Dealing with Perfectionism and Timing on the GMAT

Question

Hi,

I am struggling to adapt a strategy for the GMAT. I have always been some sort of a perfectionist when doing assignments or projects. I always used to complete them before the deadline, so that I could make some tweaks to make it perfect. This perfectionist side of me, however, seems to be having a hard time while practicing for the exam. I gave my first full length mock exam (The Economist CAT) and got a 610, which is definitely not what I want.

The analysis of the exam suggests that I had a few questions wrong, continuously, in both the sections. I also had trouble solving CR and DS but I have worked upon them since. The main issue is that I feel the urge to solve EVERY question. I just can't seem to make up my mind to guess and move on, until the last few questions. Sometimes, I got stuck at a question for 3 minutes and still kept on solving, even though I knew that I had been on it for 3 minutes.

During the Quant section, I panicked in the last few minutes, guessed some questions (which I know I could have solved easily, but did not have enough time), and had 4 minutes for the last 2 questions, which I completed in 2 and a half minutes, leaving 90 seconds spare. A similar situation arose in the verbal section and I spent lot of time on some CR questions. The last questions were 4 questions with a long RC passage. Even though, the passage was easy, I could not complete the questions (Yes, I left 2 questions unanswered).

After the test, I knew I could have solved those questions from the quant section, if I had he time. Is there any way I could manipulate my inner perfectionist to let go some of the questions? What is a good strategy to overcome this?

P.S. I do timed practices. Not full length for each section, but in short spans of 10-15 questions. I don't think many full length timed practices would help unless I develop a strategy.

BrentGMATPrepNow · Answer

I wrote an article that specifically addresses your situation/personality: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/articles/guessing-gmat

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi ArmaanGhai,

To start, it helps to realize that you are NOT going to 'ace' the GMAT. You're going to end up getting lots of questions wrong on Test Day, but that's okay - you can get lots of questions wrong and still score at a high level (as long as you're not missing the 'gettable' questions). On a conceptual level, you have to be 'okay' with letting questions go; on a tactical level though, some of the best moves that you can make on Test Day involve proactively letting questions go instead of wasting time on them.

I'd like to know a bit more about how you've been studying and your goals:

1) How long have you studied?
2) What materials have you used?
3) How have you scored on each of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?

4) What is your goal score?
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

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

ArmaanGhai · Answer

Thanks. I'll play the guessing game this weekend for a mock test and let you know the result. I also found gmat pill's ebook on general GMAT strategy, which had a lovely section on how to deal with a gmat as a perfectionist and also on how giving the gmat is similar to learning to play music (which I could relate to as I play guitar) and I'll be utilising these strategies.

To Rich,

I have been preparing for the exam since late may, so around 40 days, on average 2 hours every week day, and roughly 4 hours on the weekends. I am working, so I could not study for a few days in between because of job related issues, and the study time I got during the weekdays was in my office hours. I was planning to give the GMAT in July, but I have not taken the final date yet, I was going to last weekend after my mock but after the result I decided to wait a bit until I got around my desired score (700).

My study material includes the OG, Manhattan gmat's CR and RC. For sentence correction, I have referred to mainly gmat blogs and videos (coincidentally, the one YouTube channel I have heavily relied upon is GMATPrepNow). I got a score of Q43 V31. As I mentioned in my previous post, the diagnosis of the test suggested that my problem areas were DS and CR in quant and verbal respectively. Of the questions ai guessed, many were DS (not saying I could have solved every one of them) and for CR, I am working on changing my strategy. But it is the continuous trail of wrong answers which is common in both the sections, for which I desperately need to find a solution.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi ArmaanGhai,

Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so it's likely that you just have not put in enough time and effort yet. Given this score result, your score goal, and everything that you've described, you're likely going to need at least another 1-2 months of consistent, guided study to get to the 700+ level (and if you continue to have difficulty 'letting go' of questions, then it could taken even longer). You might also find it beneficial to invest in some new practice resources.

I suggest that you study as you see fit for the next week or so, then take a new FULL-LENGTH CAT (with the Essay and IR sections). That score result will help to define whether your current method of studying is leading to improvement or not. Once you have that score, you should post back here and we can talk through how best to adjust your studies going forward.

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

HiLine · Answer

Where are you in your preparation process? If you're still at an early stage, don't worry about timing or being a perfectionist yet. At your current level, it is much more important to learn how to solve more problems accurately and efficiently. Learn the fundamentals and do a lot of practice problems, and then let's talk about timing. Hopefully you'll know how to solve every single problem so perfectionism will work in your favor. :wink:

Oh by the way, when you're solving practice problems, don't time yourself. Instead, try to find an efficient approach to each problem and really understand and know how to replicate it before moving on to the next problem. Being under time pressure will not allow you to learn everything you can. Focus on accuracy first, and then efficiency. Speed will come with time.

ArmaanGhai · Answer

UPDATE

I gave a mock cat on gmat pill, 2 weeks ago, but the website crashed in the middle of the exam and so I could not complete it. Last weekend I could not study due to some unavoidable reasons. I finally gave a full length GMAT Prep's mock and got a very disappointing 570 (Q44 V25). While my quant score has not improved much, the verbal has dropped drastically. I'm pretty sure one of the reasons was timing, taking too long in RC and CR and ending up guessing them. For quant, timing was not an issue this time. Some silly mistakes or wrong interpretation of eqn, particularly in DS, is the reason for my score.

For verbal I'm still not able to develop a strategy. Comprehension seems to be a weak point. I did not even read a few of CR questions and guessed them as I was lacking in time because of RC. I need advice on improving RC and CR (I got all questions of 2 passages wrong).

