How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes : General GMAT Questions and Strategies

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CrackverbalGMAT

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Re: How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes [#permalink]

09 Apr 2015, 00:23

2

Kudos

Let me try to help you with my 2 cents to answering this question.

arslan101 wrote:

I seem to make the following mistakes regularly. I don't know to get rid of them. Can someone help please.

SC
1. I see long sentences, get anxious and tend to freak out, resulting in spending a lot of time re-reading.

Most students get overwhelmed about a long sentence and sentences that are completely underlined. Little do they realize that these sentences are easier to handle. Longer sentences mean more errors and thereby easier to spot them. This also means that one skill that you should develop to do SC well is error identification. Learn to identify errors on sentences and this actually helps to zero-down on answers better.

CR
1. After reviewing the incorrect answers I always realize that I hadn't read the question/passage properly. I know the straight forward solution is to read properly, but however much I try to do that, this error is still responsible for 2-3 mistakes per mock.
2. I'm totally unable to solve bold faces.
3. Can strengther/weakener question strengthen/weaken any thing else except the conclusion?

Here are the solutions to your CR problems.

1. The first and most clear step to do on CR is to read and understand the question task. This is important because the way you attack the given argument totally differs from question to question ( I am sure you are aware that there are about 9 types of CR questions )

2. For bold face there are only three things that you need to know.
a. Classify each sentence in the argument as an opinion or a fact.
b. Find out the relationship between both the bold phrases.
c. Read through options vertically and eliminate.

3. Strengthen and Weaken questions only attack the assumptions.

Thanks,
Ars

Hope that brought some clarity.

Thanks and Regards,

Saikiran Dudyala
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Aimee321

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Re: How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes [#permalink]

14 Apr 2015, 21:52

Really well said bb..!! I like your post and found it really worthwhile.

ugurgtfr1

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Re: How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes [#permalink]

15 Apr 2015, 06:28

Another wonderful post by bb.. Thanks a lot!

jcasey

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Re: How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes [#permalink]

15 Apr 2015, 14:42

Thanks a lot for the information here

zero722

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Re: How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes [#permalink]

06 May 2015, 13:12

The Find Similar Topic button is gold, never knew that until this post. Thanks

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sj21

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Re: How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes [#permalink]

24 Jun 2016, 23:15

I review my incorrect answers when I do practice problems and most of the correct answers make sense. I read it and go “Ah I see”. But I’m not sure that it’s helping me. How do you internalize my mistakes so I’m not just looking at what I missed but making sure I get the correct answer on exam day?

Do i need to make notes of every mistake i make ?

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bb

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Re: How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes [#permalink]

26 Jun 2016, 14:37

2

Kudos

Expert Reply

sj21 wrote:

I review my incorrect answers when I do practice problems and most of the correct answers make sense. I read it and go “Ah I see”. But I’m not sure that it’s helping me. How do you internalize my mistakes so I’m not just looking at what I missed but making sure I get the correct answer on exam day?

Do i need to make notes of every mistake i make ?

As long as you don't miss the same question type again, you don't need to do anything extra.
You can spend a few hours on your mistakes in probability but they won't help you with Geometry or Subject Verb Agreement. You can only learn so much from each question.

If you are however, seeing systemic issues - all of arithmetic is having issues or something else scares you, revisit this topic. Use mistakes as sensors and indicators and VERY strong indicators if you make the same one twice - that's something I committed to not doing. Suggest you do as well.

Thank you
BB
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syahasa2

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Re: How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes [#permalink]

12 Jul 2016, 17:59

Great post bb
I could not imagine how helpful is to analyze my mistakes and learn from them. To me, finding your weaknesses and working on em is the most important thing in order to improve yourself on the GMAT.
In fact though it's a bit timeconsuming doing all those that u mentioned.
I mean, when I firstly tried to keep a history of my mistakes I got confused by the number of questions I had to review at the end of the day.

Anyway, the thing is that in order to improve yourself you have got to start analyzing your mistakes sooner or later.

Posted from my mobile device

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deependra1234

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Re: How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes [#permalink]

13 Apr 2017, 00:26

OptimusPrep wrote:

I totally agree with you. It is crucial to avoid or not to repeat mistakes to exploit one’s full potential. This is easier said than done but the above mentioned techniques will help to manage mistakes optimally.

