gmat prep: again

1) I think it is less important for you to find new mock tests to take, and more important to pause and make sure you have made the most of those you have taken. By this I mean - analyse your tests.
This means spending at least 4-5 hours reviewing each test.
a) Collect all the questions you got wrong and resolve them, making a separate list of reasons you got them wrong.

b) After going over your entire performance, make decisions on three separate levels: do I need to go over any of the test fundamentals? This may be the case if you missed rules, formulas or basic techniques on the mock exam.

c) Next, ask yourself: do I need to rethink my answer strategies? If you wasted time or got questions wrong when other answer tools were available, maybe it’s time to think of using new strategies.

d) Lastly: do you need to rethink your overarching chapter strategies? If you found yourself running out of time, you may have to reevaluate how many questions you’re going for in each section, how many you will skip, and which ones those will be. Finally, conclude your analysis with three goals for your next mock test, to make sure the improvement continues.

2. about verbal - I'd have to know a bit ore before I can give detailed advice. some thoughts, though:
What you do need to do is 1) spend some time analysing your performance, and 2) weighing whether you need to change your answer strategies.
Many people, for example, make the mistake of reading all answer choices in all questions; with the clock running, you can’t afford to do this! Many Verbal questions are ones where all the relevant information is in the question itself, and you can use the PRECISE approach to answer the question directly, and avoid becoming confused by the answers. Other questions are those in which there is a general LOGICAL rule that can help answer the question quickly – reading all answers is a waste of time here as well. Only about a third of the questions are those in which it is necessary or preferable to go over all the answer choices (using the ALTERNATIVE approach). The trick is, of course, figuring out which question is which, and this requires concentrated study, checking not only whether you got the question right, but also whether you did so quickly and efficiently.


Before I offer you any personal advice, I'd appreciate the answers to a few questions:
1. Have you maintained and used an error log?
2. Have you ordered an ESR? If so, please attach it here, I'll be happy to analyze it for you.
3. When you took your CATs, did you make sure to take them in the same time conditions as the real exam? (without pausing / splitting into parts)