GMAT Exam in 2 Days - Any Last Minute Advice?

Question

I've been studying for around 2 months at about an average of 3-4 hours a day.

I started at a 580 (41/29) on GMATPrep 1 diagnostic
720 (49/39) on GMATPrep 2 about 3 weeks ago
730 (50/39) on MGMAT Free CAT last week
750 (50/41) on GMATPrep 3 last week
720 (88%ile/94%) on Kaplan free exam (which is ridiculously difficult)

Going to take GMATPrep 4, my final CAT, tomorrow (day off from work) at the same time as my exam and with as close to test conditions as possible. After, I dont to do any more studying. Just relax and be confident and well rested going into D Day.

Is this a solid plan? Can anyone give me some last minute pointers?

What can be done at this point to further my chances of obtaining my target score of 750?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi ggurface,

Taking a FULL CAT the day before your actual GMAT is NOT a good idea. The process of taking a CAT expends a lot of energy and effort; by taking a CAT right before Test Day, you run the risk of ending up too tired to perform at a high level on the actual GMAT. As such, you'd be better served by doing some light review and relaxing a bit. At your current scoring level, you appear to know everything that you need to know to hit your score goal, so doing a lot of working at the last minute isn't really necessary.

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

ggurface · Answer

Thanks for the response Rich. I'll just review OG material and some fundamentals.

thecheftony · Answer

Your scores are high. You know the material. You'll be fine. I would relax and get a good night's sleep. I took the exam twice. The first time I took a practice exam the day before and studied and got a 700. Second time I did nothing the day before and got a 750. Taking a short break is actually beneficial.

nicksson · Answer

Hi ggurface,

Do you mind describing how to managed to get from 580 to 720+?
Thanks!

ggurface · Answer

Here is what I did.

1. (15 days) Go through the textbooks for each topic. I went through all the MGMAT books. There are ~8 books, and each of them has ~200 pages. They are quick to read, it shouldnt take more than 2-3 days per book.

2. Go to gmatclub and only do questions of a specific topic (ex. Absolute values, or SC) using the amazing search feature.  ALWAYS USE THE TIMER.  Keep track of all questions you got wrong. Analyze the explanations and expert posts for all questions (even the ones you correctly answered, to learn alternative/easier solutions), with special attention to the ones you missed.

3. (30 days) Once good accuracy and timing is obtained at the 600 level (should not take more than 1 hour for each topic), move to 600-700 (4 hours per topic). Then move to 700+ (5 hours). I spent about 10 hours on each math subtopic, doing questions in both DS and PS, I did SC and RC basically every day. I did CR at the end.

4. (5 days) At this point, I was 3/4 done my GMAT prep process. I have mostly completed the "learning phase". After mastering 700 level questions for every topic, go to OG and do all the questions, which should seem easy as cake.

5. (10 days) Start doing CATs, reviewing mistakes, tuning your CAT timing, and strengthening your greatest weaknesses. Since you have only done timed practice questions, you should find that you have a lot more time than needed. This is great, as it allows you to spend 3+ minutes on the difficult questions, since you can breeze many easy questions in 30-60 seconds.

This is a very systematic way to first learn a topic, and then apply the theory by diving into specific questions of that topic in increasing difficulty, and finally a broad test of your performance to perfect timing and find weaknesses.

Best of luck

nicksson · Answer

thanks ggurface, I will definitely try your approach. I have already reviewed MGMAT.

nicksson · Answer

Well done

Good to hear that you nailed it

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi ggurface,

That's outstanding news about your Official GMAT Score. With that score, you can comfortably apply to any Business Schools that interest you, so you shouldn't hold back when it comes to your applications.

Since the 'subject' of this thread was focused on what you should be doing in the last couple of days before your GMAT, what did you actually choose to do with that time?

Congrats again!

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

ggurface · Answer

Hi Rich,

Thanks for all your feedback in my numerous threads, many of which probably have been answered by you countless times in the past.

My last full-on study day was the Sunday before my Thursday exam. I did my Kaplan CAT that day and did some other OG questions. My study during the remaining two days of the week before my mini vacation consisted of plowing through CR, as that was a section that I had identified as my greatest weakness.

I took your advice to heart and did not touch the practice CAT on the day before my exam. I recalled that my MGMAT quant books had questions at the end of each chapter that were prefaced with "Only do these questions after you have mastered all of this topic or after you have completed your quant review". There were around 10-15 questions like these in each of the 4 quant books, and most of the questions were very basic and thus provided good review of fundamentals that I may have forgotten or that have become lost in my study.

I spent about 2-3 hours doing this review, and thereafter spent the rest of my day relaxing, watching movies, eating junk food, etc.. before finally going to sleep earlier than my usual bed time.

On test day, I basically did the same thing as the day before (youtube, etc). I wake up pretty early every day, so I had about 3 hours to kill before heading out for my 11 AM exam. Took some caffeine equivalents and went on my way.

Once again, thanks Rich!

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