Strategy on when to take the test

NT Lancer.. You the man!!!1

Thanks a lot for your inspiration here.. I have decided to give gmatprep1 this weekend.. and with that hopefully analyse where i am at.. and give the exam in 2 weeks..

you have been very helpful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How is it going with your apps now? keep us posted..... What schools you applying?

Did you have a problem with the OG Quant Problem 117? Was wondering if you found their answer wrong, could you help me.. I think their answer is wrong.. Maybe you know a site where OG publishes any errors in books?

Thanks again!

Sure thing ! glad I could help.


My app process wont start for a while … I really took the gmat ahead of time to provide myself a better opportunity for umm how should I say this … kicking a#* at work haha. Im starting a new job this summer with UBS and am prepared to give it my best. But since MBA is most definitely in my future I took this opportunity to get the gmat out of the way. Because its just far more difficult to put in 3 hrs a day for a test while trying to show your stuff at work. Thus I won’t be applying until 2007 2008 which gives me plenty of time to plan my application attack. I figured with a 700 I got over the first hurdle. My gpa is also fairly strong 3.6 in electrical engineering. Great work experience is my next goal.

As I will be working in NYC il be applying to all the top part time programs … NYU being my first choice. I’m a fairly determined person so I don’t think they will be able to keep me out for long

For question 117 I get E … and it seems to be the only right answer. I do have the OG 11 so it might be different in the old book.

You are indeed a very strong minded person.. Amazing.. to say it on a forum that you are a fairly determined person and they wont keep you away.. Amazing confidence..
i wish i had such confidence.. amazing...

wish you all the best with your apps..

also the problem i think you were solving is a different one.. i also have the OG 11th edition, btu I was speaking of the problem from their Quant Review.. the smaller book... Here is the link to the problem I am speaking of..

https://www.gmatclub.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=28380

Let me know your thoughts on this.. Seems like giddi also agrees with me.. but the OG is bound to claim that as an A..

Thanks again NTLancer... I firmly believe self confidence and attitude is something you cant get out of this gmat exam.. it is something you are.. its in your character.. in your blood.. is there some way i can get this attitude ????

Another gem of a post from NTLancer. No question he has a great attitude!
BTW. Here is a link with correct problem (posted by another member this afternoon)

https://www.gmatclub.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=28407

I guess the picture in OG is missing angle x...

hey guys.. here is my blog from now.. on..

i did gmat prep1.. got a 660(Q:46,V:36) today... not that happy.. made like 3-4 silly mistakes in math.. got 14 wrong, and around 16 wrong in Verbal.. Will post questions from the test.. I dont know how to solve some of these mixtures problems.. right now i am too tired.. realised that some of them i did guess due to time contraint...

anyway thanks ntlancer!

A solid performance. What did you feel held you back ? How was your timing ? did you have time left over was there enough time for the math? How did you feel when you were taking the test? did you get your reading comps in the beginning or end ( would you have finished if you got 2 reading comps in the end ? ) did you find yourself spending to much time on a particular math problem which later prevented you in answering the last few questions ? … I feel these sort of things are important to analyze after your first real practice test. You should ask yourself … if this was the real thing what kind of debriefing report would I write… a hell just take the time pretend it was the real thing and write one … it will show you what you can improve on during your next practice. Considering that you are going for a 700+ score I would take 2 to 3 weeks before your next and final practice test … also as you see from your score breakdown you did far better in math than verbal … in my opinion it would be best to spend some more time on that verbal section as its just easier to pick up points there (since your score is lower its easier to jump to the next gmat level).

And you should not be disappointed in your score … you have reached a great level… now just a few more steps to go. The higher you go up a mountain the steeper you trail and the thinner your air. In situations like this its more a less a battle with yourself … you obviously have the intellectual capability to get up that mountain ( you are 3/4 way there ! ) now get your oxygen mask out and spring to the top

Please keep updating your progress I think it will help you as much as it helped me to get all your thoughts out and express yourself ( even if its just for yourself )

Quant Review:

So here are my thoughts on gmat prep test 1 and things to be learnt:
I spent around 2-3 hours this morning analysing my exam from last night. I know this is not the real Gmat, but I think from the past experiences this score is + or - 40 compared to GMAT. So my range is 620 <= GMAT Score <= 700.

The first thing I learnt while analysising is "SEARCH BUTTON" in this gmat club. I found almost 95% of my questions that I got wrong here. AMAZING SITE. I LOVE THIS SITE, and ITS THE PEOPLE'S PARTICIPATION THAT MAKES THIS SITE THE BEST!!!!!!!!!

Hopefully many of you find it helpful.

1) Under Pressure DS. In time constraint and exam pressure, Dont know when to plug in vs when not to plug in values. Sometimes we can solve eqns and figure out the soln. So what is the way out. ALWAYS spend 10 seconds on re-writing the QUESTION. I used to do it when I solved OG, hence I had a hit rate of 92%, but now in the exam I got 8 wrong. Not good!

So for example s,t are not equal integers:
rewrite: s ,t ==> {I}, s <>t
That is the first thing you need to write, before you get to the answer choices.
Easy to say here, but in the exam condition when you look at time left, you want to solve IT ASAP. PLEASE DONT DO THAT MISTAKE. Sit down and spend 10 seconds on rewriting the question.

