Need some advice for effectively utilizing last 2 weeks of GMAT prep

Hello, gmat4122. I am a little surprised that no one has yet recommended taking another official CAT over the next week. This can help set your mind at ease, believe it or not, and allow you to feel as though you have a distinct goal in mind for this week. Deciding to maintain a particular score or sub-score is a risky strategy. Many test-takers, especially first-time test-takers, assume that their official exam will go the same way as their practice tests had gone, without considering that test-day nerves, combined with a lack of sufficient practice, can hurt their performance just when it matters the most. You might even seize up and attempt to be extra cautious about making mistakes, which could cost you time and mental energy better spent working through the problems at hand.

I would suggest practicing small sets of questions, perhaps 5-15 at a time, with a Verbal set in the morning/evening and a Quant set in the other part of the day. Place emphasis on quality time over the amount of time you are preparing each day, and do not force yourself to belt out x questions a day, or you will be coming at this task from the wrong angle. Some days, I can get more out of picking apart one or two questions than I could combing through 10-50 new ones. Look up the questions you have missed in the forum. Read what others have to say about those questions. If you enjoy videos, watch Verbal strategy lessons by Ron Purewal (in the "Thursdays with Ron" series), GMATNinja, or fiftyoneverbal, for instance. Sure, you might be fine with a 30 in Verbal, but what could aiming for a 40 hurt? Same with Quant. Do not assume you will earn a 49 just because you can do so in practice. I have worked with students who have done this before and walked away with a Quant score in the 44-46 range.

I say all this not to scare you, but to urge you to keep working at it. Keep sharpening your skillset so that your performance peaks at just the right time. Two weeks is a perfect amount of time in which to focus on the task at hand without losing track of the finish line.

Best of luck to you in your studies.

- Andrew

Hi gmat4122,

How did things end up with your GMAT?