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EMPOWERgmatRichC
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Review of my plan to boost my score 21 Mar 2015, 16:51
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Hi SavageBrother,

If your goal is to have a realistic score assessment from this CAT, then you should take a *new* CAT (one that you have not already used). While there's nothing wrong with redoing an old CAT for general practice purposes, THAT experience will not generate a realistic score result.

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Review of my plan to boost my score 22 Mar 2015, 05:35
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Thanks for the advice, just did the Economist CAT.

Total score: 560
Quant score: 37, 20 right, 17 wrong
Verbal score: 31, 22 right, 19 wrong

Quant:
- Still a lot of silly mistakes (7 out of 17)
- Errors seem to spread a bit more

Verbal:
- Still a lot of SC mistakes (13 out of 19)
- Only 2 RC and 4 CR mistakes

First impressions, both have improved I guess, need to slow down some. I'm going to review the exam thoroughly in about an hour. I'll report back.

Altough it is not the score I need for my application, I'm quite happy that it's a lot better than the one I did last time. I have about 2,5 weeks now to improve this score to about a 600 (hoping for 620).

I'm going to review the 13 SC mistakes now.
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Review of my plan to boost my score 22 Mar 2015, 12:41
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Hi SavageBrother,

Right now, those silly/little mistakes are killing your score. If you can fix those mistakes (do everything reasonably within in your power to keep them from happening), then you'll hit your goal score. Usually the solution is to take slightly more notes, label your work, DON'T do work in your head, etc. You're right on the verge of 600+.

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Review of my plan to boost my score 23 Mar 2015, 01:21
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Hi SavageBrother,

Right now, those silly/little mistakes are killing your score. If you can fix those mistakes (do everything reasonably within in your power to keep them from happening), then you'll hit your goal score. Usually the solution is to take slightly more notes, label your work, DON'T do work in your head, etc. You're right on the verge of 600+.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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Hey Rich, thanks for your reply again.

I know those silly mistakes kill my score. For example;

Point P is the center of the circle in the figure above. If ∠PDE=66º and PA=AE=CD=15, what is the length of arc ABC? In a hurry I used the 66 degree angle of D instead of the 48 degree angle. My calculations were right, I just used the wrong info. Stupid mistakes. I think I'll be practicing this by studying extra math and practicing lots of OG guide questions. If I am able to improve my SC a little bit and make fewer silly mistakes, I'll be good.

Monday 3/23/2015 FDP's + SC basics, grammar & meaning
Tuesday 3/24/2015 Algebra + subject / verb agreement
Wednesday 3/25/2015 Word problems + parallelism & pronouns
Thursday 3/26/2015 Geometry + modifiers, verb tense & moods
Friday 3/27/2015 Number properties + comparisons & odd's and ends
Saturday 3/28/2015 Practice questions (math & verbal) + relaxing
Sunday 3/29/2015 Practice exam, Practice exam review, adjust planning

Hope it works out!
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Review of my plan to boost my score 23 Mar 2015, 18:35
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Hi SavageBrother,

Your study schedule seems fine, but I just want to ask how much time you devote to your studies on each day? I normally advise Test Takers to take 1 day 'off' per week; a bit of 'rest' can make a big difference. Studying on all 7 days isn't necessarily a bad thing - as long as you're not 'burning out' from the effort.

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Review of my plan to boost my score 24 Mar 2015, 00:59
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Hi SavageBrother,

Your study schedule seems fine, but I just want to ask how much time you devote to your studies on each day? I normally advise Test Takers to take 1 day 'off' per week; a bit of 'rest' can make a big difference. Studying on all 7 days isn't necessarily a bad thing - as long as you're not 'burning out' from the effort.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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Hi Rich,

I plan my days as followed (maybe this is a bit extensite, but hey);
Monday: 8 hours of work and about 3 hours of study
Tuesday: 4 hours of work and about 5,5 hours of study
Wednessday: 8 hours of work and about 3 hours of study
Thursday: 4 hours of work and about 5,5 hours of study
Friday: 8 hours of work and about 3 hours of study
Saturday: 5 hours of study
Sunday: 6 hours of study

Gym on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, to split up my studyblocks (keeps me focussed). Always taking like a 10 minute break around the 1,5 hour mark. And also, everyday, I take about 1-2 hours off, for gaming/tv and stuff like that.
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Review of my plan to boost my score 24 Mar 2015, 20:51
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Hi SavageBrother,

The exercise 'breaks' you described are a good idea. There's a definite connection between physical well-being and mental well-being. I'm still a little concerned about the volume of work that you're taking on, but you know yourself better than anyone else, so if you can handle the workload, then keep on working as you see fit.

