Aspiring760 wrote:
Hi Experts,
I started my preparation for GMAT 10 weeks back. As suggested in internet circles and forums, I took the GMAT prep test 1 to understand my starting point. I got a 550 (Q44,V21) on that test. After a lot of studying I took the GMAT prep Test 2 and got a 650 (Q48, V31). I want to score around 710 and want to get into a good university in US. The courses I am looking at are MS Supply Chain Management and MS Management Studies. The plan is to write the actual GMAT in a 3-4 weeks time from now. Can you please please suggest and help me achieve my goal?
Test 1 : Quant : 44 (18 out of 37 incorrect; 11 DS and 7 PS)
Verbal : 21 (20 out of 41 incorrect; 7 SC, 6 CR and 7 RC)
Test 2 : Quant : 48 (15 out of 37 incorrect; 8 DS and 7 PS)
Verbal : 31 (14 out of 41 incorrect; 7 SC, 3 CR and 4 RC)
In the latest test and numerous other tests I have taken I constantly lack time towards the end in Quant section, which may be one of reasons of a less than 50 score in Quant. The lack of time leads to panic and a lot of silly mistakes. I feel quite comfortable with respect to time management in the Verbal section but a low score in that suggests the problems run in deep. Could you please look through the statistics above and help me in preparing a plan for the next 4 weeks? Also, if you would be so kind to tell me if my target score is line with what universities look at for these courses in US?
Thanks in advance. Apologies for the long post. :D
PS : I am done with all the verbal and quant questions in
OG 13. (Sentence Correction twice
)
Hi Aspiring760,
I think you've made good progress from your 1st mock to your 2nd one. However, looking at your test scores and you mistakes, I have the following observations:
(1) PS questions - you haven't made an improvement (7 wrong in both tests). Issues in PS can only mean 2 things - either your basic fundamentals are still weak or you're making silly mistakes while solving questions. I suggest that you go through the PS questions that you got wrong in both the tests and figure out what is the real issue, and then try solving that issue.
(2) DS questions - your accuracy has improved, but not as much as it needs to. Issues with DS can again mean 2 things - weak basic fundamentals or you're rushing into answering the question. You need to develop a strategy to develop the DS questions and try to think about how the test makers try to trap you in each DS question type. I usually start with looking at the 2nd statement, and then move to 1st statement. This helps me avoid taking the information from 1st statement while looking at the 2nd statement. Again, look at your mocks and figure out where you go wrong in DS.
(3) SC questions - Again, no improvement between the 2 mocks. I don't know which prep material you're using, but I would recommend getting
Manhattan GMAT SC book or the Aristotle Prep SC grail. Either of these books are great to prepare for SC, and they should help you in fine tuning your skills. SC is an important segment of verbal, and you need to master it.
(4) CR has improved, and it is at a great level. Unless you think your accuracy in CR is not too great, you should keep CR on the sides for now and focus on improving SC instead.
(5) RC looks in good shape, but don't ignore this section. People often ignore RC and pay the price during the main exam. I would recommend solving 2-3 RC passages everyday and keep the strategy sharp. Doing great in RC is the key to a high verbal score. Trust me, I ignored RC and paid the price with a low verbal score.
Finally, as you mentioned, issues with timing may be causing panic during the tests, and that can severely affect your efficiency in solving questions. I would suggest going through the following articles to fine tune your timing strategies:
You can search for more such articles online, and improve your timing.
All the best!
Thanks a ton for your wonderful insights. The points you made related to my PS and DS scores are quite correct. I have a bad habit of mixing up the choices in DS and ending up with a wrong answer. The same story applies to PS and add to that a lot silly mistakes. To give you an example, the questions that I get wrong I can immediately figure out at least 80% of them when I analyse them after the actual test.
I will be giving at least 4 more full tests and 6 more semi full length tests (Without AWA and some without IR) from now till I take the real thing. I went through the timing strategies and will apply them while taking the future tests. Hopefully that will take care of struggles with time. I badly need to improve my SC though, I have got only 4 weeks now, Do you think Manhattan SC will be worth it if I start doing it now?
I generally practice 20 SC, 20 RC and 20 CR problems and an additional 20 questions of either CR, SC or RC, every other day. So that's 3 days in a week. I interspred this with 2 days of quant (40-50 questions each day). I am now planning to give 2 tests in the remaining two days of the week. How do you like this plan? Can I please have your thought on this?
Moreover, do you think 710 is a realistic score from where I am right now? Do I need to put in more efforts?
close
17 Aug 2014, 07:34
