Advice on Strategy & Hiring a Tutor - Starting to feel Demoralized

Question

Hi Folks,

Some background:
Target Score: 730
Score in latest Mock (7th Oct 2023): 660 - V36 Q45
Score in previous Mock (30th Jul 2023): 640 - V39 Q39 (My Q dropped sharply here for some reason but normally it has been in the V44 Range for a while).

Target Date for test: First week of December and a 2nd attempt before end of December (Before they phase out the current GMAT.

I started back in 2020 (raw score 480, V31, Q25). Never had a maths background, but was strong in accounting, although relatively found Verbal more natural. I graduated back in 2008, so getting back into my studies was a challenge. I studied really hard, the whole of 2020, and some of 2021, then got totally sidetracked. Picked it up again in Mar this year and have been at it for 30Hrs/Week since then. I don’t want to even consider the new GMAT version as I have invested too much time and effort in the current version and want to get this over and done with by the end of Dec, having spent well over 1500 hours on this.

I am looking for advice on my study strategy between now and the exam date, as I am really starting to question my current strategy.

Here is where I am:

Quant:
• I have been studying with TTP all along, and almost at the end of my journey, with the last 2 chapters remaining. (Sequences and Coordinate Geometry). I was really slow in moving forward with the course, as I spent an insane amount of time on Anki and I am starting to wonder if that was a mistake. TTP has been amazing and has really helped me build my concepts from scratch, but

I am starting to wonder if I should have practised a lot more Official Questions or if that should be my goal between now and the exam date? I would also love some suggestions on how to improve my timing.

Verbal:
• This has been heart-breaking, as I feel this is my natural strength and I should be doing much better than I am. I tend to do really well in Verbal when I do self-practice, but I am really struggling to increase my score much despite hundreds of hours spent and that is starting to demoralize me a bit.
• My starting score was V32. Now after going through two courses, e-GMAT and TTP, and plenty of practice questions the best I have got is V39 in my previous attempt, and V36 in my attempt today. When I practice, I feel very strongly I can get V42+, as my accuracy is quite good, but what is really hurting my performance is speed, as I am currently needing to guess 3-5 questions (I split the guesses at various stages).

• SC – I initially struggled the most, and majority of my time (75%+ has been spent studying SC) and I have come a long way. My accuracy was 9/14 and 12/14 on my last two tests respectively, but I still make a few silly mistakes, which seem obvious to me on review.

• RC – This is my strongest area and in my last 2 tests, I got 11/12 and 11/14 correct, but my issue here is I can spend quite a bit of time reading the passage, which affects my time management and I have to skip more CR questions.

• CR – This was in the early days a strong section for me with high accuracy, but I realized my timing was atrocious on this, and as I have tried to shave time, my accuracy has fallen a lot and its really starting to hurt my scores. I used to get streaks of 7 to 9 correct out of 10 on medium questions when practicing, but last two tests I have got less than 50% right. I also tend to leave all my guesses for CR, as I find they take the most time. I would love some advice on how I can raise my scores and improve my timing here?

I would really appreciate advice on, what should be my study sessions between now and target date. I tend to spend a lot of time doing my Anki cards, and I wonder if that is the best strategy?

Tutoring
I am very open to hiring a tutor and have been delaying it till now, as I wanted to wrap up the TTP Course before I start, but also because I am not sure how to utilize one most effectively, because I haven’t really struggled with any concepts as such, and so far, I have been able to get answers to almost any technical question I have had online and have been fairly comfortable with explanations that TTP provides for its practice questions, or those on the forum for OG questions. So, I wonder what would be the best way to get the most out of tutoring sessions, especially as I get into the final stretch?

I feel my main issue currently is being able to put all the skills together on the test day, within a reasonable timeframe, that synergy is currently missing.

