Advice for the next step

Question

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for advice, this is my current situation:
Started to prepare for the GMAT on 12th January.
Took my cold mock (GMAC) on 16th January, score: 620(Q45,V30)
Studied until yesterday using:
-OG bookS
-Manhattan All Gmat 7th ed
-PowerScore book for CR(the bible)
-Advanced Quant by Manhattan

After almost 1 month of preparation I took my second mock(this time the CAT 1 with Atlas, the Manhattan online resource) and regardless the huge improvements that I was seeing during this period I got a 620
Q39(-6) and V35(+5).

The exam is booked for 2th March, so about 26 days left ( I can use 8-9h a day)
Target score 730.
I really thought to be on the right way despite the difficulties, however this cut my legs.
Any advice?

Posted from my mobile device

bb · Answer

Are you saying that you have covered the seven Manhattan guides and the power score and the advanced Quant book in three weeks?

Are you finished with your chapters?
You should evaluate your performance using quizzes and exercises during the study phase.

You should only test what you have studied. It sounds like GMAT says oh you only covered arithmetic and critical reasoning OK well let me give you only those questions. I can’t see anyone who could cover everything in three weeks.

Posted from my mobile device

Nik11 · Answer

Actually not, but since my schedule require to be very efficient I have almost finished each of them.
I mean that I cannot wait to finish all the "theory" without continuing to get a feedback.
In 2 weeks I'll have finished all. Just 1 week before the exam...
I know that it's not a good schedule, but that's what I have.

For example, now I've almost finished the quantitative Review (already finished and revised the OG) and I have something like this:
Quant
95% easy questions (5% silly m)
80% medium questions(10% silly)
50% hard/very hard (50% can't solve)

Verbal
RC 80%
CR 75%
SC 50% (I'm struggling a lot with SC)

Posted from my mobile device

prateekchugh · Answer

Read this Post: https://gmatclub.com/forum/beginner-to- ... l#p2313182

AnirudhaS · Answer

Don't get impatient. Since you have already booked your exam, don't worry about what-ifs and just try your best. Consider re-scheduling if you can, but I guess your mind is already made up on this. All the best buddy!

Nik11 · Answer

Thank u very much
I hope I'll be able to reach my target score despite the lack of time

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Nik11,

A few weeks ago, we discussed that to hit a 720+, you would likely need more time than you had given yourself (based on your planned Test Date) - and that still appears to be the case. To consistently score at that higher level, you'll need to hone a variety of Quant and Verbal skills - and you just have not put in enough time and effort yet to have earned that higher Score. The 'swings' in your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores between these two CATs/mocks also implies that you might be gaining or losing points based on lucky/unlucky guesses - and that 'your way' of approaching the Quant and Verbal sections might leave you open to making little mistakes (and losing points as a result).

"Review" is an exceptionally important part of the GMAT training process; your ability to define WHY you're getting questions wrong is essential to defining the areas that you need to work on (and the specific things that you need to 'fix'). As such, I'd like to know a bit more about your last CAT. While a full Mistake Tracker would provide a lot more information, there are some basic questions that you should be able to answer (and the more EXACT you can be with your answers, the better):

After reviewing each section of this recent CAT, how many questions did you get wrong....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some math/verbal that you just could not remember how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?
4) Because you were low on time and had to guess?
5) How many Verbal questions did you 'narrow down to 2 choices' but still get wrong?

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

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi Nik11,

I understand that you have just 26 days left but I would suggest you to not rush through the concepts. Focus more on the quality of prep rather than the quantity. By this I mean, even if you finish 60% of the entire content, do it perfectly because there's no point finishing the entire content with no perfection in any topic.

And I'm not really sure if you have focused more on practicing questions in the one month of your preparation. If you did that, then I'm afraid that's not the right way. GMAT tests your application skills. So, your focus while preparing has to be to learn the right methodology to solve questions. Make sure you learn the right methodology before you dive into practicing questions. And analyze the solutions of all the questions you have solved till now (including the ones in the mocks). Go through the detailed solution, identify the step at which you made the mistake and compare your approach with the right one. This process will help you nullify the gaps between your approach and the right one.

