Is the clock on test different from any other normal clock???

Question

Hello GMAT club users,

This is my first post here. I would like to thank the creators of this forum for creating this.

Coming to my point, I am an average working class guy trying to pursue my dream of getting into a decent B-school. I have put in a solid and focused 400 hours into GMAT preparation so far.

I consider Quant my strong suit. In the three practice tests that I took so far, my quant scores are 49, 50, 50. I am still working on my quant to get to the 51 mark.

My verbal scores from each of these three tests are 24, 28, 28.

For the past one month, I have been solving OG questions both quant and verbal and I have been consistently scoring >90% on Easy level >80% on Medium level and >50% on Hard level in all verbal questions with clock under 1:30 for each question.

The most recent practice test I took was yesterday and was from GMATprep. I scored a 650 (Q50, V28). I panicked before I even got to the half way mark on verbal and the clock took over the better off me and I just lost it after that, ending up getting most of the second half of verbal incorrect.

I have my GMAT in 35 days from now. My target is 750. Should I just postpone the test and restart practice all over? I don't understand where I went wrong. If so, what is the strategy you would recommend?

Please advise. All your help is highly appreciated.

Thanks,
A GMAT aspirant

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi omersanjay,

Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) You've stated that you spent 400 hours studying so far. When did you begin your studies?
2) What study materials have you used so far?

Goals:
3) What is your exact Test Date?
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
5) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

mbamuch · Answer

Hi Rich,

Please see my answers below.

Studies:
1) You've stated that you spent 400 hours studying so far. When did you begin your studies?
I started my preparation in Jan 2017. It has been on and off all of 2017, so I do not consider all of that worthy as preparation. However, I started my preparation on 1st of March this year, with 3hours on a weekday and 8 hours on weekend ever since with no breaks.

2) What study materials have you used so far?
I used MGMAT books for theory and also to revise my basics. I read each of the books thoroughly and practiced all the questions in them. After completing MGMAT, I started practicing using OG 2018, doing all the practice problems timing myself. I stayed consistent with the benchmark average timing for each of the question types.

Goals:
3) What is your exact Test Date?
My test is scheduled for 11th of July.

4) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
2020. But I would still like to give 2019 a shot just so I have another year to correct my mistakes in case I fail in my application process.

5) What Schools are you planning to apply to?
My list in order:
Michigan Ross (I am from Michigan)
NYU-Stern
Duke -Fuqua
UCLA-Anderson

Thank you for your help in advance!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi omersanjay,

To start, it's worth noting that NO Business School "requires" a 750+, so the score that you 'want' and the score that you 'need' to get into your first-choice Business School are likely not the same thing. Since you've been studying consistently since March, I'd like to know a bit more about how you've taken your CATs:

When you took your CATs:
1) On what dates did you take each CAT? Were they in the old format or the current, shorter format?
2) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
3) Did you take them at home?
4) Did you take them at the same time of day as when you plan to take your Official GMAT?
5) 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.)? 
6) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? Had you seen any of the questions BEFORE (re: on a prior CAT, in an online forum or in a practice set)?

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

mbamuch · Answer

Hi Rich,

Please see my answers below.

1) On what dates did you take each CAT? Were they in the old format or the current, shorter format?
They were all in the old format. Q 37 questions and V 41 questions.

2) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
I had the opportunity to choose the order on each of the CATs I took. My order on all three tests were Q, V, IR and AWA. No, I skipped the IR and AWA part after completing Quant and Verbal.

3) Did you take them at home?
Yes, I took all three test from home.

4) Did you take them at the same time of day as when you plan to take your Official GMAT?
I took the first two tests during the same time I have my final CAT scheduled, 9:30 AM. However, I took the third test at 4:00 PM.

5) 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.)? 
No, I never paused or took breaks longer than 8 mins.

6) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? Had you seen any of the questions BEFORE (re: on a prior CAT, in an online forum or in a practice set)?
No, none of the questions were repeated.

Regards,
Omer

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Is the clock on test different from any other normal clock???

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