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Can't break 640 on Manhattan GMAT CATs

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tricialin
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Can't break 640 on Manhattan GMAT CATs [#permalink] New post   18 May 2013, 11:49
Hey guys... I'm new here and I am desperate to improve so any help is much appreciated.
I started GMAT studies exactly 2 months from today with Manhattan GMAT. Since then I've been studying diligently every day (I'm unemployed at the moment also so I have a lot of extra time). I've been breaking up my studies into chunks of 2 hours each, sometimes 4 hours a day, sometimes 7 or 8, it depends on life circumstances.

I've been following the materials diligently, finished all of the OG questions, finished ALL the Manhattan GMAT books 2 weeks early, and working through the other Official Guides (green and blue books). I've taken a bunch of the Manhattan GMAT CAT's, first one I took was on 3/17/13 and that was my diagnostic and I scored a horrible 540. Since then I've improved my score up to 640 (I haven't taken any other practice CATs aside from MGMAT... no GMAT Prep, nothing). I have heard that MGMAT CATs are way harder than the real thing, but I don't want to bank on this because it seems like a GMAT urban legend.

I've analyzed all my mistakes, made flash cards and gone through them multiple times, and done tons of problems. My score is stuck at 42/36. I feel as if with each CAT and all my practice, the math is getting easier/better and I feel like I am less in the weeds, but the score isn't improving.

Verbal is my strong suit, in my last CAT I was in the 99th percentile until about midway when my timing got screwed up and then my score tanked from there as I struggled to catch up. (Got the longest passage I've ever seen in my life towards the end with only 5 minutes left!) So I think I just need to work on more questions and do TIMED SETS for verbal.

Math is a different story. I am making careless errors, technique errors, computation errors, but timing is OK. There isn't one area in Quant i'm weaker in, it's across the board. I don't know if I should spend my next month seriously working (PERFECTING) my verbal timing so it's a stellar score, or working on solidifying my quant base, or working on tough quant questions, or a combination of any of this....

I'm dreaming of a 740 but at this point I'd be happy with anything above 700. But getting a 700+ seems way far (nearly impossible) at this time and I don't know what to do. How should I adjust my strategy for my third month?

I have so much anxiety over this. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated....

THANKS so much
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Re: Can't break 640 on Manhattan GMAT CATs [#permalink] New post   24 May 2013, 14:53
Yes, doing timed sets will be beneficial. For example, you can drill yourself in sets of 3 with a timer here: https://www.gmatpill.com/gmat-practice-t ... questions/

Try to focus first on one section, then on the other - - then mix them together.

Don't do verbal and quant in the same day as you won't be able to absorb as much improvement in a short amount of time. Focus here, then focus there, then bring it together.
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Re: Can't break 640 on Manhattan GMAT CATs [#permalink] New post   25 May 2013, 03:04
My 2 cents.

Looks like you are doing a lot of things. Quality matters more than Quantity. Finishing off books will not help. I'm getting an impression that you have finished a lot of books yet results are not showing which says to me that the learning hasn't been efficient enough.

You need to get back to basics. Work on your weak areas and practice your strengths. You can't ignore either of these.

Rather than practicing question after question, go back you how you studied in school. Pick a topic. Learn it from the books. Then practice questions. Then move to the next topic. Unless you are taking your GMAT very soon don't take too many adaptive tests in quick succession. Obviously, goes without saying that analysing your tests is also very important.

For Math, its good to realise that you are making silly mistakes but its not enough. You need to analyse why is it occurring. For example, for me I was making a lot of DS mistakes because I wasn't writing down all the cases. Once I started doing that my accuracy improved. So identify and work on your mistakes.

For Verbal, Timed sets surely help and you should do them. Create a process on how to attack each type and stick by it for every question. Your timing will improve.

Hope it helps
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gmatclubot
Re: Can't break 640 on Manhattan GMAT CATs [#permalink]
25 May 2013, 03:04

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