Thanks

KarishmaB   GMATNinja   GMATNinja Two  AndrewN ,  AjiteshArun   MartyTargetTestPrep   CrackverbalGMAT   mikemcgarry   GMATGuruNY

KarishmaB · Answer

My preparatory advice to my students is this - Go through the concepts thoroughly - videos, study material etc. Understand how everything links up with everything else because GMAT will test you on 3 concepts together, not 1 (at higher scores). Work on topic specific practice questions of each type and then work on official questions - non negotiable. While working on official questions, if you come across concept issues, come back to your study material, review etc. CR typically takes about 2.5 mins per question. Be prepared for that. For SC you should allocate about 1 - 1.5 mins per question. I am glad RC is your strong suit but don't go beyond 2 mins for that either. For CR, you should understand what each question type requires you to do and then practice it on official questions. When I discuss CR questions, it typically takes me about 15-20 mins for 1 question, and that is after my thoughts are already all sorted in my mind about it. You should need about 30 mins per question - why is each option correct and others wrong. When we do that, in actual questions, we quickly eliminate options because we already understand most of the tricks of GMAT test maker. You can check out my introductory discussion of RC - the strategy I recommend here: https://youtu.be/PtqSBl1D_wg How Mixtures work: https://youtu.be/pJfc2vendCA An introductory video on Triangles: https://youtu.be/y05XIAWgAT0 Basically, this is how you need to understand every concept. Flashcards are worthless on GMAT, as far as I have seen. The things you need to 'remember' are those that you will use time and again and hence it is hard for you to forget them in the first place. Flashcards are useful for vocabulary (hence for GRE). The non intuitive formulae I would want you to remember for GMAT - I can count on my one hand. Perhaps you can put down squares, cubes, multiplication tables, pythagorean triplets, fraction decimal equivalents but that's about it. GMAT is all about logic, reasoning and meaning. We can't put that down on Flashcards. I am not sure a few hours of Tutoring would add a lot of value to you if you are not clear about the topics on which you need help. Tutoring works in 2 ways - 1. You have gone through the entire content of a test prep and you are fairly comfortable with most things. There are these 3-4 topics/concepts that are troubling you and you want to run through them with someone in say around 5 hrs or more depending on the number of concepts. or 2. You would like someone to take sessions with you for most of the important topics to help you link the concepts together. So the tutor plans the curriculum for you for say around 20 hrs. I think you are looking for something on the lines of number 1 but do you have the concepts you would like to discuss figured out? If not, it could be a waste of your time. Know exactly what you need tutoring for before you jump into it.

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

For time management, using question/time markers may be helpful. For RC, becoming familiar with how inference questions work may be useful as well. If you feel your fundamentals are solid, consider working on your solving approach. Had a student who went from a V41 to a V45 in about 10 days. Perhaps work with a study buddy who is really strong on Verbal.

How to get a V40 or higher on the GMAT? What about a V51?

TargetMBA007 · Answer

Thanks  GmatKnightTutor  - I am currently using time-markers on Verbal at Q12 and Q24, and guess in a couple of strategically placed guesses if I am short on time at those stages but ideally, I would like to reduce the time I am spending on questions, so I can take a shot at answering most questions. For Quant, I do to the same at Q10 and 20. Would you do this any differently?

What would be the best way to analyze and refine my solving approach?

Thanks for your help.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi TargetMBA007,

Since you are still using TTP, feel free to reach out to us on live chat, and we can discuss next steps. There are definitely some moves you can make after completing TTP.

GMATGuruNY · Answer

In response to a DM about this thread:

I receive this type of message frequently, and I'm always hesitant to respond. Without knowing you, I can't offer much beyond generalities you can find elsewhere.

When I work with a student on Verbal, there is a lot of back-and-forth: I ask as many questions as I answer. Why do you think the author used this particular word rather than any other possible word? Given that every SC has to tell a self-contained little story, what would you say is the storyline of this SC? How did the question-writer craft option B so that it seems right but is actually wrong? And so on. If I do my job correctly, you'll eventually learn to ask these questions yourself -- on your own, without any prompting from me.

Not a goal that I can accomplish here.

If I were to work with you on Quant, my goal would be to discover what approaches are the most intuitive for you personally. Just because I might use algebra to solve a problem doesn't mean you should. What works best for one test-taker won't necessarily work for another. The process requires that I get to know you so that I can understand how you think.

Again, not a goal that can be accomplished here.

If I can offer one general suggestion, it would be this: try to wring EVERYTHING you can out of EVERY question you encounter. I'd rather you work on 100 questions and learn all you can from them than study 1000 questions without any real depth. More is not always better.

TargetMBA007 · Answer

Thanks Karishma, that is very valuable advice. I will check out the videos as well.
Re: Flashcards - The flashcards I use are self-generated based on the issues I have with practice questions, as well as my analysis of what went wrong and why + related theoretical concepts, so they are quite customized to my specific needs.

TargetMBA007 · Answer

Thanks Scott, I will be doing this.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Great! I'm here if you need me.

