Last visit was: 29 Apr 2024, 08:46 It is currently 29 Apr 2024, 08:46

Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
SORT BY:
Kudos
avatar
Manager
Manager
Joined: 28 Jan 2015
Posts: 115
Own Kudos [?]: 52 [0]
Given Kudos: 51
Concentration: General Management, Entrepreneurship
GMAT 1: 670 Q44 V38
Send PM
avatar
Manager
Manager
Joined: 12 Nov 2014
Posts: 84
Own Kudos [?]: 69 [0]
Given Kudos: 11
Concentration: Finance, Strategy
GMAT 1: 710 Q49 V38
GMAT 2: 760 Q48 V47
Send PM
avatar
Manager
Manager
Joined: 28 Jan 2015
Posts: 115
Own Kudos [?]: 52 [0]
Given Kudos: 51
Concentration: General Management, Entrepreneurship
GMAT 1: 670 Q44 V38
Send PM
avatar
Manager
Manager
Joined: 12 Nov 2014
Posts: 84
Own Kudos [?]: 69 [0]
Given Kudos: 11
Concentration: Finance, Strategy
GMAT 1: 710 Q49 V38
GMAT 2: 760 Q48 V47
Send PM
Re: 2 Month mark – Study plan/Strategy [#permalink]
sabineodf wrote:
Thanks alexau!!

I will definitely do the GMATprep CAT this weekend, and try to make it as realistic as possible. Thanks for the encouragement. I will keep it all in mind going forward, and try to keep a more positive attitude. I think I have it in me, I just need to beat these nerves.

Thanks for your advice :)

It's totally normal to have nerves (and all it shows is that you truly care about this exam, which is a good thing). But the one thing you have to do is make sure that the nerves do not control how you perform. Sometimes you need to go in there with an attitude something along the lines of "I know I am going to do my best and that's all I can worry about."

You clearly have it in you, but you just need to believe in yourself. I started writing "mantras" to myself to mentally prep myself, and wrote down notes on my notepad when I took the exam. Little things like that will go a long way when under pressure. It helps keep you calm and reminds you of everyone supporting you through the exam.
GMAT Club Legend
GMAT Club Legend
Joined: 19 Dec 2014
Status:GMAT Assassin/Co-Founder
Affiliations: EMPOWERgmat
Posts: 21846
Own Kudos [?]: 11669 [0]
Given Kudos: 450
Location: United States (CA)
GMAT 1: 800 Q51 V49
GRE 1: Q170 V170
Send PM
Re: 2 Month mark – Study plan/Strategy [#permalink]
Expert Reply
Hi sabineodf,

You mentioned something that I'm hoping that you can clarify. Since you've studied before and now you're studying again, are you taking NEW CATs or CATs that you used before? I ask because re-taking a CAT almost always leads to seeing some repeat questions (and that is NOT realistic). While there's nothing *wrong* with retaking a CAT for general practice purposes, the score results from a retake are almost always "inflated" (and as such, are unrealistic). To properly train for the Official GMAT, you have to take your CATs in a way that mirrors Test Day in every detail that you can reasonably control (time of day, day of the week, new FULL CAT, away from your home, etc.).

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
avatar
Manager
Manager
Joined: 28 Jan 2015
Posts: 115
Own Kudos [?]: 52 [0]
Given Kudos: 51
Concentration: General Management, Entrepreneurship
GMAT 1: 670 Q44 V38
Send PM
Re: 2 Month mark – Study plan/Strategy [#permalink]
EMPOWERgmatRichC wrote:
Hi sabineodf,

You mentioned something that I'm hoping that you can clarify. Since you've studied before and now you're studying again, are you taking NEW CATs or CATs that you used before? I ask because re-taking a CAT almost always leads to seeing some repeat questions (and that is NOT realistic). While there's nothing *wrong* with retaking a CAT for general practice purposes, the score results from a retake are almost always "inflated" (and as such, are unrealistic). To properly train for the Official GMAT, you have to take your CATs in a way that mirrors Test Day in every detail that you can reasonably control (time of day, day of the week, new FULL CAT, away from your home, etc.).

