Calling all February 2014 GMAT Test Takers!

Good luck with the "final countdown"! Anything I can help with? Anything you need to finish up before you take the test?
What score are you shooting for and where are you right now with practice tests?

P.S. I took mine on Feb 12 (i think)

I just put this one out today - perhaps it will resonate with your challenges?
how-to-analyze-your-mistakes-167118.html

Hello,

I'm taking my GMAT on February 24th in Toronto,Canada.

So far in my practice tests, I'm scoring mainly in the 660-680 range(with 43-44 in Q and 35-39 in V). My ideal score would be around 700-710. My biggest problem so far is running out of time on the Quant Section(not leaving enough time for the last 7-10 questions, and being forced to guess). In verbal, SC is my weak link. I know it's a place where I can boost my score tremendously, but I'm really not great at memorizing grammar rules(FANBOYS doesn't work for me). Any tips on how to more effectively time manage and any other ways I should be preparing these last 2 weeks?.

Thanks.

Karan.

My suggestion for the quant section would be to force/push yourself to establish boundaries and keep better track of timing as you are working through the 37 questions. Put a checkpoint every 5 or 12 questions (depends on what helps you stay more or less on time and plan out how much time you should have left at those checkpoints. DO IT IN ADVANCE!

As to the grammar - 2 ways:
1. You can study grammar and create a checklist of things to check as you brought up
2. Do it by ear (takes a lot of reading and training your ear)...
Those are the only 2 options that would reliably work.

Completed attempt number 3 this weekend and was able to improve my score by 110 pts. So relieved! GmatClub and all the stories were so important in keeping my morale up through the process. Debrief of the journey coming up soon!

Posted from my mobile device

Thanks bb for your reply!

This is my second attempt. My first attempt was on 4th April, 2013 and score was 540 (Q 50 V 15). Even before my first attempt, my score in mocks was around 650.
My target score is 650+. In my mocks I am still getting around 650.

I would like to ask 1 thing... During my last GMAT attempt, in the verbal section, there were about 8 questions remaining with 10 minutes left in the end. So, I guessed on the 3/4 RC questions which came at the end and then solved the SC and CR questions which followed afterwards. It seems that I might have gone a series of wrong answers which dropped my score to 15 in verbal.

So, my question is whenever I find myself lagging in time...I should guess 1 or 2 questions or keep guessing at the end.
Moreover, please advice a bit more on timing strategy in verbal. Like when 50 mins are remaining, I should have completed how many questions? 10 or 13.

Anyone else for February? I know you are out there... come on out

In for attempt number 3 I have boiled my weakness down to a propensity for silly mistakes in quant that belies my engineering degree and quant work experience. Any tips to avoid those, while still managing time?

Hi,

I am taking my GMAT on 21st February 2014 in Hyderabad, India. I recently took GMATprep exam pack one complete test including AWA and IR, scored 590(q43 v28). I got 13 incorrect in verbal(2,9,10 incorrect in first ten questions and rest errors spread out). Last time I got 20 incorrect in GMATprep free exam and scored 27 in verbal. I am not able to understand the discrepancy in the verbal score. In quant I am getting most of the DS questions incorrect. Any general tips for last few days and special tips to increase accuracy in DS in the last few days.

PS: I was initially hoping to get close to 700 but after the last GMATprep exam fiasco looks like I will have to be contended even if I manage to score 650.

Hello,

I am taking the GMAT in February 17th in France. This is my first attempt and I target 700.
As of now, I've taken a few CATs
Kaplan CAT 1: 600 (Q44 V31)
Kaplan CAT 2: 660 (Q49 V35)
Kaplan CAT 3: 650 (Q47 V36)
GMAT Prep 1: 640 (Q38 V40)
Kaplan CAT 4: 630 (46 V34)

So there's a few things that I find odd and as a result I am not really sure how to make the most of the week and a half I have left. It seems that I am a downward trend for the overall score, but what concerns me the most is this spread with the Quant part on GMAT prep software. Are Kaplan CAT easier that GMAT software CAT, quant-wise?
Any advice on how to reach Q50 and V40?
I've been reviewing concepts (math + verbal) with Kaplan premier, then I moved on to the OG 13. I am now starting the OG quant guide. I bought the extra exam pack for the GMAT software as I intend to only do CAT from that resource before the exam.

