First GMAT prep practice exam - realistic?

Thanks a lot for responding so quickly . I'm glad time isn't taken into account, my plan to do better is to go more slowly haha. I know I need to improve the verbal but I feel like I got a little unlucky on it this time through. I find I rely a lot on the SC and RC questions being on topics that I am interested in. As pathetic as it is I cannot concentrate on reading a whole paragraph on something I don't care about. I read one or two sentences and then forget what I am reading. Despite trying to concentrate my brain gets scrambled.

SC questions as well as DS in quant are what I will be spending time on in the next two weeks.





Hahaha well thank you. I didn't think GMATprep would change the questions based on my answers, that's interesting.

If anyone is interested this is a challenging/kind of fun question that took me a while to think through after seeing I got it wrong.

If n and m are positive integers, what is the remainder when (3^(4n+2))+m is divided by 10?

(1) n=2
(2) m=1

I will post how I solved later.

(3^(4n+2)) ends in 9 for all n, so if m=1 it is divisible by 10 (remainder=0). So B.

yezzir. You replied quick, gj. Would you consider that a difficult question?

I just found the term goes up by a multiple of 3^4 (units digit 1) so the units digit will not change for any n as long as m doesn't change.

I would say that it is Medium Difficult Question (650 level or something like that). I mean, there are much more challenging questions than this one

Impressive Quantscore you got with 20 min left

I would do like this...
(3^(4n+2))+m = (3^4n * 3^2) + m => (81^n * 9 )+ m, 81^n will always have 1 as unit digit for any value of n and 1 * 9 will always result in 9 so the product will always be xxxx9 + m for all values of n.

So I studied hard yesterday and did my second practice test today, I got 49,47 for a 770 which I am ecstatic about. I tried really slowing myself down and ended up only having 20 seconds left for the final question of quant. Generally found this exam more difficult. I got 9 quant wrong and 2 verbal wrong. Not sure what exactly I will do to improve for the next 8 days before my exam. I am definitely feeling confident although I haven't looked at the AWA part at all yet.




Here were the two hardest questions from todays exam. I actually am still not sure how to solve one of them.

1. If x and y are positive integers such that x = 8y + 12, what is the greatest common divisor of x and y.

(1) x = 12u, where u is an integer
(2) y = 12z, where z is an integer

2. A manufacturer produced x percent more video cameras in 1994 than in 1993 and y percent more video cameras in 1995 than in 1994. If the manufacturer produced 1000 video cameras in 1993 how many did the manufactuer produce in 1995?

(1) xy = 20
(2) x + y + xy/100 = 9.2

What level do you think they are? Number 2 I still am not sure about.





Thanks although apparently using all my time did not help.

And yeah fair enough. Getting more familiar with units digits as a concept actually makes that question quite simple.

Umm...yeah, I'd say you're in pretty good shape.

I would recommend stressing yourself as little as possible for the next 8 days. Do some quick review work on concepts you're having problems with and study your equation/formula flashcards. Be prepared for things to be a little different when you have to do the AWA--that extra hour will have your brain somewhat taxed when you start the quant portion. Other than that, show up relaxed and rested on gameday and you'll be fine.

As for 2) B is sufficient?

1993 * (1+x/100) = 1994
1994 * (1+y/100) = 1995

1993-1995
1000 * (1+x/100)(1+y/100) = 1995
10(100+x+y+xy/100) = 1995
10(100+9.6) = 1995
1000+96 = 1096 ?

Something like that

haha ya, I'm not too stressed or anything but you may be right about the essay portion. Hopefully I avoid getting too boggled by it. I should have taken that into consideration when doing my practice tests but oh well. I am happy with anything over 700 really, although better would be nice for increasing scholarship opportunities.




*slow clap* cool, that will help me for other questions of a similar nature. Sometimes I just have to break down the equations and see what happens apparently, I usually try not to use a pen if I don't have too.

Putting pen on paper and making equations should be the last resort. As you have already figured, GMAT does not require you to KNOW concepts. You can figure them out as you go if your fundamentals are clear. It is a test of your aptitude. Knowledge required is bare minimum. Though exposure to concepts can help you get there faster. But apparently, you are not facing time challenges so carry on... Do whatever it is you are doing and you will be fine...

As for RC (I think you mentioned that if you do not like the topic, you find it difficult to focus), give yourself a task in every RC. That is, for every paragraph, you have to jot down 3-4 most important words which summarize that particular paragraph. You will find it hard to drift if you have a task at hand (especially helpful for the long soporific passages).

Lastly, I know a few people who got 760-770 in their GMAT prep tests but scored 720-730 in the actual GMAT (that much at least is a given I think!)... So be confident but be cautious too... Try and avoid making mistakes in haste. Time is plenty - make good use of it.

Based on the scores that you are getting on the practice CAT, I think you are ready for the real exam. Good luck.

Posted from GMAT ToolKit

Firstly, thank you for the response. I agree with your first paragraph and feel like a lot of people get way too caught up in complicated concepts and memorization. Sometimes I get to a DS question and just from reading it I can say it is either C or E. If I am 80-90% sure it is going to be one or the other I just pick it and move on. That 2-3 minutes can be better utilized somewhere else. Also just plugging in numbers to test equations, rather than writing everything out can be really quick and beneficial.

I will try that tip for RC and see how it works for me. It would be great if I could get a good verbal score without dependence on an element of luck.

And finally, thank you, a 770+ would be fantastic but not really necessary. I would actually be more happy with a 50/40 for 730 or so than a 49/47 for a 760 or so. I am going to try and be relaxed, but not too relaxed. I don't want to run out of time, especially if it is because I purposely took my time!

how many total hours have you put into studying? Surely you are not scoring in the 700s with only 20 hours of study?

Great results! See this as well: https://gmatclub.com/gmat-score-calculator/

I filled it out, but the only tests I've done are GMAT prep.



~20 hrs for 710
~30 hrs for 770
~35 hrs as of now
~45 hrs by the time I take the test on tuesday

That is why I find it silly when people say "How many hrs do I need to study?" It depends how familiar you are with the material. I just graduated from my business undergrad in September so I am not far out of school. This test is very suited to my skills and I took lots of math in high school and 1st/2nd year university.

Are you just insanely smart though? I graduated with a degree in accounting in July, and I'm about 90 hours into studying and there is no way in hell I could get a 700 at this point. And I would consider myself "significantly smarter than average" (haha wouldn't we all?) because I have always been in the top 10 percent of everything I have done. I got a 30 on the ACT in high school with no studying at all.

I haven't taken a ton of math though (accountants are not good at math, contrary to popular belief), so maybe that's what helping you? Which maths did you take in college?

What were the answers to these two DS questions?