GMAT Review - Which verstion?

First off, you've got great verbal and total scores on your GMATPrep. About the official guide, I think that you should try to get the new OG. Not for questions that are significantly different (the GMAT has remained remarkably consistent over the years in terms of the concepts and "patterns" it tests), but for a little additional practice. You'll also get practice questions for the IR section, and you'll be able to solve all the questions (quant/verbal) online as well. In addition to the OG, you might want to consider solving the verbal and quant reviews and getting the question and exam packs.

Hi Kat,

The OG16 would give you plenty of new practice problems to work through (and the price of the book is really low relative to its overall value). Before I recommend any additional resources, I'd like to know a bit more about how you took your CATs:

1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)?
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once?

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

Ajitesh - thanks so much, I did not realize you can access the questions online and do your own compilation of them - that is a great value, especially since I travel for work.

Rich - I took all tests at the office so I would not be at home, but later in the afternoon that my exam time. The GMATPrep CAT - I took it with IR, but no essay, the MGMAT CATs I took without IR or Essay. On the first MGMAT CAT, I did end up pausing on the math sections as I did not have enough time. I have not taken the CATs more than once, I don't think you can reset them until you complete all 6. Breaks were as recommended.

Hi Kat,

Practice CAT scores are only as realistic as YOU make the process of taking the CAT. The more the 'CAT-taking event' deviates from what you'll face on Test Day, the more likely the score is to be inaccurate (and in most cases, that means "inflated"). By skipping sections and taking your CATs at different times of day, you are NOT properly training for the Exam specifics that you will face on Test Day. As such, it's likely that these scores are not completely accurate. You still have plenty of time to 'fix' this issue though - you just have to be more strict with making each CAT 'event' match up with the details of your specific Test Date.

You should continue to study as you see fit, then take a new FULL-LENGTH CAT (with the Essay and IR sections) sometime in the next week. Once you have that score, you should report back here and we can talk through what you should focus on.

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

Do have a look at the Question Pack 1 as well. It integrates with the GMATPrep, so you will be able to control the number of questions and difficulty level of the questions you're practicing.

I don't think this is going to be a big issue for you. You've already demonstrated that you can do well on the actual GMAT. This looks more like getting back into the same test taking "mode" than anything else. Also, try your best to set your score and time targets using (only) the GMATPrep tests. For example, struggling to finish quant on the other CATs you've taken might not actually be indicative of a problem with your quant timing. Get the Exam Pack 1 if you need more good tests.

Thank you both Ajitesh and Rich! I am planning to finish my math review on Magoosh by end of this week/beginning of next week and then take a full length practice the following weekend - will report back my score.

Also, the reason why I did not take IR or the essay is that I was under the impression that one should finish all math review before tackling IR as it combined everything. I also have not reviewed any materials on the essay yet. However, you are right that I should simulate the environment as best as I can so I will start completing all sections going forward!

1. Sounds like you've taken a good number of tests already. Focus more on improving your thinking process rather than the traditional "practice makes perfect" approach
2. OG11 still has some overlapping questions. To get the most relevant batch, try OG13 / OG2015.
3. Have you tracked your progress in the OG book - which ones you got right/wrong? If not, try GMAT Pill OG Tracker https://www.gmatpill.com/official-guide-gmat
4. IR comes first before the quant/verbal sections. So you might try those questions out first.

Hi Rich,

I did not have as much time to study in the past few week as I would have liked and I spent most of it on covering the remainder of the math material on Magoosh, doing some practice questions for time and started reviewing SC topics.

I finally sat down to take a practice exam this morning and for the first time I did it under exact conditions - same time (8am instead of in the afternoon), took the full test and also for the first time used the timing strategy for how to organize my notes posted on the Manhattan website. I ran out of time on both Math and Verbal and ended up guessing on a lot of questions (did not even answer the last two math questions for which I am very mad at myself). I got my lowest score so far - 580. Hence, my score so far has continued to decrease from 700 to 640 to 610 to 580 with only 3 weeks to go. My current score is what I should be starting with, not getting 3 weeks before the exam.

I was planning on focusing on the OG questions (bought the new version) and taking as many practice exams as possible before Jan 2nd. I have the last 2 weeks off from work so I can focus on the exam. Can you please advise on next steps? I am clearly doing something wrong.

Thank you,
Kat

Hi Kat,

This 580 is the only truly realistic score that you have, so we have to work up from there. With the time that you have, your goal should NOT be to take as many CATs as possible, since doing that will NOT lead to a big score improvement - you should plan to take 1 realistic, FULL-LENGTH CAT per week, with the rest of your time spend on review, practice, honing your skills, etc. With a 720+ score goal, you might not have enough time to properly improve.