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich


Hello,

I am taking brand new CATs that I haven't seen before. If I were to repeat a CAT I am pretty sure I would have memorised all the answers :lol:

Thanks to both of you for comments and well wishes!
avatar
Manager
Manager
Joined: 28 Jan 2015
Posts: 115
Own Kudos [?]: 52 [0]
Given Kudos: 51
Concentration: General Management, Entrepreneurship
GMAT 1: 670 Q44 V38
Send PM
Re: 2 Month mark – Study plan/Strategy [#permalink]
CAT taken April 4th under test conditions:


GMATPrep Score 640

Verbal 41
Quant 37

Goal for next CAT (in exactly one week): Get that Quant up to 40 as well.

If anyone has any tips for boosting that quant... give me a holler. :oops:
GMAT Club Legend
GMAT Club Legend
Joined: 19 Dec 2014
Status:GMAT Assassin/Co-Founder
Affiliations: EMPOWERgmat
Posts: 21846
Own Kudos [?]: 11669 [0]
Given Kudos: 450
Location: United States (CA)
GMAT 1: 800 Q51 V49
GRE 1: Q170 V170
Send PM
Re: 2 Month mark – Study plan/Strategy [#permalink]
Expert Reply
Hi sabineodf,

Most Test Takers get questions wrong in the Quant section for one of a handful of 'common' reasons. You should review the Quant section, taking notes (use a Mistake Tracker or Error Log) and focus first on the following:

How many questions did you get wrong....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some math that you just didn't know how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?

Once you can define WHY you're losing points, you should be able to focus on those problems and fix them.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
avatar
Manager
Manager
Joined: 28 Jan 2015
Posts: 115
Own Kudos [?]: 52 [0]
Given Kudos: 51
Concentration: General Management, Entrepreneurship
GMAT 1: 670 Q44 V38
Send PM
Re: 2 Month mark – Study plan/Strategy [#permalink]
Thank you Rich,

Several of my mistakes were absolutely avoidable. One of my main takeaways from reviewing this previous CAT was that I have to stop being an idiot (haha). I'm not being hard on myself, I had some mistakes that were just plain stupid, I'm clearly not always reading the question fully.

Other than that my takeaways were to work on exponents and combinatorics<--- my worst nightmare, and also strengthen my sentence correction which is my downfall verbally.
GMAT Club Legend
GMAT Club Legend
Joined: 19 Dec 2014
Status:GMAT Assassin/Co-Founder
Affiliations: EMPOWERgmat
Posts: 21846
Own Kudos [?]: 11669 [0]
Given Kudos: 450
Location: United States (CA)
GMAT 1: 800 Q51 V49
GRE 1: Q170 V170
Send PM
Re: 2 Month mark – Study plan/Strategy [#permalink]
Expert Reply
Hi sabineodf,

Once you've reviewed those questions and defined the silly/little mistake(s), it's often helpful to physically redo the ENTIRE question (and practice going through each 'step' in the process). You will obviously already know what the correct answer is, but the 'mechanics' of going through the work should help you to eliminate the silly mistakes that hurt you the first time around. The level of 'precision' in your work is almost always due to what you write down - while you don't have to write down lots of information, you do have to write down enough (necessary facts, calculations, labels, etc.) to help you to guarantee that you're working correctly.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
avatar
Manager
Manager
Joined: 28 Jan 2015
Posts: 115
Own Kudos [?]: 52 [0]
Given Kudos: 51
Concentration: General Management, Entrepreneurship
GMAT 1: 670 Q44 V38
Send PM
Re: 2 Month mark – Study plan/Strategy [#permalink]
EMPOWERgmatRichC wrote:
Hi sabineodf,

Once you've reviewed those questions and defined the silly/little mistake(s), it's often helpful to physically redo the ENTIRE question (and practice going through each 'step' in the process). You will obviously already know what the correct answer is, but the 'mechanics' of going through the work should help you to eliminate the silly mistakes that hurt you the first time around. The level of 'precision' in your work is almost always due to what you write down - while you don't have to write down lots of information, you do have to write down enough (necessary facts, calculations, labels, etc.) to help you to guarantee that you're working correctly.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich


Thanks Rich, did a new CAT today after a week of slacking study-wise because of a busy work schedule. My score didn't suffer too much but I will absolutely go through my silly mistakes later today, and try to improve during the week. My score wasn't amazing today but I will keep at it, a month and a half to go! Plenty of room for improvement..
GMAT Club Legend
GMAT Club Legend
Joined: 19 Dec 2014
Status:GMAT Assassin/Co-Founder
Affiliations: EMPOWERgmat
Posts: 21846
Own Kudos [?]: 11669 [0]
Given Kudos: 450
Location: United States (CA)
GMAT 1: 800 Q51 V49
GRE 1: Q170 V170
Send PM
Re: 2 Month mark – Study plan/Strategy [#permalink]
Expert Reply
Hi sabineodf,