To conclude:
1. I need to take of careless mistakes (in quant)
2. Massively improve my comprehension speed for RC and CR.

Is 700 a realistic target for me? I have selected 16th August as the date for my exam, should I postpone it?

P.S. another reason for the score might be me being a little frustrated towards the end of the exam. There was considerable lag in the GMATPrep software when selecting answers and clicking 'Next' button, my pen did not work, the laptop's charger was not working, my hair coming in front of my eyes (I wore a cap during the exam but then would take it off as it got hot) and as a result, I just could not concentrate on the passages. Now, I'm not suggesting that these are the sole reasons, but these might have contributed to a fraction of my scores going down.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi ArmaanGhai,

Using your last 2 CAT scores (610 and 570) as a gauge, 'your way' of studying is not leading to the big improvement that you're looking for. Given your score goal, and the fact that you have just a little over 3 weeks before your Test Date, you might want to consider pushing back your Exam. Beyond needing the extra study time, you're also likely going to need to invest in some new study materials that will teach you the necessary Tactics to pick up all of the missing points that you're looking for.

1) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
2) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

ArmaanGhai · Answer

I thought the same about my method of studying and I am looking for a tutor in my area, for verbal, and some online sources/courses for improvement in my verbal score(any suggestions?). One of the issue is that while doing short timed practice from many available question banks, I am able to solve CR questions with 70%-80% accuracy, some of which are of 700-800 difficulty level but am not able to do the same during CAT. Another thing to note is that while I am able to get CR questions correct, I barely manage to complete on time. For RC and CR, I use the same strategy (making short notes as you read along the passage) which I think is taking up more time than it should.

To answer your questions,
1. I am applying for fall 2017 and I want to get done with the GMAT before the first deadline so I can work on other areas of the application process.

2. I don't have a particular list of schools in mind but I have a couple of specific locations - New York and Baltimore, due to family reasons. I want to pursue my MBA in business analytics which is offered by Stern, CUNY, Zarb, and Fordham.

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi ArmaanGhai,

Keeping your score goal in mind, you're going to have to make some significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. You've named some competitive Schools, so a higher GMAT score will be a 'must' for your applications.

Based on everything that you’ve described, I think that you would find the EMPOWERgmat Total Score Booster to be quite helpful. Most of our clients complete that Study Plan in well under 2 months, so the time commitment wouldn't be that bad. We have a variety of free resources on our site (www.empowergmat.com), so you can 'test out' the Course before setting up an Account.

If you have any additional questions, then you can feel free to contact me directly.

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

TrevorKleeTutor · Answer

Hi ArmaanGhai,

If you're looking for a verbal tutor, please look me up. My website is Trevor Klee, Tutor. You'll also find guides there, which people have found very helpful with verbal, especially with timing issues.

My general verbal advice would be not to write down short notes, and to develop a system for approaching each passage. Writing down notes feels productive, but it's not, and it just leads to you wasting time.

ArmaanGhai · Answer

An update. I've been practicing hard to improve and I did improve my score in quant to 45-46 and verbal score to mid 30s (34,35), getting scores around 640-650. Or so I thought. I gave my second gmat prep exam and disappointingly, again scored a 610 with q46 v29. Timing was a bit of an issue with verbal section towards the end and also, I got 2 RCs back to back in the 30s immediately followed by 2 CRs. Of these questions, I was able to get just 1 correct and then got the last question after CR correct. So, I got consecutive questions wrong from q29-36, that included 2 back to back rcs and 2 back to back long CRs. I'm pretty sure this long chain of wrong answers deeply hampered my score.

Also, my laptop broke, just after giving the test. It cannot be repaired till tomorrow so I couldn't review the answers completely but checked which ones I got wrong. There was a good line of correct answers in the first half of the verbal section, so I assume that my other RCs went well (not able to check exactly).I've been able to complete gmatclub cats with 5-6 mins spare in each section and getting good scores. Even today, I finished the quant section with a good 2-3 minutes remaining. I have been able to adapt a strategy for the quant (certain number of questions after a certain amount of time), it's the verbal section for which I don't have a clear timed strategy. RC has been my weak link in verbal but I was able to do some tough rcs within time with a decent accuracy. It just got all wrong today. I have my GMAT on Wednesday so any advice would be appreciable.

ArmaanGhai · Answer

UPDATE

So, I took the GMAT yesterday and got a score of 670 (q47 v34) i.e. a 60 point jump from my mock 3 days before the test (610). This is my highest score as compared to my mocks. I was very relaxed at the test center (which was after I got a panick attack when I realised that I have brought the wrong ID proof). These are the possible reasons that might have been responsible for the difference between my mock and the real exam score:

1. I used to give my mocks in some what worse conditions than the actual GMAT(not switching on the air conditioner in the afternoon, not eating anything during the breaks) that I think affected my mock score. So, I felt A LOT more comfortable during the actual GMAT.

2. I changed my RC strategy as well as my time management strategy for the verbal section a couple of days before the exam.

3. Had a small can of coke and a pack of multi-grain berry biscuits for my energy during the breaks. (I used to be exhausted at the end of the berbal section during my mocks).

4. According to me, the most important reason, a good amount of positive prep-talk a day before and on the day of the exam (even a bit during the GMAT). I did not study or revise 2 days before the exam, just focused on having a proper strategy.

P.S.
I found GMAT quant to be much easier as compared to the mocks I took. Although, GMAt club tests might also be responsible for it.
Sentence correction was a bit trickier, the passages in RC were easier to comprehend.

Also, there were a couple of questions that I figured were wrong. (One definitely had some error; of the other, I'm not so sure). How do I talk to the GMAC representatives about that?

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