EMPOWERgmatRichC wrote:
Hi Saul,
GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in how your CATs function, your 3 CAT score results show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 600 +/- a few points). You handle certain aspects of the Exam consistently well, but you also make certain consistent mistakes. The Quant section of the GMAT is NOT a 'math test' - it's a 'critical thinking test' that requires lots of little calculations as you work through it. To score at a much higher level in this section, you need to become more of a 'strategist' and less of a 'mathematician.' With Quant Scaled Scores in the high-Q30s, you likely also need to (re)learn certain Quant concepts.
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:
1) On what dates did you take these CATs?
2) Did you take the FULL CAT each time (with the Essay and IR sections)?
3) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
4) What is the application deadline for this FEMBA Program?
5) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
I 100% agree. I feel like although I learned to use tricks in some problems I approached the test too much like a "mathematician".
To answer the first part of the question, I took the
MGMAT course so my study was basically following the roadmap. It consisted mostly of (re)learning a lot of content I had not seen in years. I spent a lot of time trying to really read everything and understand things which resulted in reading chapters beginning to end and practicing 3-5 questions for each chapter only. I would do the
OG problems associated with each chapter. I never created an
error log (even though it was advised), I created I believe 5 flash cards only. After the first 2 CAT's I didn't really review the questions since I figured I wasn't done with all the readings my score would only improve as I kept reading more and more. As you can see that never happened, so only for my last CAT did I actually look at the detailed score and try to figure out what I got wrong and why etc. I dedicated a good 25-30 hours per week of studying to this GMAT, even stopped working out and had bad diet habits which I think was a horrible mistake (and trying to fix it so this time around I am better balanced). I definitely let the GMAT take over my life the last 3 months and I think my approach ended up hurting me, studying too hard on probably the wrong stuff; causing lots of stress and anxiety.
Here are the answers to your questions:
1)
MGMAT CAT 1 11/4/2017 ;
MGMAT CAT 2 12/18/2017 ;
MGMAT CAT 3 1/7/2018
2)
YES - I took all 3 CAT's in the order Quant/Verbal/IR/Essay. My essay and IR sections are not struggling (essay 5+, IR 5-8)
3) Ideally, I want to take it by
mid March, so that if I still don't get what I want I can retake it again mid April. But if I'm not ready by mid March, April 22nd is the last day I can take it because answer to question 4 is...
4) April 23, 2018 is application deadline. My entire application is ready except for this GMAT.
5) I have a lot of flexibility with work, and I don't have kids or super crazy schedule. These last 3 months I was probably dedicating an average of 25-30 hours per week. Which was about 2-3 hours every weekday and a good 4-6 hours on weekends. Going forward, to answer your question, I can continue to dedicate the same amount of time, hopefully with a better plan in place. (more methodical) It was mostly learning content and not much practice.
Thanks in advance for your time and responding to my thread, Rich!
Saul
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23 Jan 2018, 11:44