Thanks for your help!

If you have only used the Kaplan Premier and OG 13, 650 is about where you will end up. If you want a higher score, you will need more materials such as Kaplan Math workbook or Kaplan Verbal Workbook but it will take at least a month or 6 weeks to cover the two of those.

Thanks for the reply bb! I'll see what I can do with the time I have left!

Yes, sorry - that's the reality. The concepts and depth of the Premier book is not sufficient.
Grab the other two and see how far you can get. If you have to reschedule, do that before the 7-day cut off.

The best suggestion I have is again this one: how to analyze your mistakes:
how-to-analyze-your-mistakes-167118.html

PS I would not worry too much about reconciling the number of questions you got wrong and the score. It is about the difficulty and grading... so don't waste your time on that.
There is no way you will get 700 on the test day in 2 weeks if you are at 590 now...

Hi

I am re-taking my GMAT on the 24th at Pearson Professional Center Hurst Texas.

I scored a 580 on my first attempt in October 2013. I had taken an exam after 10 years so maybe the stress got to me. I have been focusing on overcoming my weaknesses since then which were mainly:
Quant: inequalities, word problems, integer properties and co ordinate geometry . And general issues with DS. I would answer a problem correctly in PS but if the same thing was asked in DS I would get it wrong.
Verbal: RC

I have pretty much overcome my issues with inequalities and integer properties but the word problems are still giving a hard time . Especially in percents when they come in DS form. I have also improved generally on DS.

In verbal I have practiced RC a lot. Sometimes I get all questions right and sometimes I get consecutive questions wrong. Especially if the passage is very long or it comes towards the end of the test. Also I am still struggling with time management. It is mostly with quant in the beginning of the test, I start slow. And for verbal it's towards the end when I begin to lose focus. It is really hard for me to accept that a question is hard and I need to move on. I've been trying to replicate the test center conditions while taking the practice tests so the results sometimes dishearten me especially when the main issue is time management.

Please suggest my best strategies for the last 2 weeks. I am really hoping to improve my score this time.

Thanks.

Hye!!

I wrote GMAT on Feb 03 and did pretty fine. My scores are 710 (a 50-36 split) and 8 (IR).
It was my first attempt at GMAT. If I were to analyse my results, I would say that I ended up on the lower end of the range of marks I recieved during my prepration, esp in the QA section. 9 out of 10 times, I scored 51 during the prep.
My scores in prep softwares ranged from 700-750.

Overall, I enjoyed the format of the exam. It really pushes you to the limit. It tests all of your skills, and most importantly it tests your stamina.

@A really big thanks to bb and others on this site. The feedbacks and inputs really helped me a lot.

regards,
RG

We made the experience that students who try to study very hard in the last days prior to the GMAT do not score so well like students who use the last days to “fine tune” their knowledge and/or to take practice tests.

My suggestion is generally to take 2-4 months of time and focusing on your GMAT preparation during this period. If you invest regularly 2-3 hours per day you should be fine. You can let the foundation of all important concepts (verbal and quant.) and have to practice applying these concepts in all occurring questions types.

The last days should not be used to learn new concepts as this might confuse you totally. It is extremely important to be very concentrated on test day so you should also avoid studying the night before

The GMAT is a very important aspect of your application and you should always take enough time for your preparation. Actually you should spend the last weeks of your presentation just taking practice tests and analyzing the mistakes you still make rather than learning new concepts or “tricks”. We also practice time management strategies with our students in the last couple of days to increase their confidence.

OPTIMUS PREP