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02 Jan 2021, 07:19
Kudos
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Hi All
This is my first post on the forum. I am a Chartered Accountant (India) by academic background but have worked mainly in the sales and marketing domain. I have been a part of 2 startups as a founding member, that have gone through successful exits. I have been preparing for GMAT for 4 months now, and yesterday I gave an Official Mock and score a 710 (V38, Q49). I have already booked my test date: 16/01/2021, which is 2 weeks from today. My target score is 730 or above. I am actually panicking as I write this, but I have no clue how to better from my current stage. I am writing an analysis I have made via my error logs, practice quizzes, and the mock I gave. This one below pertains to my mock from yesterday:
In Quant out of 31 questions, 12 were incorrect. Now, these 12 question type is quite similar to what I have been getting wrong in practice questions. The questions types that were wrong were predominantly the hard ones. Almost 90% of the wrong ones have been DS ones. The following topics which I have struggled with on practice, as well as test, are:
1. Sequence (AP, GP)
2. Arithmetic Word Problems (Typical wording ones only)
3. Ratio and Percentage (Hard ones)
4. Statistics (Typically the ones which are an amalgamation of Mean & Median - and also - the ones where maximum & minimum or range of something has to be sought)
5. Sets: I get them right, but take more time.
6. Inequalities & Absolute values (Very hard ones)
7. PS Questions where Linear Equations are mixed with Geometry (variable questions).
8. DS in Distance, Speed, and Time. (Difficult ones).
9. Geometry: Questions where one figure is inscribed in another, and we have to apply triangle properties of external angle, etc. (I get confused and kill time here).
Should I now pick these topics and keep ramming questions or should I take another approach?
In Verbal, I could attempt 33 questions by reading them, third and second last were guessed, and the last question I missed because of lack of time.
So out of 35 attempted questions, I got 9 incorrect. (SC: 4 wrong, CR: 1 wrong, and RC: 5 wrong, 2 guess wrong, 1 missed).
SC: The typical error pattern has identification errors in hard parallelism and comparison questions. In modifier ones, I am faulting in questions where the modifier is placed distantly from the subject or it is a noun+noun modifier. There are some pronoun questions that I do get correct, but my approach to them is by checking the subject-verb agreement, which I feel is a conditional approach.
CR: Only Boldface take time, rest I am comfortable with now. But yes, longer wordy questions take time.
RC: Now this is an area which is very erratic, sometimes I just face it, sometimes I tank. I am not able to pinpoint my issues here.
I have read some great debriefs and thus I am marking the fellows who have successfully made this journey. This is a genuine request. Any help in direction would be great.
anoushki rsmalan
P.S.: A request to anyone who reads this: Kindly mark/tag the person you feel can provide a good approach to narrow down the issues and help me get better.
Best
This is my first post on the forum. I am a Chartered Accountant (India) by academic background but have worked mainly in the sales and marketing domain. I have been a part of 2 startups as a founding member, that have gone through successful exits. I have been preparing for GMAT for 4 months now, and yesterday I gave an Official Mock and score a 710 (V38, Q49). I have already booked my test date: 16/01/2021, which is 2 weeks from today. My target score is 730 or above. I am actually panicking as I write this, but I have no clue how to better from my current stage. I am writing an analysis I have made via my error logs, practice quizzes, and the mock I gave. This one below pertains to my mock from yesterday:
In Quant out of 31 questions, 12 were incorrect. Now, these 12 question type is quite similar to what I have been getting wrong in practice questions. The questions types that were wrong were predominantly the hard ones. Almost 90% of the wrong ones have been DS ones. The following topics which I have struggled with on practice, as well as test, are:
1. Sequence (AP, GP)
2. Arithmetic Word Problems (Typical wording ones only)
3. Ratio and Percentage (Hard ones)
4. Statistics (Typically the ones which are an amalgamation of Mean & Median - and also - the ones where maximum & minimum or range of something has to be sought)
5. Sets: I get them right, but take more time.
6. Inequalities & Absolute values (Very hard ones)
7. PS Questions where Linear Equations are mixed with Geometry (variable questions).
8. DS in Distance, Speed, and Time. (Difficult ones).
9. Geometry: Questions where one figure is inscribed in another, and we have to apply triangle properties of external angle, etc. (I get confused and kill time here).
Should I now pick these topics and keep ramming questions or should I take another approach?
In Verbal, I could attempt 33 questions by reading them, third and second last were guessed, and the last question I missed because of lack of time.
So out of 35 attempted questions, I got 9 incorrect. (SC: 4 wrong, CR: 1 wrong, and RC: 5 wrong, 2 guess wrong, 1 missed).
SC: The typical error pattern has identification errors in hard parallelism and comparison questions. In modifier ones, I am faulting in questions where the modifier is placed distantly from the subject or it is a noun+noun modifier. There are some pronoun questions that I do get correct, but my approach to them is by checking the subject-verb agreement, which I feel is a conditional approach.
CR: Only Boldface take time, rest I am comfortable with now. But yes, longer wordy questions take time.
RC: Now this is an area which is very erratic, sometimes I just face it, sometimes I tank. I am not able to pinpoint my issues here.
I have read some great debriefs and thus I am marking the fellows who have successfully made this journey. This is a genuine request. Any help in direction would be great.
anoushki rsmalan
P.S.: A request to anyone who reads this: Kindly mark/tag the person you feel can provide a good approach to narrow down the issues and help me get better.
Best
02 Jan 2021, 10:11
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi Mansamba,
Thanks for the tag. Will try my best to help you out. A few things
A. The best thing I like about this post is how specific it is. It's great how you've been able to analyze the sections and the sub-sections you need to work upon. I wanted to ask you-
- If this is the only mock you've given to date (official or unofficial)? Asking this to understand if this is the only data point you have at the moment or is this just an outlier score.
