Hi all!
Please see below my mock score progression (please note dates (DD/MM/YYYY) and number of hrs studied):
Official GMAT Mock 1 - Cold mock - 650(Q38,V41) - taken on 06/10/23
Official GMAT Mock 2 - 30 hrs prep - 690(Q48,V37) - taken on 29/06/23
Official Exam - 30 hrs prep - 650(Q32,V37) - taken on 30/-6/23
Official GMAT Mock 3 - 150 hrs prep - 710(Q47,V40) - taken earlier today (18/10/23)
Brief background:
I took my cold mock on 10/06, with a goal of getting 720+ in autumn (now-ish). Scored 650. I was then rushed by an admissions committee of LBS to submit a late application with a GMAT, and was only able to get a 650 with 30 hrs of prep (all going into quant), despite getting a 690 in official Mock 2 the day before.Since then, I have been studying fairly regularly, focusing on Quant and CR (my 2 weakest areas from the Exam ESR). As of today, I have completed all
TTP Quant lessons and around 35% of the
TTP Quant question bank, as well as the
TTP CR lessons and maybe a 1/3 of the
TTP CR QB. I am set to take an exam in exactly one week.
I have been practicing sets of 10/15/15 Easy/Medium/Hard
TTP Quant Qs and my averages are at 95%/87%/63% respectively.
Today's Mock:
Overall a decent experience. Ran out of time on Q for 1 question, had 3 mins to spare for V (without utilising any time-tracking techniques). So not worried about time management.
Having analysed my Q answers, 3/10 were due to stupid mistakes (ie picking 2:1 ratio instead of 1:2 in the answers after doing the correct math), 7/10 was due to failing to apply the concepts I know or not remembering the concepts outright.
Having analysed my V answers, 1 wrong answer was from CR, 5 from SC and 4 from RC.
My goal for next week's exam:
I want a 700+ at minimum as it would give me a fair shot for most MFin programmes I am looking to apply to. A 720/730+ gives me a fair shot for the elite programmes (Oxford MFE).
On to the question of the post:
How should I proceed? I have an exam in 6 full days (next wednesday), and I have full days available to study/practice questions (took time off work). So I can get another solid 50-60 hours of Q practice & review. Resources available to me:
1. The
TTP course
2. Mocks 4-6
3. Around 80% of the 2022 GMAT question bank (books & online)
I am not worried about Verbal that much, as it just comes naturally. Without any advice, I think I would just focus on areas of Quant I am not too comfortable on, and maybe RC?
Should I Spend more time with the Question banks, or take a mock every 2 days (thus spending around 9 of my remaining 50-60 ish hours of study on mocks only)?
Sorry for the long post, but would really appreciate solid advice!
PS: all the "Scored 1500 on mock but 400 on the exam" posts are also making me mildly worried about my "measly" 710. A bit worried I might underperform on my exam as that's what happened last time as per my Mock/exam history at the start of the post.