If you can spend the majority of your study time just focusing on your weaknesses and don’t waste valuable time on your personal strengths, chances are much better to succeed!

That is the reason why the help of GMAT experts is so important. If students want to have a GMAT score that belongs to the top 10 % worldwide (or even better) they will have to prepare optimally to achieve that goal. It is possible but requires a battle plan. I see it very often that smart students do not achieve their target score simply because they prepare in a wrong way. Then they become frustrated and give up their dreams….

If there is one advice I can give to students preparing for the GMAT it is to have a game plan. Even if you study without the help of an expert (which I would not recommend because you want to save a few bucks compared to what your entire education will costs finally!) you MUST analyze your mistakes and make sure to not repeat them.

Optimus Prep has a unique offer to help students with this. All potential clients can get a free and non-binding GMAT simulation. Please visit our website Optimus Prep.

This simulation is used as a diagnostic test and gives the student a real test experience. Our tutors analyze the mistakes and create an individual study plan for the respective student FOR FREE. This is very helpful for the student and gives him an objective measure of the current knowledge level.

Feel free to register and make use of our individual service!

OPTIMUS PREP

OptimusPrep how do i make use of this service... i could not find it mentioned on the site/???

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chessgiants

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Re: How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes [#permalink]

09 May 2017, 17:37

is there any way to keep concentration on the current questions, and the methods to solve it.

Recently, I am messing with everything about gmat, I just think of the beyond the scope of the answered questions, or figure out what could have been different if I were doing the real gmat, and so on. In short, I need a good remedy to cleanse my head?

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adkikani

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Re: How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes [#permalink]

27 Aug 2017, 03:52

Hi Folks

Please use below error logs in excel as per OG edition you have.

See this post: Improvement Chart for Official Guide for GMAT Review (2018, 2017, or 2016)
here

Thanks bb for stressing more on quality than quantity of preparation.

WR,
Arpit
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cyberkapil

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Re: How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes [#permalink]

28 Dec 2017, 23:56

hello bb,
Despite studying continuously for past 3 months, i am not able to find the "right" assumption which author takes for granted and that has led me to get most of the weaken and assumption questions wrong. I choose the best possible answer choice while keeping in mind the premises and conclusion, but mostly they end up to be the wrong choice. On an average i take 3 min to attempt a cr question.
What can i do to improve?

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EMPOWERgmatRichC

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Re: How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes [#permalink]

30 Dec 2017, 16:52

Expert Reply

Hi cyberkapil,

To start, it's important to remember that every Verbal question has 1 correct answer and 4 incorrect answers. While it's sometimes easiest to eliminate the 4 wrong answers, in other situations the most efficient way to get to the correct answer is to take the necessary notes and PREDICT what the correct answer will likely state (so that you can find the answer that 'matches'). It's not clear how you're approaching CR questions (the Tactics you use, the notes you take, etc.), so it would help if you could provide a bit more information on your studies so far:

1) How long have you studied?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) What "steps" do you go through when dealing with a typical CR prompt?

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

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adkikani

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Re: How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes [#permalink]

02 Mar 2018, 17:15

bb HKD1710

Quote:

Always time yourself. If you are not timing yourself, don't bother reading further.

I agree but to know whether I can apply the knowledge correctly first without clock tickling
is equally important.

I am practicing a current of 15-20 Qs from wiley.com segregating only easy and medium ones
at present and even after monitoring error log once in a week, I still am unable to answer
'How to solve this' after having read a question.

Can you add your two cents?
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sandman13

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Re: How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes [#permalink]

13 Jul 2018, 03:26

1

Kudos

bb wrote:

:!: Next Steps:

After you have done analysis of your recent CAT or Quiz mistakes, it is a good idea to test if you have really learned what you think you have learned. In a day or two, go out and find similar questions and practice them! It is quite easy - find the question that cause you pain in the forum. Then, click "Find Similar Topics" link and you will have a collection of questions to work with. Be careful practicing GMAT Prep questions if you are still taking GMAT Prep as that may inflate your scores. Here is a screenshot how to do this:

bb, screenshot seems to be missing?

