Am I Ready to give GMAT?

Question

Guys

I gave first GMAT MOCK from GMAT PREP Software last Monday i.e om 17th Mar 14 and scored a 720 (Q48 V40).

Question: Am I ready for the real exam and should i book a slot?

Or is it that I need to give more mocks and consistently do well before i take the plunge?

I myself feel that till i consistently score a 740-750 on GMAT PREP Mocks I must stay put and review weak areas. During my Mock test I found that I was falling short on time and was not able to answer the last question on Verbal and had to randomly answer few in both sections.

Please suggest.

Regards
Pawan

AtlanticGMAT · Answer

Hi Pawan,

Solid work so far on your GMAT Prep. If you have the time it might make sense to take a few more practice exams. Why not book a slot a 2-3 weeks from now and use that time to take and review the rest of the GMATprep exams? On top of that you can work through the GMAT Paper Tests which should help on your verbal timing and review tough questions from the OG 13 and Question Pack 1. Let me know if you have any questions!

Happy Studies,

A.

chibapawan · Answer

Hi HerrGrau

Thanks for replying.

While reviewing the GMAT PREP exam performance what i found was that in Quant I got many easy questions wrong, which I would account to the pressure I felt under timed condition and due to the inability to comprehend few statements properly. When i tried doing the same very questions under untimed conditions i was able to do so easily. How to overcome this issue?

Also in verbal those questions I got wrong were mostly from RC & CR (higher number). What to do to improve in these areas?

Thanks
Pawan

ThomasHall · Answer

Hi Pawan. Excellent prep thus far and good questions in this post.

What is your target score? You want to  exceed  your target score on at least one and ideally two GMATPrep CATs. It sounds like you are getting close to the 740-750 range. Another three weeks could be all the prep you need.

Are you sure the GMATPrep Quant problems you missed were easy? Without difficulty information, it can be hard to tell. Often a Quant problem feels easy the second time around, once you have already chipped away at it. Taking an MGMAT CAT, which gives you difficulty info for each problem could help you narrow that down. But, if the problems were easy and it was the pressure of the section causing you to underperform, then the solution is more timed Quant Sections and a focus on being more careful on each problem. If that causes you to slow down a bit, it is probably worth it for getting more easy problems right, and can be compensated for by skipping a few problems with Topics you find rather difficult.

By the way, randomly guessing on a few problems in each section is not a problem as long as you are not aiming for a 760+ score. For a vast majority of people, a few well selected guesses is a good time management philosophy.

Your RC and CR troubles probably demand more practice. What strategy guides have you learned from and practice have you done for those subjects thus far?

I've just published a new type of GMAT prep book which you may find helpful in these final weeks of prep to make sure you use your time optimally.  GMAT Clarity  is currently only $7 only Amazon. It contains great guidance on how to boost your RC and CR skills as well as building your mental endurance and maximizing your composite score at the end of your prep. I'd be happy to help you use it.

Best,

Thomas

chibapawan · Answer

Hey Thomas

Thanks for the wonderful insight and suggestions.

I am targetting a score of 740+ and need your advice on reaching the goal. For quant may be you are right. Once I review solutions, it mostly seems that I could have done the question easily. If it was a false feeling...what can I do to reach a Q50?

For Verbal (and also for Quant) I had been mostly referring to Manhattan guides and OG. I must confess though that I did OG 12 only once. I don't know if redoing it makes sense at this point in my preparation. Please suggest.

Any other thing that comes to your mind which might help me reach the 740+ target shall be greatly appreciated.

And I did check on your book. It says book costs $6.74 but shipping is free on a min order of $35. Lets see if I can order something else and club your book with that order.