1) Do you have flexibility to push back your Test Date (even if it's just for a few weeks)?

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

Hi Rich,

I potentially do, yet it will make it much more difficult with work and taking time off before March.

I will focus on practicing this week and going through material and take a test next Sat to see where I am. After analyzing my exam, I saw that my verbal score was pretty consistently at the 80th percentile where the last 3-4 questions where I had no time for drove it to 70s. The math section, however, is where my score has tanked and I was very pressed for time. This is frustrating, particularly because I have spent much more time reviewing math topics and I have done pretty well on the practice questions I took (timed). I have never had an issue with math - 800 on SATs, etc. I realized mental math was more difficult since I have not touched it for a few years so I started practicing on an app and saw improvement over the last month.

Thank you for replying back on a Sunday, hope you have a wonderful week ahead!

Kat

Hi Kat,

Your last post hinted at an 'issue' with how you might be dealing with the Quant section of the GMAT. It's important to note that the Quant section is NOT a "math test" (although you will do lots of little calculations as you work through it) - so beyond (re)learning the math, you also have to learn Tactics, pattern-matching, Number Properties, etc. to maximize your performance. If you're taking a 'just do the math, all the time", then that would help to explain why your Quant scores are all in the low 40s.

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

Hi All,

I took your advice and focused more on strategies and improving my time for the exam. I also moved my test date to Jan 23rd - by doing this I focused on improving areas such as RC instead of just taking practice exams. I still struggle with keeping time, but I found the strategy for how to arrange your notes posted on the Manhattan GMAT forum helps a lot.

Unfortunately, my appointment this Saturday was cancelled due to the winter storm in the NE. I was wondering if you could suggest how to best retain my knowledge and spend time in the next two work-weeks (probably won't be able to take more than 1 day off before the exam) until my new date - February 6th. I just got through my last official GMATPrep exam (had bought the extra 2), literally got the note my exam was cancelled as I was taking it and only have 1 Manhattan exam I have not taken. I also have some OG questions left. Not sure what the best strategy for the next 2 weeks is.

Here are my last scores for reference:
- GMATPrep CAT 2 - 710 (Q49, V38) - Jan 16th
- GMATPrep CAT 3 - 700 (Q47, V39) - Jan 20th
- GMATPrep CAT 4 - 740 (Q50, V40) - Jan 21st (Here verbal may be a bit inflated since I saw 2 questions from past exams and I took a longer break before starting the section as I got the notification my exam was cancelled and rushed to try and reschedule it to the next available date, however the math score is realistic and it is the best I have gotten thus far)

Thank you in advance,
Kat

Hi Kat,

While having to deal with a 'forced' rescheduling probably feels inconvenient, the reality is that this will likely be beneficial. Taking 3 CATs in the last 5 days was NOT a good idea - doing that much work in the final week before your GMAT has the high potential to lead to 'burn out.' In these next couple of weeks, you should NOT be taking CATs so frequently (1 per week should be the goal).

Since all of these scores are 'clustered' around 710 (with similar Scaled Scores), it's not likely that you'll 'lose' any of these skills in such a short period of time. It will be important to keep your general skills sharp though, so some light practice across all categories is probably warranted.

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

All -

I wanted to thank you again for your advice! I realize this post turned into something different than its original intend, but I though replying here would make most sense since all my previous history is here.

I finally took the GMAT this past Saturday and ended up scoring a 700 (IR 7, Q45, V40). I improved my score in every area compared to my previous score 2.5 years ago, yet I am bummed about my math score as it was lower than my practice exams and I know I can do better. I also know I made the classic mistake of panicking when I could not solve a few problems early on in quant and spent way too much time on them - I knew I blew it after that so I did my best and focused on scoring as high as I could on the verbal section. I was wondering if you would recommend retaking the exam to improve my quant score or just go with it as is? If the first, what would you recommend I do to improve? Certain math problems/book? Tutor? Course? I am aiming for a top 10 school and the score I have is below average for most, but I would lie if I said I am looking forward to spending another month or two preparing for the exam and going through the panic of taking it again. Do you think I will be ok with this score?

Thank you,
Kat

Hi Kat,

First off, a 700/Q45 is an outstanding score (it's just shy o9 the 80th percentile overall), so you should apply to any Business Schools that interest you. As such, a retest might not be necessary. Since you're planning to apply to some really competitive Programs, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile. There's a Forum full of them here:

ask-admission-consultants-124/

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

Congrats, that's a very good score

I don't know whether you'll take the GMAT again, but I'm pretty sure you won't come under the same kind of pressure if you do go for a retake, knowing that you already have a 700 under your belt.