Need to revise Studyplan ! Not getting good Result :(

Question

Hi,
I gave my first test on 12th feb, before starting GMAT Prep and got 580. I started studying on 13th Feb and I am working on Quant right now. I have completed Mgmat guide 1,2,3 and 5 and working on 4th now and will be completing it by 13th March. I didnt solve questions from OG till now. Solved only the set of questions given after each chapter.

I am going to start Verbal and work on Mgmat 3 guides - 6,7 and 8 from 14th March.

Then I will be taking a test in April to determine where I stand after 2 months of preparation

Do you think its going on right so far... and also while doing Verbal, I will do quant 1 hr or 30 min everyday and solve OG Problems.
I will keep you updated on progress but please let me know what you think and do you see any gaps in the prep plan..

Update - 3rd April -
I gave the second cat after 1.5 months of prepration and

I got same marks - 580??????

On assessment I realized I have improved on 2 things -
1. Timing, I was able to complete the test with in given time and solved everything.
2. I was able to do all 300-500 level quant questions and understood all the other questions.

Cons -
1. I don't know why my marks are not improved? Same marks for quant and Verbal as the previous test..
2. I am getting mostly all 600-800 range questions incorrect??!!
Thank you so much!

I got same marks - 580?????? On assessment I realized I have improved on 2 things - 1. Timing, I was able to complete the test with in given time and solved everything. 2. I was able to do all 300-500 level quant questions and understood all the other questions. Cons - 1. I don't know why my marks are not improved? Same marks for quant and Verbal as the previous test.. 2. I am getting mostly all 600-800 range questions incorrect??!! Thank you so much!

windofchange · Answer

For one thing, I recommend doing the OG12 practice problems after you complete each chapter in MGMAT series. This, in my opinion, will (1) help assess how well you understand the concepts and (2) help you familiarize with the actual GMAT problems.

Why wait until April to take the test (I assume it's the CAT, right?) I don't think it's a good idea because you should regularly keep track of your progress by doing the CAT. To put it simply, your estimated level is 580, and you wish to achieve 780, for example. After 2 months prepping, you do the GMATPrep, hoping to reach 780 but you only get 680, and your exam date is in two week's time. Well, I don't think it's that easy to improve 100 in two weeks :D. In this case, if you change your approach by doing one CAT every week or every two weeks, you will be able to gauge your ability and know how much effort is needed to get your target score. Honestly, I made this mistake in my first attempt. I failed to evaluate my progress, as a result, I could not estimate how far I should run to reach the target.

Just my 2 cents.

windofchange · Answer

By the way, what score are you aiming at? When is your tentative test date?

simmy818 · Answer

My target score is 780 and tentative date is first week of July.

thetiming · Answer

You should definitely track your progress (reflected in CAT scores) at least weekly, this will really put things in perspective for you. This is one of the reasons people sometimes start with a more general guide first, complete it quickly, start testing themselves regularly, have a more holistic idea of the test and their areas of strength an weakness and then move on to MGMAT+OG, always keeping an error log (and provisioning time before the exam for this most invaluable and personalized guide - your own carefully crafted log).

Start with the CATs now and good luck!

jko · Answer

To agree with the people above, you should definitely try to take a CAT weekly. You have access to 8+ CAT practice exams easy:
6 through Manhattan GMAT
2 through GMAT Prep

2+ through Kaplan
2 if you can find the link for the older GMAT Prep software.

In addition to the practice CATs being good in terms of telling you where you stand, they are also great practice for the exam themselves.

I can tell you from my personal experience, that solving practice problems is one thing, but taking the CAT is a whole different ballgame.

It's almost comical, 2.5 hours straight of the hardest questions you can possibly solve. It really wears down on you mentally, and the more times you've done it, the better you'll be able to cope with the sustained difficulty.

simmy818 · Answer

Thanks all !! I am going to give a test next week.. I will update my results here

I am working on Verbal - and sentence correction is like a horror to me for now !!! But I don't want to take any online courses as I am not a online study person.....

simmy818 · Answer

I gave the second cat after 1.5 months of prepration and

:( I got same marks - 580?????? On assessment I realized I have improved on 2 things - 1. Timing, I was able to complete the test with in given time and solved everything. 2. I was able to do all 300-500 level quant questions and understood all the other questions. Cons - 1. I don't know why my marks are not improved? Same marks for quant and Verbal as the previous test.. 2. I am getting mostly all 600-800 range questions incorrect??!!