TargetMBA007 · Answer

Hello everyone,

I wanted to share an update on my GMAT preparation journey and seek your valuable advice as I approach my test dates. Below are my Scores so far:

10th Dec 2023 - Official Practice 4 - 700 - V40, Q45, IR:6
26th Nov 2023 - Official Practice 3 - 640 - V35, Q43, IR:NA
13th Nov 2023 - Manhattan CAT 4 - 600 - V33, Q40, IR:3.8
7th Oct 2023 - Official Practice 2 - 660 - V36, Q45, IR:NA
6th Oct - 2023 - Manhattan CAT 3 - 520 - V32, Q30, IR:NA (Did this at night and was tired, hence a sharp dip).
30th Jul 2023 - Official Practice 1 - 640 - V39, Q39, IR5
29th Jul - 2023 - Manhattan CAT 2 - 630 - V33, Q43
27th Jul - 2023 - Manhattan CAT 1 - 590 - V34, Q38, IR3.1

A more detailed analysis of my performance on the official Mocks is here: https://bit.ly/3RjlmZ1
One of the patterns you will notice from the excel is that in Quant, I am getting 500-650 level Q's wrong, while I am doing much better in 650+ level Q's, for the few of them that I do get. I have noted a similar pattern in my practice too.

I finally just about touched the 700s in my last mock test, which was a significant morale booster before my official exam. However, I am still facing challenges with the Quant section. Despite dedicating about 90% of my prep time to Quant, my progress seems to be stagnating. I believe I have a solid decent of the concepts, but I struggle to apply them effectively in a test environment.

My test schedule is as under for the traditional GMAT,
1st Attempt – This Sat, 16th Dec
2nd Attempt – 6th Jan, 2024
3rd Attempt – 31st Jan, 2024 – Also the end date for traditional GMAT, and I have no intention of switching to GMAT Focus 😊. I would love to get to my target score of 730 and get this done and over with.

With this timeline, I’d love to receive guidance on the following:
• Focused Topics: Which specific Quant topics should I prioritize in these remaining days?
• Performance Analysis: How can I effectively identify and work on my weak areas in Quant? I find my errors tend to split across areas.
• Strategy Adjustments: I plan to revise each TTP chapter and then practice related official questions on the forum. Is this a good approach, or should I consider other strategies?
• Immediate Priorities: Given the tight timeline before my first test, what should be my primary focus over the next 3-4 days, and then between the 1st and 2nd test how should that focus shift? I should have an ESR report, after the first test, which hopefully help.

I've mostly worked on TTP questions until now, but I'm now only working on official questions for a more varied practice. I do have to admit, the lack of practice of official Questions has stumped me a bit but I am trying to make up for it over the next few weeks.

Would really appreciate your expert insights and tips on how to deal with this from here on?

Thank you all in advance for your time.

KarishmaB ScottTargetTestPrep GMATNinja EMPOWERgmatRichC

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

If you've run out of official-guide questions, consider checking whether your guide(s) came with any online exclusive questions you can activate/access. You can get e-versions of different guides from the MBA website.

-contact: gmatknight site | gmatclub dm

KarishmaB · Answer

Responded to your pm. Additionally, ensure that your Arithmetic (word problems of all types) and Number Properties are very strong. Usually there is heavy focus on these two topics. In the last few days, practice with official questions to get comfortable with their language. There isn't much time left before your first attempt so review and relax (in the last 2-3 days). Once you are back from the test, write down everything you remember from it - the question types in which you faced problems, the topics which seemed easy etc. This information along with your first ESR will help you plan your next steps properly.

TargetMBA007 · Answer

Thanks Karishma,

That is very helpful. Other than Arithmetic and Algebra, if I were to pick a couple more focus areas, what would you suggest these be? I am relatively strong at distance/rate/percent questions, moderately good at coordinate geometry/sequences/ratios/sets/statistics and relatively weaker at functions/probability/combinatorics. My thinking was, do a lot of easy and medium official questions in the "moderate" categories so I can move the needle on these, and leave the weaker categories for next round - what are your thoughts on this approach?

Ria256 · Answer

Sequences/ratios/sets/statistics is a big deal. I've taken 2 tests already and planning to give it another shot on Jan, 25th (also prefer classic GMAT), and from what I see based on my ESR, these are topics that are either dealbreakers or game-changers. Also, to score at least 650, we must have almost perfect accuracy in medium and medium-high levels of these questions.

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