- Are you in a position to shift your date if needed?
B. For quant,
1. Since you know the specific topics you are struggling with, I would suggest that you work with these first. Open PS/DS forum on gmatclub, select the topic and level you need to work on. Just make sure that you do not attempt questions from Gmat Prep since that takes questions from the official mocks and would lead to inflated mock scores later on. Do as many questions as needed to feel comfortable with your issue area.
(PS Forum- https://gmatclub.com/forum/problem-solv ... 0/?fl=menu
DS Forum- https://gmatclub.com/forum/data-suffici ... 1/?fl=menu)
2. Also, consider re-reading topic theory if you feel your fundamentals/knowledge aren't so solid.
3. Check if you might benefit from the blog posts in the quant thread. I learned a lot of tactics from here. Since you don't have a lot of time at hand, just check the core time-taking areas like sets.
(https://gmatclub.com/forum/ultimate-gma ... 44512.html)
4. For DS, I realized that even the wrong questions almost always make instantaneous sense once you know your answer was wrong. So, a lot of times your fundamentals are clear and it's just that your process has gaps that lead you to commit mistakes like carrying assumptions up stat 1 into 2, not considering possibilities etc.
5. For this, solidify your process, write what's given, solve stat 1 and 2 on the left and right side resp, put a tick cross to never be confused for starters. And make sure you remember and test for special possibilities.
C. For verbal,
1. For SC you know you need to work on modifiers so practice as many questions from GmatClub or elsewhere to get that right. Practice from reputable sources like Veritas, EGMAT, MGMAT etc. But honestly, focused practice makes a world of difference. I remember modifiers being something I struggled with a little to at harder levels but there is nothing practice can't change. You can also check EGMAT articles on modifers like noun+noun etc. I stand by them!
(https://gmatclub.com/forum/e-gmat-s-all ... 44985.html)
2. In CR, Boldface questions are a rarity so don't worry about them too much. Practice them specifically if you need to.
3. In RC, if you are erratic, you definitely should work super hard on it as consistency pays in the real exam and RC makes a huge chunk of the section. Since you are yet to identify what really is wrong with you there, check
- timing (whether you are messing up because you feel short on time) vs understanding
- general ques (theme, main point, etc) vs specific ques (relating to a specific line or portion)
- Is there a specific type of passage that you tend to struggle with- Science, Humanities etc
If you aren't too sure yet, try to practice some passages, see your mistakes and narrow down on where the problem is exactly. Might be able to help you more on it after that.
So, you are definitely doing well. I'd just say that do consider pushing your date if need be, as you should be confident about your abilities on your final test date (and that you covered all possible bases).
Warm Regards!
Thanks for the tag. Will try my best to help you out. A few things
A. The best thing I like about this post is how specific it is. It's great how you've been able to analyze the sections and the sub-sections you need to work upon. I wanted to ask you-
- If this is the only mock you've given to date (official or unofficial)? Asking this to understand if this is the only data point you have at the moment or is this just an outlier score.
- Are you in a position to shift your date if needed?
B. For quant,
1. Since you know the specific topics you are struggling with, I would suggest that you work with these first. Open PS/DS forum on gmatclub, select the topic and level you need to work on. Just make sure that you do not attempt questions from Gmat Prep since that takes questions from the official mocks and would lead to inflated mock scores later on. Do as many questions as needed to feel comfortable with your issue area.
(PS Forum- https://gmatclub.com/forum/problem-solv ... 0/?fl=menu
DS Forum- https://gmatclub.com/forum/data-suffici ... 1/?fl=menu)
2. Also, consider re-reading topic theory if you feel your fundamentals/knowledge aren't so solid.
3. Check if you might benefit from the blog posts in the quant thread. I learned a lot of tactics from here. Since you don't have a lot of time at hand, just check the core time-taking areas like sets.
(https://gmatclub.com/forum/ultimate-gma ... 44512.html)
4. For DS, I realized that even the wrong questions almost always make instantaneous sense once you know your answer was wrong. So, a lot of times your fundamentals are clear and it's just that your process has gaps that lead you to commit mistakes like carrying assumptions up stat 1 into 2, not considering possibilities etc.
5. For this, solidify your process, write what's given, solve stat 1 and 2 on the left and right side resp, put a tick cross to never be confused for starters. And make sure you remember and test for special possibilities.
C. For verbal,
1. For SC you know you need to work on modifiers so practice as many questions from GmatClub or elsewhere to get that right. Practice from reputable sources like Veritas, EGMAT, MGMAT etc. But honestly, focused practice makes a world of difference. I remember modifiers being something I struggled with a little to at harder levels but there is nothing practice can't change. You can also check EGMAT articles on modifers like noun+noun etc. I stand by them!
(https://gmatclub.com/forum/e-gmat-s-all ... 44985.html)
2. In CR, Boldface questions are a rarity so don't worry about them too much. Practice them specifically if you need to.
3. In RC, if you are erratic, you definitely should work super hard on it as consistency pays in the real exam and RC makes a huge chunk of the section. Since you are yet to identify what really is wrong with you there, check
- timing (whether you are messing up because you feel short on time) vs understanding
- general ques (theme, main point, etc) vs specific ques (relating to a specific line or portion)
- Is there a specific type of passage that you tend to struggle with- Science, Humanities etc
If you aren't too sure yet, try to practice some passages, see your mistakes and narrow down on where the problem is exactly. Might be able to help you more on it after that.
So, you are definitely doing well. I'd just say that do consider pushing your date if need be, as you should be confident about your abilities on your final test date (and that you covered all possible bases).
Warm Regards!