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bb

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Re: How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes [#permalink]

13 Jul 2018, 06:09

Expert Reply

sandman13 wrote:

bb wrote:

:!: Next Steps:

After you have done analysis of your recent CAT or Quiz mistakes, it is a good idea to test if you have really learned what you think you have learned. In a day or two, go out and find similar questions and practice them! It is quite easy - find the question that cause you pain in the forum. Then, click "Find Similar Topics" link and you will have a collection of questions to work with. Be careful practicing GMAT Prep questions if you are still taking GMAT Prep as that may inflate your scores. Here is a screenshot how to do this:

bb, screenshot seems to be missing?

Thanks so much. I have updated the first post and added the screenshot.
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HariharanIyeer0

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Re: How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes [#permalink]

12 Nov 2018, 16:08

bb wrote:

sandman13 wrote:

bb wrote:

:!: Next Steps:

After you have done analysis of your recent CAT or Quiz mistakes, it is a good idea to test if you have really learned what you think you have learned. In a day or two, go out and find similar questions and practice them! It is quite easy - find the question that cause you pain in the forum. Then, click "Find Similar Topics" link and you will have a collection of questions to work with. Be careful practicing GMAT Prep questions if you are still taking GMAT Prep as that may inflate your scores. Here is a screenshot how to do this:

bb, screenshot seems to be missing?

Thanks so much. I have updated the first post and added the screenshot.

I have read through this forum multiple times, but I think I have a weird problem. When I take mocks, practice tests, I am able to focus on the questions and answer them correctly. I usually recognize the problem, remember the logic to solve it and then answer the questions. I also usually remember the questions that I solve.

But in the exam, I completely blank out. I am not even able to recollect what I do in the exam. I see the problem, I solve it and move on but I feel like I am completely blanked out during the exam. I don't even remember what happens in the exam. Is it only me? What am I doing wrong?

It feels like my brain is completely blank - like I am subconsciously solving - Anyway I could work on this problem

?

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Re: How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes [#permalink]

30 Nov 2018, 09:14

bb wrote:

sandman13 wrote:

bb wrote:

:!: Next Steps:

After you have done analysis of your recent CAT or Quiz mistakes, it is a good idea to test if you have really learned what you think you have learned. In a day or two, go out and find similar questions and practice them! It is quite easy - find the question that cause you pain in the forum. Then, click "Find Similar Topics" link and you will have a collection of questions to work with. Be careful practicing GMAT Prep questions if you are still taking GMAT Prep as that may inflate your scores. Here is a screenshot how to do this:

bb, screenshot seems to be missing?

Thanks so much. I have updated the first post and added the screenshot.

Hello bb,

I have been using the error log stats quite extensively. Its a brilliant tool and I can see my improvements. However, it wouldn't show me my RC error stats. Can you please tell me how to fix that? Ive been practicing a lot of Rcs on the timers and would love to see my time and difficulty levels analysed.

Many thanks,

Ari Banerjee

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bb

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Re: How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes [#permalink]

30 Nov 2018, 10:27

Expert Reply

Ari7 wrote:

I have been using the error log stats quite extensively. Its a brilliant tool and I can see my improvements. However, it wouldn't show me my RC error stats. Can you please tell me how to fix that? Ive been practicing a lot of Rcs on the timers and would love to see my time and difficulty levels analysed.

Many thanks,

Ari Banerjee

Ok but you should post things that are topical and related. This is not an Error Log discussion

.
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Ari7

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Re: How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes [#permalink]

01 Dec 2018, 19:27

bb wrote:

Ari7 wrote:

I have been using the error log stats quite extensively. Its a brilliant tool and I can see my improvements. However, it wouldn't show me my RC error stats. Can you please tell me how to fix that? Ive been practicing a lot of Rcs on the timers and would love to see my time and difficulty levels analysed.

Many thanks,

Ari Banerjee

Ok but you should post things that are topical and related. This is not an Error Log discussion

.

I am sorry. Will keep that in mind the next time around.

gmatclubot

Re: How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes [#permalink]

01 Dec 2018, 19:27

How to Review and Analyze Your Mistakes

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