570 (Q36, V32)

Question

I'm shocked. I honestly don't know what to do. The good news is that my verbal score improved A LOT. The bad news is that my math scored went down. My last math score was a 42. either way, my overall score did not reach to my desired goal. Here is what I thought of the GMAT I took this morning:

Quant

I generally felt that the math questions were alright. I did get 2 combination questions, but those combination questions were completely different from the type that I encountered during my prep, so i'm sure that I got them wrong. Also, those combination questions didn't appear within the first 10 questions, but rather half way through the questions. I also guessed about 5 or 6 questions because I simply didn't know how to solve them and didn't want to waste any time. I did the math challenges during my prep. What can I do to improve on my verbal?

Verbal

I felt that the questions were manageable. Time was so against me and had to rush through some questions. My rushing has definitely costed my accuracy in the second half of the verbal questions. I basically had to blindly choose my answers in such a random way from the last reading comprehension passage in order to catch up with time; I couldn't read the last passage at all. I managed to answer properly the last 4 questions of the verbal section because of the time I managed to save from blindly guessing through the last reading comprehension questions.

Overall

I honestly didn't think the questions were brutal. I think what really killed me was time, which forced me to skip some questions in order to stay in track. I really need to work on speed because it wasn't cool how I had to skip some questions. On average, how many questions do you guys tend to guess in order to not loose time? I really need some help here

bsd_lover · Answer

Dont lose heart buddy - the game's not over. For starters, if your general level of Q was 42 then I dont believe that the challenges were a good idea. I feel challenges are for people already at the Q47-48 mark trying to get to 50. To go from 42 to 48, you'll need to work on speed and accuracy on the simpler problems.

For verbals practice a lot - especially on a computer screen such as of gmatter (https://www.gmatter.biz) or walkers verbal software.

Tarmac · Answer

570 is not that bad. What are your official scores at this point? all in the 500s?

Also I noticed in your other thread that you said you paused during some of the CAT - you just can't do that.

What is the last accurate CAT that you took?

leeye84 · Answer

Hi Tarek

Don't give up man. Times such as the one you are experiencing now can result in only one of two outcomes:

1) You give up, burn all your GMAT books, sunk into a state of depression.

or

2) Look into your mistakes, take this experience, and move on studying.

I highly, highly recommend that you pick choice 2.

I am certain that with hard work and determination, you will receive the score that you desire. Good luck to you sir.

jingy77 · Answer

Keep at it. If you want it bad enough you will do it.

sondenso · Answer

Hi man,

Keep your chin up and "  THE WINNER NEVER QUITS AND THE QUITTER NEVER WINS  "

Just relax and come back!

tarek99 · Answer

yeah, i know i shouldn't have paused the CATs while I was practicing. I did that cause I wanted to see if I, at least, had the knowledge to make it to 700. The knowledge is definitely there, but I have to work on speed or at least maintaining accuracy while speeding. Although I did have the knowledge to answer the questions from my CATs, I did see questions from the real gmat that I just couldn't solve. I also saw questions that I could have solved, but due to my time constraints, I just couldn't afford to waste more time on the current question....ouch!!! I also had issues on the math section, where I knew how to answer the question, but when i solved the problem, I couldn't find any answer choice that matched with mine, so I had to redo the problem until i managed to catch some stupid calculation errors that I made and managed to correct it-that wasted my time.

As for verbal, I have to learn to read FASTER and compute the information FASTER in order to take action FASTER. They all come down to SPEED. As for the essays, I never had problems cause I always scored between 5.0 and 5.5. Essays were never a problem for me cause I type REALLY FAST. I type so fast that I can type a whole essay while my eyes are off the screen with 99% accuracy and flawless. Whenever I finish my essays, I always had at least 5 minutes to spare, sometimes even 10 mins.

As for verbal, I have to learn to read FASTER and compute the information FASTER in order to take action FASTER. They all come down to SPEED. As for the essays, I never had problems cause I always scored between 5.0 and 5.5. Essays were never a problem for me cause I type REALLY FAST. I type so fast that I can type a whole essay while my eyes are off the screen with 99% accuracy and flawless. Whenever I finish my essays, I always had at least 5 minutes to spare, sometimes even 10 mins.

Vavali · Answer

Tarek,

Sorry to hear the bad news. I really thought you had it in the Bag. Don't give up you can do it. Practice, practice, practice. Trust me the hardwork will pay off.

walker · Answer

buddy, It is sad, bud GMAT is not a main thing in life. So, take a vacation for 3-4 days and sweep out all bad thoughts....I think it is just what you need. After the vacation we will be waiting for you here, and you can pm me about any quant problems that bother you.

some my recipes for quant:

1. do not waste more than 3 min for one question if there is no excess time.

2. silly mistakes: read question slowly and 2-3 times. Reread the question before pick an answer, Look out red flags: integer, positive, negative, even, non-zero, different, distinct, odd, consecutive, consecutive even

3. hard questions: choose the hardest and the most common problem, spend a few hours, maybe a day (!) but find a few ways to solve it and deeply understand its logic. I recommend to spend at least 80% of your preparation time in such way.