AmrithS · Answer

@Simmy
I know how you must feel. It must be very depressing to see that you've not made any noticeable progress despite putting in the hours.
However, there's a lot you can learn from this. Please read through the articles published by Manhattan Instructor Stacey Koprince. I'm sure you will benefit a lot from the information. Here's the link:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/tags/study-tips/

simmy818 · Answer

Entwistle -- Thanks for the information

I will go thru the articles ... will keep updating the thread with my progress thanks again

Frozenace · Answer

How many full CATs did you do before the exam and what kind of score did you get on them?

Maybe it's the fundamentals that need more work?

I will review my MGMAT tests from last weekend today and turn the questions and explanations into flashcards. I did two tests and on both tests I had about 15 minutes spare on the Quant section, which I could have used to solve harder questions.

I should turn the GMAT score spreadsheet into my desktop wallpaper.

simmy818 · Answer

? I am not sure what u mean by exam. I have not attempted GMAT yet and started preparing for GMAT 1.5 months before... just gave 2 MGMAT CATs only.

Frozenace · Answer

Ok, I thought you already took one real exam.

Maybe the gap between your studies is too long. I want to do at least one CAT a week.

I think the test probably gets exponentially more difficult as you go along. I want to give the GMAT prep CAT a try, to give me something to compare to in relation to MGMAT tests.

fedexunledded · Answer

simmy,

pardon my ignorance but I have a query: how does the difficulty level of the two exams you took compare to that of the actual GMAT?

There are a few things you can do to improve your scores:

Try to assess areas where you need to improve most: Verbal or Quantitative or both. Once you have identified these areas, you can attack the pain points with full vigor.

Once you know which section you need to work most on, try to break that section down into problem types.

Example: In the verbal section, do you need to work most on Reading Comprehension or Critical Reasoning or Sentence Correction? For this, you need to track your percentage accuracy in each section. There are books which help you improve a particular part of the section. Manhattan SC Guide is known to be a tremendous help and Sentence Correction is something that a lot of applicants find difficult to begin with.

One thing I would recommend is you need not fret about taking full-length tests too soon. The two GMATPrep tests are the closest to the real thing and you would want to make sure that you use those tests judiciously. If you retake those tests , chances are that the questions will repeat and although your score will improve, it will not be a fair reflection of your preparation. So it is important that you take those tests at appropriate times. It is better to think of the 75 minute section and break it down into three sections of 25 minutes each or three sections of 20 minutes each followed by another 15 minute section. I have known this strategy has helped a few folks.

Good luck!!

Cheers,
fedexunledded

simmy818 · Answer

Those 2 tests were MGMAT Cats - somewhere +-20 compared to GMAT.

simmy818 · Answer

Thanks for the suggestions! I am working on Verbal now..

fedexunledded · Answer

Thank you Simmy.

Your response helped. If you are targeting to take the exam by July, you have enough time.

Don't want to confuse you with too many things right now, but you can give the following a shot

Start with a book that includes some study material for both verbal and quantitative sections, approx 50 problems of each problem type, and the explanations for all the answers. Kaplan Premier is a good book. The advantage of this book is that the explanations for the correct answers are darn good. So, if you have made a few mistakes (which is understandable if you are just starting with your preparation), you will know the correct answers and shouldn't repeat those mistakes.

See which sections you need to improve. For verbal, I highly recommend the Official Guide version 10 Verbal Guide. The biggest advantage of this book is that questions are grouped on the basis of problem type and you have approx 250 questions from each section. I believe the number of problems in the subsequent versions have reduced. The explanations are fairly good too. If you want, you could even do the book the second time after you review some tips on how to handle specific problem types. But beware, give yourself sufficient time before you solve the problems again. Some could be fresh in your memory and you could end up selecting the right answers on the basis of memory and not using your problem solving skills.

Kaplan 800 is a good book if you are targeting a high score. But the difficulty level of the questions in this book is high and it is best to attempt this if you are scoring more than 700 in the mock tests.

Good luck!!

Cheers,
fedexunledded

ravsg · Answer

I am in the same boat, so using two things - error log and more & more practice.

simmy818 · Answer

Just curious - Have u already given ur GMAT? what was ur score as I dont see any of that info here..

fedexunledded · Answer

Yes ...I've taken the GMAT.... My score was 760. Q:49, V:44.

Cheers,
fedexunledded

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