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Review of my plan to boost my score 25 Mar 2015, 01:22
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Hi SavageBrother,

The exercise 'breaks' you described are a good idea. There's a definite connection between physical well-being and mental well-being. I'm still a little concerned about the volume of work that you're taking on, but you know yourself better than anyone else, so if you can handle the workload, then keep on working as you see fit.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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Thanks for your concerns Rich. I'll see how it goes, if I feel like I'm starting to burn out or tired, I'll just the Friday off, or just an hour or something. Need to be fresh for Sundays mock exam!
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Review of my plan to boost my score 29 Mar 2015, 06:27
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Today I the Veritas CAT. Scored a 620 (:)). Q40, V35. Overall it felt like Q was a bit easier than CAT's I've done before, but V felt a bit harder. I'm going to jot down the data I've got from the scoresheet, and in the meantime do a deeper analysis of this CAT.

Q:
PS; 9 correct, 9 incorrect
DS; 15 correct, 4 incorrect

Wrongs;
Word problems; 1
Sequences; 2
Exponents and roots; 2
Algebra; 1
Integers; 2
Ratio's; 1
Circular permuations; 1

Guesses: 0 right, 5 wrong, 5 total
Silly mistakes: 3 or 4 (depending on how you define 'silly')

V:
SC; 7 correct, 6 incorrect
RC; 8 correct, 7 incorrect
CR; 11 correct, 2 incorrect

It seems like I really screwed RC up, and did a bit better on SC.

Data Sufficiency
01m 52s Incorrect
01m 50s Correct

Problem Solving
01m 53s Incorrect
02m 03s Correct

Critical Reasoning
02m 31s Incorrect
01m 48s Correct

Reading Comprehension
02m 00s Incorrect
01m 58s Correct

Sentence Correction
01m 49s Incorrect
01m 14s Correct

Plan for the coming days:
30-3 Monday; in depth review of the verbal part of the CAT,
31-3 Tuesday; Verbal SC
01-4 Wednessday; Verbal SC
02-4 Thursday; Math word problems/number properties
03-4 Friday; Math OG questions
04-4 Saturday; Verbal OG questions
05-4 Sunday; GMATprep 1 CAT retake??? - The mistakes I make here will indicate where to shift my attention to in the last days?
06-4 Monday; Math OG questions + extensive reviewing of mistakes made in the last days
07-4 Tuesday; Verbal SC
08-4 Wednessday; Nothing at all
09-4 Thurdays; Game day.

Also, I try to read 4-5 articles on different subjects every single day, untill the 8th.
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Review of my plan to boost my score 09 Apr 2015, 08:54
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Just got home from my exam, scored a 580 unfortunately, Q35 V35. Only 10 points more than my first try in March (570, Q33, V35). Felt really confident and well rested during the exam, thoughts of a 610/620 started crossing my mind, but no, not this day. I have one more try before the application closes, which will be something like the 11th of May.

Not really sure on what to do though, I don't know whether I'm autodidactic (enough) for the GMAT, or that I just need to adjust my studyplan some more. What would you people advise me? Maybe even take some videolessons? Or maybe do the GMATclub diagnostic test, to see where to focus on (gmat-diagnostic-test-quest-for-best-gmat-diagnostic-test-79502.html#p597465)? Or maybe just not try it at all anymore (although I really want to start my pre-master in september '15 and not september '16)

I really need some help I guess.

History:
GMATprep CAT 1: 600, Q40, V37
GMATprep CAT2: 500 Q36, V26
Real GMAT 1: 570 Q33, V35
GMATPill CAT: 460 Q28, V26
The Economist CAT: 560 Q37, V31
MGMAT CAT: 590 Q39, V33
Real GMAT 2: 580 Q35, V35

Edit: Maybe even magoosh, the 50 points increase money back guarantee?
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Review of my plan to boost my score 09 Apr 2015, 18:16
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Just got home from my exam, scored a 580 unfortunately, Q35 V35. Only 10 points more than my first try in March (570, Q33, V35). Felt really confident and well rested during the exam, thoughts of a 610/620 started crossing my mind, but no, not this day. I have one more try before the application closes, which will be something like the 11th of May.

Not really sure on what to do though, I don't know whether I'm autodidactic (enough) for the GMAT, or that I just need to adjust my studyplan some more. What would you people advise me? Maybe even take some videolessons? Or maybe do the GMATclub diagnostic test, to see where to focus on (gmat-diagnostic-test-quest-for-best-gmat-diagnostic-test-79502.html#p597465)? Or maybe just not try it at all anymore (although I really want to start my pre-master in september '15 and not september '16)

I really need some help I guess.

History:
GMATprep CAT 1: 600, Q40, V37
GMATprep CAT2: 500 Q36, V26
Real GMAT 1: 570 Q33, V35
GMATPill CAT: 460 Q28, V26
The Economist CAT: 560 Q37, V31
MGMAT CAT: 590 Q39, V33
Real GMAT 2: 580 Q35, V35

Edit: Maybe even magoosh, the 50 points increase money back guarantee?
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If you give up now the time, effort and money you've put into this so far will be rendered pointless... I would try again! It opens up possibilities for you, and won't you be mad at yourself if you don't give it another shot? At least that's how I feel! My master also requires a 600+ and if I don't get one on May 30th I will try again and again right up until the very last possible date I can...

but that's just me!