2) Under Pressure PS questions: Silly MISTAKES Problems that I would have got in my sleep, I could not come up with a solution in the exam. I swore the "f" word like 20 times, and twice my wife came in to see what was happening. i was really pissed of on not solving one problem in 10 seconds because it was that easy. What happened? I spend 4 minutes on that problem. because of ego clash and getting irritated.

3) Wording Problems: You have to spend time in understanding what they really want. Is it 2/3rd of the distance left ,or 2/3rd of the entire distance. Spend a minute to understand what is been asked?

4) Number 0: Unique properties. 0 is divisble by every number? Now in the exam constraint, thinking ETS is very smart, I tried to out think them, and said hmm maybe they wanted me to think that, and not consider 0 as one of the choices, so I considered 0 which was good, but 0 is unique.
0 is even
0 is an integer
0 is neither positive nor negative
0 is divisble by every number
0 is a multiple of every number

Have I missed anything else with 0?

5) Need to understand clearly how decimals are termed: Hundreths digit is not the same hundreds digit. In the exam pressure I just forgot the difference. Also because there were not that many problems to practice on the decimals. Its like you have to know the terminilogy really well!

I probably lost around 5-6 questions in silly mistakes. So I am not feeling that bad.
New tricks that I learnt are:
1) A few things about mixtures, and decimals from this test.
2) External angles of triangle is sum of two interior angles. This seems to be tested more recently on the Gmat than before. I knew this property but forgot to apply it here in triangles.

Path forward:
1) Practice all DS questions from this site under timed constraints
2) Do Manhattan Tests: They had some excellent word translations problems. I did not do them under timed conditions, so now I am goign to do them under timed constraints.
3) Brush up on terminology and number properties.

With the above I am sure I will reach 49+ in Quant. That is one half of the battle.
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Hi All,
great thread....I plan to jot down my progress daily here, so I can keep an account of what I have learnt and what is it on which I need to work hard.
I started with my prep arnd a month back..studies for one week..from PR and appeared for GMAT Prep1. Got 720(Q50,V37)...was happy to see the score, but I felt I ould have scored better, as during the verbal section I was getting distracted by the people present in office. However, I didnto write the essays..willget800 can you plz share..whether u wrote the AWA section?
After that worked little bit daily on SC1000.By now I hav solved arnd 100 questions. However, a break came in my studies...and wasted arnd 2 weeks.Now I have arranged for a computer at my home to seriously start with my studies.?
My schedule is 9-7 office
7:30 9:00 gmat
10 12 gmat.
Howver, will change it to study for an hour in the mrng...

I majorly do the SC's n CR's on gmat club in this time...also some 10 -12 ques of SC 1000 daily.

I discovered in gmat prep1...I got 4 q wrong of DS..out of the 5 I got wrong..need to work upon it consistently...
Verbal SC was the main problem....I plan to give GMAT in mid june.
I have solved PR by now...havent bought Kaplan...however..did smthng silly...got Kaplan 800...started solving it...gud book..but too tuff to start...
Plan to buy Kaplan book and start working upon it...plz tell what other material shall I refer apart frm Kaplan n gmatclub...
I know everbdy wants this...but I actually want to score 750+ to hav fair chances of making it to a gud b school..

my dear friend a score of 750 will neither guarantee anything nor make anything certain. and you will have more than a fair chance of making it into a good B school with a 720 or a 700 or a 690 ... gmat is only 1/4th of the app

agree with NTLancer.. This is 1/4th of the battle...

I did the AWA's too. I did like the real GMAT.. took the breaks only when asked to.. And all that... Treated it like my real gmat exam.. the previous day before gmatprep1, i went through all my review notes and all..

However I noticed that towards the end I did not care of the exam.. in verbal.. I just clicked next in the last 2 questions because I was tired. hopefully next exam I wont do it..

im sure you wont be tired on your real gmat

well its funny now.. when i went back and looked at princeton and kaplan problems that i solved 6-8 months ago.. i was suprised how did i get them right that time.. I am getting those problems wrong now..

oh well.. god knows.. its irritating.................................. i am almost now ready to say thats it.. enough preparation.. lets just give it!

I agree with you guys that its just 1/4 of the real challenge...thats y I wrote...to have fair chances of getting intop a gud b-school..neways...for now GMAT is the main aim....
willget500 and NTLancer, can you share when r u taking ur respective GMATs. Also how are you working on the AWA section?

i took my gmat 7 days ago im here just for fun

i am deciding on taking the exam after my second gmat prep.. mostly will just walk down the next day.. it does not look like i need to reserve it way upfront.. on the day i feel good, i will walk down.. moslty before may mid.

I notice your Quant is stronger than your Verbal. That's actually great news, because I think it's easier to raise your V than your Q. First off, make sure you read the WALL STREET JOURNAL, out loud, every day. If you can get it, THE ECONOMIST is also good. Either of those will get you used to the syntax and grammatical construction the GMAT uses, and the SC will feel more natural. Also, by reading brief but meaty passages, you will sharpen your mind for the RC part.

As for Quant, you should know the best advice - do the Challenges here, they are great and will DEFINITELY raise your score. They sure helped with mine!

PISSEDDDDDDDDDD OFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Did a MGMAT.... got 40 in Quant, and 31 in Verbal.. BAD BAD...

I guess its harder right?

Anyone any ideas ............................