Need help with developing a GMAT strategy

Question

Hi everyone!

I recently gave my GMAT and scored a 615. This was quite disappointing as I was scoring between 675-695 in the official mocks with potential to score more (I had made a lot of silly mistakes in these mocks). I faced major issues with timing on the test day which made me very anxious. I require guidance on how I can manage my time effectively.

Thank you!

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Consider including your score report. Was there a section you performed significantly different on? If you feel it takes you a bit of time to warm up, one thing that may help a bit is doing a few questions beforehand.

How to get better on the GMAT. Think of time management as time currency.

NehaKuncheriaM · Answer

Hi, not really. My main issue was time management, because of which I had to rush through the last couple of questions in quant. This made me super stressed and this affected the other sections.

hr1212 · Answer

Hi  NehaKuncheriaM ,

Sorry to hear that. There could be multiple reasons on what could have gone wrong, major one being test anxiety which could heavily impact your test day score compared to your official mock scores which you might have generally taken in a relaxed environment. Also questions in real test are a bit harder than the official mocks, so it's always good to practice questions at a notch higher difficulty if you are really looking to get the max out of your test.

One thing what I have observed test takers do during their real test is that they try to get every question right because they are scared of letting go of any question compared to mocks where you don't feel the guilt to guess questions, which impacts their score heavily. The trick here is to act and behave as if it is just another mock and try to attempt the test with the same mindset which can help you maximize the accuracy on the questions which you really know. If you really think you are struggling with timings, then that's something I hope you should try to improve in your mocks too, like figuring optimal solutions for questions where you are running exceeding the threshold time.

You can even try to practice sectional tests on GMAT Club, as their Q and D sections are relatively tougher than the real test. Because I too struggled with getting perfect scores on these tests and often found time management challenging. So an experience like that can prepare you better for the real test.

NehaKuncheriaM · Answer

Hi there,

Thank you for this. This is really helpful.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi NehaKuncheriaM,

Regarding your issues with timing and accuracy, I think you should spend time engaging in topical practice, which will help you locate and fix content gaps that may be slowing you down as well as causing accuracy issues. As you fill those gaps you’ll develop the ability to a) quickly recognize and then b) execute a plan of attack when solving problems, but with pinpoint accuracy.

For example, take the quant topic of units digit patterns. While such a topic may seem challenging at first, imagine how “automatic” answering units digit pattern questions will be if you learn about the concepts related to those questions, and then practice numerous units digit patterns questions. You’ll easily recognize when you have a units digit pattern question and quickly execute when solving the problem.

What is the units digit of 3^22

(A) 9
(B) 7
(C) 3
(D) 1
(E) 0

Solution:

Recognition: If you have spent time mastering units digits patterns, you’ll get a big smile on your face when you see this problem!

Execution: Because you have a units digits pattern question, you execute by recalling and using the pattern for positive integer powers of 3.

Now, let’s discuss how to solve the above problem.

Recall that the pattern for the units digits of powers of 3 is 3-9-7-1. In this pattern, every power to which 3 is raised that is a multiple of 4 has a units digit of 1.

We need to determine the units digit of 3^22.

First, we note that the units digit of 3^20 must be 1, since the exponent 20 is a multiple of 4. Next, the units digit of 321 must be the next number in the pattern, which is 3. And finally, the units digit of 322 is the next number in the pattern, which is 9.

Answer: A

For some more advice, feel free to check out this article:

Improving Your Accuracy on the GMAT

yc168 · Answer

Hi,

Have you looked at this post:  Time Management Strategies on GMAT Focus ?

NehaKuncheriaM · Answer

Thank you for this!

NehaKuncheriaM · Answer

will check this out, thank you!

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Of course! Happy to help.

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