As you have topics to cover in both quant and verbal, I think it would be better if you can dedicate 4 hours per day for quant and 4 hours for verbal. In this four hours, make sure you learn the concepts and the methodology of the topics. Dedicate three hours for this and the remaining one hour would go for practicing questions of the topics finished. By practicing, I mean practicing along with analyzing solutions.

Hope this helps. Follow a proper study plan. Be clear of what to study on any given day. You can get your personalized study plan for free by signing up for the free trial of GMATWhiz. If you need any help with the study strategy, you can get in touch with me using the below link.

Click here to schedule a call

MathRevolution · Answer

Hello Nik11,

A score of 620 in the GMAT mock test tells the entire story about how well prepared you are for the GMAT official test and how to change the gear now to meet the target score of 730 in the real test.

With my GMAT tutoring, guidance, and counseling experience, we have to accept a fact with a pinch of salt that diagnostic/ mock test scores are above then what one should expect in a real test. There is often dropping in the score. Some students have even experienced a drop of 100 pointers. It is one of the realities, and your preparation should not sideline this fact.

You can schedule a comprehensive counseling session for 30 mins with one of our experts:https://calendly.com/mathrevolution/1-on-1-session for detailed advice on your current study plans.

A couple of things that can be a noticeable barrier to your scores would be some or all of the below.

• Inefficiency by using time-consuming Conventional method to tackle DS and PS questions still
• No expert support (maybe) who can tutor, analyze, and guide you during your learning especially on hard level questions while stably hitting middle-level questions.
• Not well aligned with time to solve questions.

Since we are a math expert, we will recommend you go through our post on the GMAT club: Breakdown of GMAT math questions and types: https://gmatclub.com/forum/overview-of- ... l#p1641411

We recommend that you must learn the Variable Approach for solving DS questions and the IVY approach for solving PS questions in order to improve your accuracy and save time while solving the question types.

Register with MathRevolution https://www.mathrevolution.com/member/signup to get access to our 7-day full on-demand course (27 topics, 490 subtopics, and 1,500 questions) for free trial lessons.

700+ level questions https://www.mathrevolution.com/gmat/questionbank are separately available, too. Start with the learning of the concepts. Make a habit of taking notes during the initial learning of the concepts.

Since you have less time for the real GMAT test, 1-on -1 tutoring can also be helpful to you(https://www.mathrevolution.com/gmat/online_02tutoring). We offer tutoring with top-rated professional tutors at the most competitive rates.

We appreciate your time and patience in reading this reply.

Should you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@mathrevolution.com

Success is within your reach.
Good luck!

Punit Joshi
Math Revolution Team

Nik11 · Answer

Thanks for each of these answers, I try to sum up an answer as much complete as possible to everyone.
I saw (and I already guessed which this was the point) that most of who get a 720+ score take much more time to study than what I actually have. Thus, I know that I shouldn't rush over the material and in fact I'm not doing that. On the contrary I find most of the contnent very easy to grasp and when I don't know something yet, I write down it to revise after. 
In the whole secondo CAT(the first for me from Manhattan) I made at least 5 silly mistakes in Quant and I really noticed that many factors suggest how much unreliable that score is. I'm obviously still far from my target, but I think I wrongly assessed my results. I should look them more as improvements than the contrary.
I really appreciate each of these advice, especially because I've always struggled (still now) with writing in English. However, my approach, in a facet at least, is parallel to that one should use studying for the GMAT. I have a target, I know what I need to do, I have a schedule and I must follow it. No way. No date change, that is not how it works. It is exactly how saying: I want to solve this problem because I know I can, even though It will take me 7 minutes. You have not 7 minutes to solve it. Know how to solve or move on, right? Ok, crack it in this time or move on, no other way.
I have slightly revised my schedule. I need an advice with regards to CR.
Where do the Bible and the Manhattan book overlaps?
Beacause I want to avoid to study 200 pages in the All the Verbal book if the contnent is mostly covered in the Bible.
Thank u again

Posted from my mobile device

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Nik11,

When do you plan to take your next official practice exam?