What were your scores on this CAT (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)? And did your little mistakes fall into any specific categories? I'd be curious to see how a busy work-week and lighter studying impacted your performance.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
avatar
Manager
Manager
Joined: 28 Jan 2015
Posts: 115
Own Kudos [?]: 52 [0]
Given Kudos: 51
Concentration: General Management, Entrepreneurship
GMAT 1: 670 Q44 V38
Send PM
Re: 2 Month mark – Study plan/Strategy [#permalink]
My score was 620, 36 Quant and 38 Verbal using the Manhattan GMAT CAT. This is the highest verbal I have achieved on the Manhattan GMAT CAT yet, but my quant suffered. On this test I felt like there were certain problems that I just didn't know how to solve: will be spending some time this week filling in those gaps.

I really struggle with word problems that have to do with work/rates, when I get them on a test I almost feel like giving up because I get so confused! I get them when they are explained but setting them up for myself is something I spend way too much time doing and get extremely flustered.
avatar
Manager
Manager
Joined: 28 Jan 2015
Posts: 115
Own Kudos [?]: 52 [0]
Given Kudos: 51
Concentration: General Management, Entrepreneurship
GMAT 1: 670 Q44 V38
Send PM
Re: 2 Month mark – Study plan/Strategy [#permalink]
Having some extra focus on sentence correction has paid off, my errors in verbal are now evenly spread: 4 mistakes on each. My level remained pretty high and my mistake were not because of rushing. That's the good news.

The bad news: my quant. I can't blame it all on silly mistakes this week, there were several questions that I was clueless on. Looked at the solutions for these problems today and will try to solve them on my own tomorrow. For the rest of today I work on quant on the forum.
avatar
Manager
Manager
Joined: 28 Jan 2015
Posts: 115
Own Kudos [?]: 52 [0]
Given Kudos: 51
Concentration: General Management, Entrepreneurship
GMAT 1: 670 Q44 V38
Send PM
Re: 2 Month mark – Study plan/Strategy [#permalink]
CAT 1 March 18th (MGMAT without IR and AWA): 580 Q37 V33
CAT 2 March 22nd (MGMAT without IR and AWA): 610 Q37 V36
CAT 3 March 24th (VERITAS without IR and AWA): 620 Q41 V34
CAT 4 March 30th (MGMAT incl. IR and AWA): 620 Q39 V36
CAT 5 April 4th (GMATprep, inlcl IR and AWA, test conditions): 640 Q37 V41
CAT 6 April 12th MGMAT (incl IR and AWA) TERRIBLE CONDITIONS: 620 Q36 V38
CAT 7 April 26th MGMAT incl IR and AWA: 620 Q37 V37
CAT 8 May 3rd MGMAT incl IR and AWA: 620 Q39 V36

My score is literally stagnant. With the +-40 points that occur during the real thing I really cannot afford the "-40" scenario. I have 26 days left. I need to get better.

I'm re-sitting MGMATs CAT 1 and 2 this week, and doing a fresh one this Saturday.
avatar
Manager
Manager
Joined: 28 Jan 2015
Posts: 115
Own Kudos [?]: 52 [0]
Given Kudos: 51
Concentration: General Management, Entrepreneurship
GMAT 1: 670 Q44 V38
Send PM
Re: 2 Month mark – Study plan/Strategy [#permalink]
640 Q37 V40

Results from resit of CAT1 ->

Weirdly, I hadn't seen many of the Q questions before. Probably because I received more of the easy questions on my first attempt (?). Will review the test later on today.

Verbal: I had seen a few of the questions. I knew that would happen since my verbal skill is relatively consistent. I don't know how I feel about expecting and inflated score and only increasing by 10 points.

After some lunch I'll look the whole thing over: I have to keep in mind that I only did this CAT for stamina purposes. The fresh one is on Saturday.
GMAT Club Bot
Re: 2 Month mark – Study plan/Strategy [#permalink]

Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group | Emoji artwork provided by EmojiOne