Regards

AtlanticGMAT · Answer

Hi Pawan,

Lots of good questions here. It sounds like when you are under pressure you are losing some of your GMAT powers. This is pretty common. One thing that helps: forgot about the time. If you have a solid understanding of GMAT Quant (and clearly you do) then you should be able to solve most GMAT questions in a reasonable amount of time. On the ones that you don't know how to solve you should do a quick process of elimination and move on. This article on  computer adaptive testing  and timing might help. In general it helps to forget about the clock but be reasonable with how much time/effort you are willing to put into a question. The other two things that you can do for Quant:

1. Take a look at the GMATclub Quant book. It's not the most user friendly but you might pick up some helpful math tips

2. Take a GMATclub Quant CAT everyday. If you're going for 50+ Quant then these can be magic. Don't worry about the scores. It's all about the review.

CR and RC are the verbal troublemakers:) If you want some really great/tough practice then I would look to the LSAT but I wouldn't do this with only three weeks to the exam. I would work through the materials that I suggested and after you have exhausted the GMATprep tests I would work through the GMATprep Verbal Question bank (this is somewhere on GMATclub). This is great practice for the last couple of weeks. For CR/RC focus on you reading. That is what is most important. The passages are your friends.

Let me know how things are going!

Happy Studies,

A.

ThomasHall · Answer

Hi Pawan,

Andrew had some good tips there. A few things I would add:

The MGMAT Advanced Quant book could be helpful in boosting your Quant skills, assuming that you have mastered the content in their five regular Quant books. Quant is interesting because the difficult problems throw these little twists at you. You often need to think somewhat creatively, to move beyond the foundational knowledge. An example would be finding the angle of part of an unusual shape by seeing that it is composed of two different types of triangles. And to do that, you of course have to have a really solid foundation on all the Quant concepts. You have to know the angles of those triangles before you can see that they are in the shape.

As Andrew mentioned, practicing on really tough Quant problems will help you boost your score, as long as your review is quite thorough on those problems. I would recommend the MGMAT CAT Quant sections as another option there for that.

As for redoing the OG 12, it makes sense to pick up the OG 13 and take those fresh problems that do not overlap between the two - there are not a ton, but official problems are valuable. And then redoing sets of the toughest Verbal problems could be helpful. You can actually find problems in sets on the  GMAT Clarity website  - the download for the online packet has them. Technique is super important on RC and CR, so a thorough review of Verbal strategies before diving back into practice would be beneficial.

Thanks for taking a look at GMAT Clarity. The Advanced Quant book and OG 13 would get you up to $35 for free shipping.

viki00762 · Answer

Hey Guys

Checking in to have review of my current status.
I have a bachelors in Computer science with 68.35%. I have about 2 + yrs of experience in IT Industry. 
my ideal GMAT score would be mid 700's, I have a long way to go.
Is it the high time for me to take GMAT?
If it is so then, I would like to improve upon my verbal skills. SC in particular. 
Good luck preparing for GMAT guys!!

ThomasHall · Answer

Hi Viki. If your goal is 700+ and you have a long way to go, then it would probably make sense to get the ball rolling. Fortunately, SC is typically the easiest of the Verbal subjects to improve on.

If you are looking for guidance in setting up a self-study course, I recommend my new book,  GMAT Clarity . For you, it will likely be especially helpful for choosing when to take the test, what your target score should be, etc. It is wonderful at the very beginning of the prep process. For a short time, the book is only $7!

viki00762 · Answer

Hey Thomas. Thanks for the guidance, i'll try your GMAT Clarity for sure.
One more thing, shall i go for manhattan or kaplan for the Quant preparation?

ThomasHall · Answer

Viki: the Kaplan Premiere has solid strategies for Quant, but not quite as strong or as in depth as the MGMAT guides. Also, to use early schedules of GMAT Clarity you will need the MGMAT guides. I'll be updating the book to be compatible with the Kaplan strategies soon.

So, although the Kaplan Premiere is cheaper than the MGMAT series, but not as good. I would recommend the latter.

So, although the Kaplan Premiere is cheaper than the MGMAT series, but not as good. I would recommend the latter.

viki00762 · Answer

Thomas: Really appreciate the input.
Thanks a lot.
Looking forward to score better than you,if it exists. :D!

Cheers
Vivek

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