Nik11 · Answer

With a +/-1 day range:
14 Feb CAT 2
18 Feb CAT 3
21 Feb MOCK 2
27 Feb MOCK 1 (already made, but I shouldn't remember anything after 1 month and an half, should I?)

Nik11 · Answer

I mean, could affect too positively the score?

EducationAisle · Answer

+5 on Verbal is quite decent, but -6 in Quant is baffling, to say the least.

Can you introspect and see if you can think of reasons why this could have happened?

Nik11 · Answer

Sure, already done

The silly mistakes were ridiculous, moreover I took the test in a very different way and all these factors could have contributed. Usually I am much more active in the morning and my lowest peak is during the early afternoon, that is why I booked the test at 9:00am
However, that day I was available only from 1:00pm to 5:00pm and guys this is the darkhole for my attention and clearness; moreover, I don't want to describe more about the environment 🤣. The verbal was before the quant(like the first test) so this seems to explain a lot, at least probably. On the whole you should see why I said that I should consider it more an increase than the opposite. In any case I don't want to let this test to influence and distract me too much from my schedule and objective. I'm trying to get the best from it and nothing else. Analyzing the Real weaknesses and continuing to study the material.

Posted from my mobile device

Nik11 · Answer

To answer to a previous question
In the Verbal 1 right out of 3 guessed in a passage. So this could have slightly increased my score

Posted from my mobile device

Nik11 · Answer

Hi!!
I'm in the last week of preparation, I know that accuracy is not a good and reliable indicator, but I've so little time that I can't still lose it in a 3hours CAT, the ROI would be too low. I would appreciate your opinion and I'll take it with a grane of salt, since I know that the info are not crystal clear.
Stat comes from a pool of about 250 questions solved in the last 5-6 days.
PS, 600-700 level (only OG questions, from 2016 to 2021): 85-90% accuracy average time to solve 1:25
DS, 600-700 level ( *** ) : 85% accuracy average time to solve 1:35
PS, 700-800 level ( *** ) : 50% accuracy average time to solve 2:25
DS 700-800 level not yet covered
I will have around 42hours of time to practice only 700-800 level questions. The question is: What should I aim in term of accuracy, especially in the 700-800 level, to reach a Q49-50?

Thanks for your valuable time

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Nik11,

Based on some of your posts in this thread, you were tentatively planning to take 2-3 additional CATs/mocks by now. Did you take those CATs as scheduled (and if you did, then how did you score - including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for each?)?

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

Nik11 · Answer

Unfortunately not
As I've said the time is very short and the ROI on the 3 hours that it requires is too low compared with the alternative use that I can do of them.
I used the last CAT to guide my studies but nothing else related with these tests.

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Nik11,

If it's truly been 5 weeks since you last took a FULL-LENGTH CAT/mock, then we have NO idea what your current 'ability level' is right now. By extension, we do not know if you have been studying in an effective fashion over the last 5 weeks and we have no idea what areas you should be focused on for the remainder of your studies. You've clearly talked-yourself into not taking any more CATs, but that thinking has created some big 'unknowns.' There's certainly no harm in continuing to approach your studies this way and taking the GMAT as scheduled, but if you're going to continue studying until you hit your Score Goal - and you don't want to inadvertently waste a lot of time, money and effort - then you really should take a NEW CAT sometime soon.

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

	Magoosh increases your score, guaranteed - 15% off ALL Magoosh GMAT plans with code GMATCLUB15 + Free GMAT Club Tests.
	Manhattan Prep: $79 Bonus Score Higher on Your GMAT Exam. Guaranteed.
	Target Test Prep - Save up to $325 $200 Discount + $79 Bonus GMAT Club Tests
	e-GMAT: 60% Off on GMAT Focus Get to 735+ from any starting point
	Experts' Global - ~~$1720~~ $960 End-to-End GMAT Prep + App Support: 150+ Videos, 2000+ Questions, 15 FLTs +
	GMATWhiz - $299 ~~$499~~ Experience the course through a free trial.
	GMAT Club Tests - Free Included with every course purchase of $149+ View all deals

Advice for the next step

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards