A strange situation 5 days before my first GMAT

Question

Hello to all Experts!

Tagging the first people who come to my mind (request your kind help sirs):  souvik101990   mikemcgarry   BrushMyQuant   EMPOWERgmatRichC   rohan2345   pushpitkc   RonPurewal   AjiteshArun   abhimahna   bb   Bunuel

After assuming (maybe a bit too proudly) that I was proficient in my GMAT Math, I seem to lose my grip on the subject just few days before the exam. I would greatly appreciate any inputs that come my way to help me get back to my old scoring ways. This post is solely related to Math section alone.

When I first started my GMAT prep, I had already had a strong foundation in my Quant. I had scored a 47 in the Math Revolution diagnostic test on April 5th with my weak areas clearly being:

1. Absolute Values
2. Permutation, Combinations, Probability
3. Statistics

I was pretty much solid in all other areas of Quant.

From April 14th to June 28th I had taken the following tests in order with the corresponding Math scores. Please note that I had taken a 5 day break from June 3 to June 6, to come out of the test taking spree and to see why I was not going beyond a specific overall score in the GMAT. "GPrep" in the below table corresponds to my first attempt at one of the GMATPrep Packs. Also safe to say that, in all these tests, I faced less than 5% of the questions as repeat questions in the Quant section

Apr 14 Veritas 1 49
Apr 25 Kaplan 1 46
Apr 28 Veritas 2 47
May 5 Kaplan 2 49
May 9 GPrep 1 50
May 11 Veritas 3 51
May 16 Kaplan 3 49
May 19 Veritas 4 51
May 26 Kaplan 4 49

BREAK

Jun 11 GPrep 3 49
Jun 14 Kaplan 5 49
Jun 15 GPrep 6 47
Jun 19 GPrep 2 49
Jun 21 Veritas 5 49
Jun 25 Veritas 6 48
Jun 28 Veritas 7 46 (Point to Note: Shockingly, never even crossed 650 level Qs. Was this test algorithm flawed? Or was it my concepts?)

Please also note that I always scored lower in Manhattan as their tests were slightly difficult, however I had scored 44, 45, 44 41 and 42 respectively on the MGMAT Quants so far.

For someone who was able to score more than 50 2-3 times initially, I felt I REALLY STRUGGLED to get a 49 in the tests after the break, ALTHOUGH the test results above MAY NOT reflect the same. Here's my huge concern:

I started struggling real badly in the 3rd, 4th, 5th Question of all the tests I had started taking from June 14. One or two might be right by a mere fluke, but I really struggled to get a concept right. This more often than not included topics APART from the weak areas I mentioned. Like say, a word problem. Or geometry. Or maybe something involving a concept and a formulae together like Speed and Time. The simplest of the problems appearing on the questions 3-8 would trip me.

I would spend time on these because I know that I would have to get the first few right to even have the chance of facing the difficult questions later on. And I knew I could always make up on some question that is very easy later on, thereby nullifying the wastage on these questions. I never struggled for time on the whole though. I always completed the test 30 seconds before the exam whether I started off well or started poorly.

Another significant point I wanted to highlight was that for tests from April 14th to June 11, I always took my Quants section first. I wanted to be more confident before I faced my Verbal section. Post June 11, I always took Verbal first in order to face the questions with a fresh face. Although the GMAC clearly mentioned that it statistically doesnt have any impact, I guess it is having some kind of an effect on me. I dont know for sure though. My scores sectionwise in Verbal and overall didn't change much.

What I did during these days for Quant was to slowly practice on my weak areas ONLY from GMATClub tests as I was very focussed on Verbal for the rest of the hours (which also hasnt seen a significant rise in scores so far). As a result, I guess I was out of touch with other topics.

Why this decline is alarming for me is because, Quant was the one I always relied upon. I crossed 710, my maximum score, about 3 times. Got a 690 5 times. On all these instances I scored a 49 and 49+ more often. As an Indian applicant, I REALLY cannot afford to go down below this 49. It is a bare minimum to say the least.

My first GMAT is on July 4th Wednesday. Humbly appealing to all the experts out here to help me as to what I could do over the next few days specifically for Quant:

1. Should I revert back to taking Quants section first?
2. Should I continue practicing the 700+ GMATClub test questions in Quiz format?
3. Should I gloss over the basics? (Im very comfortable with formulae, so glance over something else?)
4. Should I solve specific problems completely on paper?

My current plan is to quickly go through all the problems on Manhattan's 700+ level questions on Word Problems, Speed Time, Work, Coordinate Geometry, Absolute Values, P&C. I felt this may cover all the basics and the advanced set of thinking problems as well.

Im not sure if it is just me or there are people who actually face this bizzare problem out there but my heartfelt thanks and wishes to everyone who would spare their time to help me out of this conundrum!

Thank you all.

BrushMyQuant · Answer

If I was in Your place then I would have done the following:

- List out my weaker areas and then work on 1-2 weaker areas/day and go through the theory of that and then solve 600 level 5-10 problems and 700 level 15-20 problems to be confident. Source can be GMATClub or GMATPrep Question pack. )but GMATPRep doesnt give you topic wise so that's a challenge)
- Work on other ares also and solve say 5 problems of all topics on each day. You can do 5 PS and 5 DS also, provided you have that much time.

Coming to your specific questions:

1. Should I revert back to taking Quants section first?
- If Quant is my stronger area then I will prefer taking Quant first as that will pull up my score. But then you need to save enough energy for Verbal also, so take a call base don that. I will suggest take Quant first when you are fresh. And irrespective of how you do in Quant make sure that you forget it and put equal focus on Verbal.

2. Should I continue practicing the 700+ GMATClub test questions in Quiz format?
- Yes, a timed practice is always better than non timed one. I will recommend trying GMATPrep questions pack too in Quiz mode.

3. Should I gloss over the basics? (Im very comfortable with formulae, so glance over something else?)
- Am sure you will be good at this as you are score 48+. You can do this for the topic which you decide to practice each day.

4. Should I solve specific problems completely on paper?
- Not sure what you mean by this. You should solve problems on paper and not in mind till you give your GMAT.

Hope it helps.

1. Should I revert back to taking Quants section first?
2. Should I continue practicing the 700+ GMATClub test questions in Quiz format?
3. Should I gloss over the basics? (Im very comfortable with formulae, so glance over something else?)
4. Should I solve specific problems completely on paper?

ask1 · Answer

Thank you for your suggestions. But my focus is heavily on Verbal and hence Im not exactly sure I'll be able to spend more than 3 hours to solve the number of problems as told by you, let alone solve ALL areas!

But I will try and incorporate what you had said. Im again not sure whether I need to now focus on my weak areas, because even my strong areas are wobbly now and that's causing the most concern!

AjiteshArun · Answer

Your average score appears to be between 48 and 49. I suggest that you revise your target score down to 49 (instead of 50). Note that this is purely to reduce the amount of pressure you feel during the exam. You do have a 50 on a GMATPrep, so you are capable of getting that kind of score on the actual GMAT.

1. It would really help if you work on the concepts that you are not comfortable with (if any) and get one or two 49s or 50s on the remaining GMATPreps. A "string" of high scores is always better than one high score. Note here that although I'm discounting the 51s you got on some non-official tests, you did do very well on those tests.

2. Don't be afraid of reading a question again, putting that information down on your noteboard, and taking 10-20 seconds to think through possible solution paths. Sometimes this has to be done at the beginning of a section, especially if you are nervous. You're already aware that if you give a little more time to some of the initial questions, you'll have to make that time up later in your test.

3. However, you should not give the initial questions  too  much importance. So when you say that you would have to get the first few right to have any chance of getting a good score, that is not necessarily true. Of course, if you end up getting the first ten questions wrong, it'll be very difficult for you to come back. Making 2-3 mistakes however, is not fatal, as long as you can bounce back. The point here is that if a question is taking too much time, just guess and move on.

4. Focusing on your weaknesses is fine, but don't ignore the other concepts, especially this close to your exam.

5. I think it's very important for you to choose and  stick with  a sequence that works for you. Go back to quant first if that is what you feel comfortable with.

6. Do something to relax! It could be that you are very worried about your quant score, and that worry is contributing to your lower than expected scores.

Finally, it's great that you're looking at this as your first GMAT. The GMAT can be taken again, so the opportunity to improve your score is there. Just don't go overboard in these last few days before your first attempt and solve a ton of questions. You'll most likely want to save your energy for the main event.

ask1 · Answer

Very kind words you have said Ajitesh! 1. I have only 5 days left. Out of Packs 3 and 4, 4 isnt working. Out of Packs 5 and 6, 5 isnt working. That is, questions arent loading. All what the GMAC has done is to provide me a refund on the packs. So I had to reset the tests. I took Pack 4. And I got an inflated score. A VERY HIGH inflated score. Got a 50 in Quants again. Questions which I solved easily in 3 mins, I fumbled deeply this time again. I dont want to take Pack 5, face the same questions again, get an inflated score and widen that corridor of uncertainty right before my actual GMAT 2. Have learnt a big lesson before hand that quantity is not important. However, I may solve 10 problems in each chapter, knowing fully well concepts of those 10 need not appear in the exam

(Given an arc length and a segment length with respect to a circumference, I couldnt find a simple radius. It was really bad, my last Q46) 3. I have done 50% of tests Quant first and 50% of tests Verbal first. Im strongly contemplating doing Quant first as it is STILL "supposedly easy" for me. By the time I come to Verbal, I would've statistically negated the initially strangeness of the "first GMAT" issue. Fatigue is never an issue for me and my Verbal scores havent changed at all. However I am scoring at the lower end of 36 after the break and after I started doing Verbal first despite intensive practice. My ONLY concern of starting with Q first is that I havent done that for the last 10 tests! 4. I have never stressed about my Quants score till I took a note of the decreasing abilities cumulatively till yesterday and posted it here. First 2 tests I ignored it. Then it started showing that I suspect the 49's I got after my break, arent a higher end 49 (ie convertable to a 50 kind 49s) but more of a more fluke level 49. I felt questions were of the easier type throughout the test in those tests.

A strange situation 5 days before my first GMAT

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