4. DS - the main source for time savings. Try to recognize patterns, such as: C-traps, to construct examples for E.

But, anyway, Now I recommend you take a little break and BE POSITIVE !

terp26 · Answer

Tarek,

Don't be discouraged. I know you are better than your score indicates. I do admit the test is humbling. There is no cutting corners or getting lucky. If you have weaknesses the test will exploit that it seems! So take a break, even a week, have some night outs, relax, unwind, and you will be fresh. Do not get depressed about your score, turn that into motivation. 
 You need to take a different studying approach as well to switch things up and get you motivated.

terp26 · Answer

also, I think that proves that this test is just as much about speed as it is about problem solving. If you could solve every question in 3 minutes, well that means nothing to the GMAT. So in your next phase of studying , focus on speed. You have 37 questions, try to do them in an hour and see how you do. You may be forced to guess but make educated guesses. That is the beauty of MC tests and the GMAT. We know 2 things,

1) We know the answer will not be obvious (if you are not in the 300-400 range i'd imagine) 
2) We know the GMAT will try to trick you anyway it can

So using those 2 items, you can easily hit a great guessing rate, especially in DS.
You still need to use your knowledge on the problem, but keep those things in the back of your mind. Also I noticed, probably not a rule, but if you see a hard problem or geo problem with crazy diff numbers, and i nthe answer choice you have like 1/2 and the other choice sare crazy square roots etc, I see the 1/2 as an answer choice. Conversely if the numbers are simple, or you can get an answer by like adding or subtracting numbers or dividing, chances are those are not the answers!

bmwhype2 · Answer

the test is adaptive. u guess "so u can move on" is not the correct strategy. u drop your scoring level each time u guess wrong, so the subsequent questions are easier and you will end up scoring in a lower level.

terp26 · Answer

bmw, that brings up a good point,

is it better to give your all and spend 4 minutes on a hard Q to get it right , even if you are behind and time, and guess the last 5, or speed through the middle 10 to catch up on time.

Tarmac · Answer

IMHO:

-You must be able to finish. this is the top priority.

-Even when guessing, you must try to eliminate some unlikely answers. If you spend 30 seconds to eliminate at least one answer, you have simultaneously increased your chances at a right answer, and you are still ahead on time for that question.

-You must not make any dumb mistakes, aka typos. You said you only skipped 5-6, does that mean you felt that you got the right answer on all the other questions other than those 5-6? If so, you must have made some small errors or typos, since you got more than 5-6 wrong.

-as far as CATs, don't cheat. What was your most recent CAT where you did not pause? Plenty of people can get 51Q if they had unlimited time, I think I could too, but that's not the GMAT. You can review afterwards to determine whether you know the material behind a really hard question, but the CAT is for testing the entire environment, not just knowledge.

Mnemonic · Answer

Good question Terp26. I have asked the same question. I find that if you're not going to get an answer in 2 to 2.5 minutes, it's best to make an educated guess of what you think the answer might be (e.g. greater than 1, so you eliminated everything less than 1 and guess) and move one. It's best to have a fair shot at each question and complete the test in the 75 mins or less. If you randomly guess at the last five questions, then they may have been questions you know how to do quickly, but never had the chance.

Tarek: You know you can do this. You just have to learn from your mistakes (i.e. timing) and improve. After doing a lot of GMAT questions, you'll notice a lot of similarities in the types of questions. This will help you to increase your speed. As Walker said, re-read the question before you confirm your answer, incase of a missed red flag.

Best of luck studying.

M.

tarek99 · Answer

thanks a lot guys. i really have studied a lot for this test. My issue is time and i'm usually very stubborn with a question. I don't let go of the question that easily especially if I can solve it but not fast enough. I have to think of a proper strategy to approach this test. Does anyone have any useful strategy when taking the test?

FN · Answer

tarek: from your math posts..you do seem to post rather difficult level questions..so i am a bit shocked about why you would score what you scored on the real gmat..maybe you are not a good test taker..maybe your nerves took the better half of you..

if you are just posting difficult questions you cant solve..then i would say..keep doing so for my good..hehe..ok seriously gotta take a few cats and see where you stand..i am afraid studying for math is really about perfecting your weaknesses..so take a cat..find your area of weakness and work on it..

Mishari · Answer

Fresinha,

Starting from last week, I have formed a study group with Tarek here in Kuwait. Tarek's knowledge in Math is very advanced and he knows all the numbers and algebric tricks inside out. He has all geometry and number property formulas memorized. Tarek is also really good with sentence correction and critical reasoning. I am really amazed how he didn't score a 700 !

anyways, I will be taking the GMAT this Saturday and I'm looking forward to telling a happy-ending story !

FN · Answer

good luck to you guys..

remember..gmat is part knowledge..part nerves..so..take plenty of rest before the exam talk to someone..before the exam to calm you down..

Tarmac · Answer

Have you been working on this through your practice CATs? have you had a time where you did well dealing with this on the CAT? The practice is where you set your strategy

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