GMAT- A month left.... need some advise

Question

Hello all

I think this might be the right place to get some advise regarding my strategy for the final push. I have finshed the MGMAT SC, CR and Quant books and am currently in thr process of solving the OG problems. I have written 3 CAT till now and the scores were very very average. I am eyeing a 700 on the GMAT but the scores that I am getting in my CAT are not suggestive of achieving a 700 on the D-Day.
Following are my scores for the 3 CAT that I have written till date:

MGMAT (Free test): 530 (Q:37 & V:27)
MGMAT (Test 1): 620 (Q:42 & V:33)
GMATPrep (Test 1): 650

I desperately want to break the 700 barrier in my practie tests so that I gain a bit of selfconfidence which is at an all time low at the moment. I sincerly need some good advise through which I can fully utilise the one month that I have at hand. I try to do a 2 to 3 hour stint on the weekdays and 5 to 6 hour stint on a weekend.

One thing that I have noticed with my Quant is that I easily get the questions in the OG but some questions on the MGMAT test were a bit difficult for me. I am currently not sure which one should I trust the OG or the MGMAT tests.

I would really appreciate any help that guides me a bit. People having the same experience please write too as it would help me a lot.

Thanks a looking forward to hear from you guys.
Vikram :-D

gmatkoopa · Answer

vikram: How are you reviewing your CATs and your practice problems? I think the fastest way to improve is to keep an error log (search the forums for some examples) of problems you get wrong/take too long to solve. Figure out if there's a pattern in the types of mistakes you make and focus your practice there. Then redo those problems periodically to ensure that you've mastered those concepts.

Trust the OG, I think the MGMAT questions may be a little more challenging than the real GMAT, but not by a wide margin. Are you finishing Quant in 75 minutes and making mistakes? Or are you having trouble finishing?

Trust the OG, I think the MGMAT questions may be a little more challenging than the real GMAT, but not by a wide margin. Are you finishing Quant in 75 minutes and making mistakes? Or are you having trouble finishing?

vikramgaur · Answer

Hi..

Thanks for the reply. Well to be honest enough I am facing some problems in finishing my quant in the alloted time. In my first CAT I lost track of time. But I have always seen that the last 5 to 6 questions are wild guesses due to less time. I try to limit my self to 2 mins per question but am not always successful at that. What should be done to improve the timing. I am revising the quant concepts every third day and make notes from the problems that I get wrong but somehow it does not seem to function.

An error log would be a good idea but I guess due to the less time that I have at hand I might not be able to utilise it that fruitfully.

What would you suggest to improve my timing_

gmatkoopa · Answer

Figure out the questions you're spending way too much time on (over 4 minutes). Determine whether you're slow there because they take a long time to do, or the concepts aren't clear. If the concepts aren't clear, review them so that if you see a similar problem you can quickly decide what approach to take.

Once you've narrowed down the time-problematic questions to the ones that you simply can't do fast enough, I would recognize what they look like and plan on test day to quickly guess them and move on. You're hurting yourself by spending 4+ minutes on a question even if you get it right.

Read this post:  https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index.php/2011/06/21/everything-you-need-to-know-about-time-management

microair · Answer

Try taking your tests un-timed. Make sure it is truly timing that is throwing you off. If you are still unable to get 90% of the questions right then you need to work on the concepts first before trying to improve your timing. Keep in mind MGMAT quant section tends to be a bit more difficult than the real thing. In my personal opinion the Verbal is a bit harder on the real thing when compared to MGMAT.

vikramgaur · Answer

Hi Microair
Thanks for your advise! 
I took the MGMAT test untimed and saw some improvement in my quant score. My score is as follows:
Q: 47
V: 33
I think the verbal did not improve that much but I surely showed some improvement in my Q score. 
I hope that my basics are clear in Math and I somehow have to improve my timing. What do you think ? Any suggestions?

gmatkoopa · Answer

Further identify what is slowing you down (are you checking your work over and over? are you taking a while to figure out what the question is asking? is there a specific type of question that you take a long time to answer?). I agree that a Q47 untimed shows that you have solid enough fundamentals to get 700, but to improve you need to find some areas to speed up.

V33 means there are still gaps in your understanding. Is it over all 3 question types, or are any of SC, RC, or CR solid?

V33 means there are still gaps in your understanding. Is it over all 3 question types, or are any of SC, RC, or CR solid?

vikramgaur · Answer

Hi I some time do tend to read the question more than once and I guess that is bringing me down. As far as the verbal is concerned the mistakes are genrally spread over the 3 areas but sometimes I mess up the RC. I am writing my GMAT on the 24 of July and am still not able to achieve the 700 mark. Guess more needs to be done but have no clue how? :?:

gmatkoopa · Answer

Once you identify your weaknesses, all you have to do/can do is practice, practice, practice...

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GMAT- A month left.... need some advise

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