If you feel you aren't autodidactic enough, then maybe Magoosh would be a good choice! Especially with it's money back guarantee it sounds like it's worth it.
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Hi SavageBrother,

After rereading this series of posts, and noting some of the specific things that we talked about, I think that you've hit a "level" in how you "see" (and respond to) the GMAT that is remarkably consistent. On the one hand, consistency can be good; on the other hand, your consistency is keeping you from properly adjusting how you deal with Test Day.

I mentioned it before and it bears repeating: you're remarkably close to scoring 600+ right now, but there are clearly some fundamental "little problems" with your work that you were not able to fix doing things "your way." You should NOT give up, but with this next month (or so) of studies, you really should follow the specific guidance of whichever GMAT Course/Product/Expert that you choose to use. Based on your Scaled Scores, you have a greater opportunity to pick up points in the Quant section, so you might want to focus the bulk of your time/efforts in that area.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
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If you give up now the time, effort and money you've put into this so far will be rendered pointless... I would try again! It opens up possibilities for you, and won't you be mad at yourself if you don't give it another shot? At least that's how I feel! My master also requires a 600+ and if I don't get one on May 30th I will try again and again right up until the very last possible date I can...

but that's just me!

If you feel you aren't autodidactic enough, then maybe Magoosh would be a good choice! Especially with it's money back guarantee it sounds like it's worth it.
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Hi,

Thanks, I've decided to give it another try, because I'm so close anyways.

EMPOWERgmatRichC
Hi SavageBrother,

After rereading this series of posts, and noting some of the specific things that we talked about, I think that you've hit a "level" in how you "see" (and respond to) the GMAT that is remarkably consistent. On the one hand, consistency can be good; on the other hand, your consistency is keeping you from properly adjusting how you deal with Test Day.

I mentioned it before and it bears repeating: you're remarkably close to scoring 600+ right now, but there are clearly some fundamental "little problems" with your work that you were not able to fix doing things "your way." You should NOT give up, but with this next month (or so) of studies, you really should follow the specific guidance of whichever GMAT Course/Product/Expert that you choose to use. Based on your Scaled Scores, you have a greater opportunity to pick up points in the Quant section, so you might want to focus the bulk of your time/efforts in that area.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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Hi Rich,

Thanks again for the time and effort you put in your replies. I think I have to agree with you about hitting a "level" in how I "see" the GMAT. At this moment, if I just continue studying like I did the last couple of weeks, I most likely will not score a 600+. I did, however, work on the 'little problems' we've discussed. In my couple of first CATs I made up to (or more) 7 stupid mistakes in the Quant section, and brought that back to about 2 or 3 in my latest CAT. My Verbal seems to be quite decent (not great, I know, but sufficient for my goals I guess, although I would love to score higher).

I think I just need someone or something to help me with the Quant section. I have no problems with pacing (30 seconds left on both Quant and Verbal, no rushing), no problems with stamina (adrenaline keeps me focussed) and I do not have any anxiety problems. I guess the main problem is that I'm just not good enough with Quant, and that I need to work on that part. I calculated that I have about 25 hours available for study the coming 4 weeks, which makes gives a total of 100 hours of study. I think, with the right method, I should be able to score 600+. The only problem is that I have yet to decide which program/course to follow.

I'm really edging towards Magoosh because it's affordable, gives a detailed analysis and it give me the 50+ points or money back guarantee (which I hope not to use of course). I know you provide some sort of studyplans at well, but I am not sure whether they suit me, because I really just need to work on my Quant skills.
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Review of my plan to boost my score 10 Apr 2015, 12:12
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Hi SavageBrother,

I think that you'd find the Quant Score Booster Study Plan a perfect fit for your needs/timeline - most of our Clients are able to finish it in under a month. We also have a score guarantee that you probably won't find anywhere else.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
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Review of my plan to boost my score 10 Apr 2015, 15:14
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Hi Rich,

I've checked out the Math booster, looks great, but the problem is that I won't be able to stick to the schedule because of work. I do not have 40 hours of spare time in the first 5 days. I don't think it will suit me.
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Review of my plan to boost my score 10 Apr 2015, 15:34
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Hi SavageBrother,

I don't think that you were looking at the Quant Score Booster Study Plan - while it has specific assignments, the program allows you to work at your own pace (and it doesn't require 40 hours of work in 5 days; you might have been looking at the 1-month Crash Course study plan, which is a different plan).

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Review of my plan to boost my score 13 Apr 2015, 01:36
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I've decided not only to devote my time to Quant, but also to Verbal. I couldn't meet the required time/hours per week on your 30 day schedule Rich. Thanks though.
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Review of my plan to boost my score 13 Apr 2015, 12:01
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Hi SavageBrother,

Again, I don't think that you were looking at the proper Study Plan. You mention the "30 day schedule", so that's clearly the 1-month Study Plan. The 1-month, 2-month and 3-month Study Plans are broken down by 'time periods', but the Score Booster Plans can be completed in line with whatever timeframe you choose.

However you choose to proceed at this point, if you have any additional questions, you can feel free to contact me directly.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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