from 510 to 760, gmat test on 23. (13 days to go) what to do?

Hi glatzekatze.

The essay should not make much if any difference. Look up some templates, and to write the essay just find three flaws in the argument and plug them into a template. I personally found finding the three flaws to be pretty much the biggest challenge of writing the essay.

Regarding the quant and verbal sections, here is a KEY thing for you.

DO NOT FINISH EARLY, especially the verbal section.

There is no reason to finish early UNLESS you are getting 100% of the questions right consistently. OMG. I used to do something similar, finishing verbal early, and almost being excited about it. Wait a minute!!! I wasn't scoring V51. So what business did I have finishing early??

I decided to be more careful and use up all the time I had to really make sure that I was getting the verbal questions right, and guess what. That time I did score V51.

It's so easy to think, "Well I have spent enough time on this question." but have you? Are you 100% sure that your answers are correct? Apparently not, as you are not scoring 800 yet.

Even if you do somehow finish quant early, I say sit there. Before you answer the final quant question let the clock run for a little and catch a breather. Then you will be in a better position to score high on verbal, but so far I don't see you scoring Q51 either. So take more time and get more right answers. OMG. Your score is bouncing around 20 - 50 points and you are buzzing through the questions. Slow down and get them right. Check every answer if you have that much time.

Meanwhile, be careful about taking the same tests more than once, and ESPECIALLY more than twice. I realize you are also taking fresh practice tests, but anyway repeats can be misleading in multiple ways. Check out this post. https://infinitemindprep.com/resetting-a ... et-smoked/

At this point, for quant go over your practice tests and maybe use the Manhattan analytics to find your least strong areas. Then get very strong in those areas. A couple of weeks is plenty of time to for covering six to ten weaker areas and becoming totally expert in them.

To stay motivated, notice how annoying it is to run into quant questions that you have trouble answering.

If you want categorized quant questions with which to practice, you could sign up for a free practice account in the GMAT area here, https://bellcurves.com.

For verbal, just keep working on any type of questions that you find challenging, and do them slowly, seeking to get basically 100% of the the practice questions you do correct. When you do verbal practice questions, work to develop an eye for the key details and logic that you have to see in order to get them right, and for each question figure out why all of the wrong answers are wrong and the right answer is right.

Maybe another thing that will motivate you is that I find it ridiculous that you would allow yourself to score around 700 when you could score 750+ by over just a couple of weeks covering some quant topics, getting better at seeing what you have to see in verbal and using up the allotted time when you take the test.

I am glad to see that you got two more GMAT Prep tests. Additionally, you could use the free first Veritas test. For some cool quant, try the free 800Score quant test.

ROCK this thing!!

Hi Marty Murray,

thank you so much for your answer! I will keep on working on my accuracy. I know that technically I could get 100% right, I'm just too impatient!

May I ask you what your practice test results were before you wrote the real thing?

Hi glatzekatze,

Since you're nearing your Official Test Date, it's important to make your remaining CATs "match up" with your Official Test Date in as many ways as you can reasonably account for. Thus, you should take the FULL CAT (with the Essay and IR sections), at the same time of day as your Official GMAT, away from your home, etc. If what you've described about your pacing is true, then you have the opportunity to slow down a bit and double-check your work before answering each question. Once you have your next CAT score, you should post back here and we can talk through any adjustments that you might want to make in these last couple 2 weeks of study.

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

Hi Glatzekatze,

Are you working?
Can you please post your work and study schedule?

I am finding it really hard to maintain the regularity at studies.

Hi vipul1702,

To be completely honest, I don't really have a schedule. I just finished my Bachelor and decided to take some weeks off just to study for the gmat. I just get up in the morning between 8 and 9, at the moment most of the time at 7, since my exam will be at 8:30 and I would to be productive at this time. And then I usually just practice, practice, practice, I try to exercises from every segment every day, so that I don't forget anything important. I usually study 5 hours and then take a one hour break to eat something and then I continue studying for another 4-5 hours. On some days when I just realize that it doesn't make sense to study because of concentration problems or else, I just stop, doesn't matter if after 1 hour or 5. But this studying really is exhausting. One day, I just studied 2 hours in the morning and then enjoyed the rest of the day meeting friends, being in the sun etc. This really boosted my score. I think it is really important to have some distraction once in a while. Just to get your head free again!
In the beginning of studying it was really hard for me to, it took me about 1-2 weeks to develop a routine, but now if I don't get up early to study.. I don't know, it just doesn't feel right.

Good luck!!