the bracelet at a profit of $403.
(2) The jewelry dealer sold the bracelet for $1,953.
Answer: A

Second condition is obviously insufficient and strongly support first one that seems to be insufficient.
7-t61415

Thank you Walker,
I definitely agree that it is easily decieved by this trap. I think that we should have a thread that gathering all the traps shared by clubbers. The traps not only appear in DS, but also in other section of the test, such as CR, What do you think?

Serious,

It is a good idea.
maybe later I will start such thread concerning DS patterns...

Thanks for your advice, Walker. I really don't know what to do about the time issue. On most hard problems it really dawns me after I have spent 3 min on the question. If I decide on the 2 min mark that I have to move on and make an educational guess, I get it wrong most of the time. Unfortunately, when I spend 3 min on too many questions, I ran out of time and still have to guess at the end of the section. I see no solution to this. I keep practicing with Math problems, and I have improved my focus and spotting traps, but when it comes to the hard questions, my speed is still pretty slow. That is why I can't cross the Q50 barrier. On my last GMATPrep I even went down to 49 (7 wrong)
I don't understand this software. I used to get 50 with 8 or 9 wrongs and now....
Anyway, the only good news is that I am improving on Verbal. So, I guess I'll have to rely more on a Verbal lift for my overall score....Sigh........

I passed GMATPrep1 third time and got 720 (Q50, V37). Maybe I was not so angry and concentrated as in my second attempt. In quant I made only 2 mistakes and got 50 (I got 51 and had 4 and even 6 mistakes for the first and second attempts) One silly mistake in 2nd question! So, fist 10-20 questions have a huge influence on a quant score.

I really think it more has to d owith the type of question you get wrong than the first 20. You probably made a silly mistake on a really easy - medium question. Are they going to award a perfect quant score for that ? Probably not. If you make 4-6 mistakes on 51 level questiosn but get 4-6 51 level right , then that is what the software thinks your level is at.

Great score again!
Is it possible to take GMATPrep-1 three times and not change the data pool for Prep-2? Isn't it the same data pool? So are you basically uninstalling and reinstalling the files to retake the exam?

Thanks.

Yes, I uninstall and reinstall the software. Moreover, I'm going to try Prep2 on the next week and I will post my thoughts about intersection of Prep1 with Prep2 later.

easy one. Maybe did not finally wake up at 5 am
I also was surprised by harder questions in the end of the quant section. It was not like my 2 previous attempts. I even thought that I reached above 51

It's true what terp26 says. You probably get penalized more on easy questions. One easy question wrong and forget about 51. That's probably why I never get 51 on that software.
But there's something weird going on with the Verbal on GMATPrep1. I noticed that the score jumps alot between 35 and 45, regardless of the number of mistakes you make. You could make just 2 more mistakes and go from 42 to 35. I can't imagine the penalty being so huge on any one question. So, I assume this is a bug in the software. GMATPrep2 on the other hand, gives a lot more consisten Verbal scores.

Hi Walker,

3 days ago in the evening I tried to pass gmatprep#1 and got only 640 Q50V26. In the end I wanted to drop to the flour cause I felt so tired. Next morning I freshed by a deep sleep I tried again. Result's 750 Q50V42. To be frank even after reinstallation I met many Q-questions similar (but mostly in the middle of Q-part) to those of my first attempts but another story about a verbal part is.

So I can say in conclusion that we should consider to improve our skills being fresh. That's why I take a vacation for 7 days to spend for verbal. My X-day is 21th Apr 2008. Honestly... I do dislike this test maybe because I don't like any tests I prefer see the eyes of my judge.

Walker, when are you gonna meet VUE the next time?

My Last attempt with Prep1: 780 (Q51, V48).

my thoughts:

1. I was very careful in quant and saw a few very nice problems in the end but damn! 2 silly mistakes again at the end of the section. I had repetitions mainly (~10) at low-average level, but at high level GMAT surprised me by some interesting problems.

2. Main repetitions were in RC and CR. I do not know why but my memory worked excellent in CR (~4 repetitions) and I knew the answer immediately after reading a few words . I was very careful with RC and use Gin's recommendations that seem to be useful. And again - CONCENTRATION!