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18 Apr 2024, 11:39
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Hello,
I am seeking advice on how to proceed further with my GMAT preparation. During the last four months, I was intensively preparing for the GMAT Focus exam with TTP (Expert + track, as I am aiming for a 700+ score) and completed all the chapters from quant, verbal, and data insights. Before that, I went through the majority of the practice questions from the OG, but my preparation was not structured, and I felt that I was stagnating, so I decided to purchase the TTP course. To know my baseline score, I also did one official mock exam, where I scored 535 with a high verbal score (although I did not tick the last question, I got 81/90), below average quant (75/90), and data insights (74/90).
I felt that my preparation went well, and I think that the TTP course helped me to understand the basic concepts and taught me all the important theories that I did not know before. During the TTP practice exams, I was able to almost always reach the target accuracy on all the easy, medium, and hard quant tests, but I was often struggling with time. Except for the mission review tests, I almost never finished the chapter tests on time and focused mostly on accuracy. I mostly did the test that was proposed at the end of the chapter, and then one chapter test from each difficulty level. For verbal, I felt that the easy and medium verbal tests were very easy, as I mostly got 100% on them, but the hard ones were very difficult, and I had to often redo them to reach the target score. I was struggling with data insights the most and had trouble reaching the target score on even the easy tests. This has thrown me off, as I found all the other material more manageable.
After I completed the TTP course, I started to do the mock exams, and to my shock, after more than 500 hours of studying, I got the same score as at the beginning of my preparation. I felt like the questions were too different from the ones tested on TTP, especially their wording and how they required the utilization of multiple concepts at once. I was also struggling with time and had to often guess on the last few questions. So I started to do additional quant tests on TTP but timed. After a few weeks, I was able to reach the target scores on all difficulty levels for all chapters, often with a few minutes to spare. When I moved to the mock exams again, my scores were almost the same and I had the same issues as before.
I don't even know how to interpret the mock exam scores. Quant is often my weakest part, but I sometimes get very high verbal and data insights scores and sometimes very low ones. I am desperate and don't know what to do. Can you please give me some advice on how to proceed? Did some of you experience a similar situation? If yes, what did you do?
Here are all my mock exam scores in chronological order:
First practice exam:
535 with 74 (DI)/75/(QR)/81(VR)
After the preparation:
535 with 78/76/76
575 with 81/76/78
595 with 72/79/88
555 with 74/76/82
Thank you very much for your help.
I am seeking advice on how to proceed further with my GMAT preparation. During the last four months, I was intensively preparing for the GMAT Focus exam with TTP (Expert + track, as I am aiming for a 700+ score) and completed all the chapters from quant, verbal, and data insights. Before that, I went through the majority of the practice questions from the OG, but my preparation was not structured, and I felt that I was stagnating, so I decided to purchase the TTP course. To know my baseline score, I also did one official mock exam, where I scored 535 with a high verbal score (although I did not tick the last question, I got 81/90), below average quant (75/90), and data insights (74/90).
I felt that my preparation went well, and I think that the TTP course helped me to understand the basic concepts and taught me all the important theories that I did not know before. During the TTP practice exams, I was able to almost always reach the target accuracy on all the easy, medium, and hard quant tests, but I was often struggling with time. Except for the mission review tests, I almost never finished the chapter tests on time and focused mostly on accuracy. I mostly did the test that was proposed at the end of the chapter, and then one chapter test from each difficulty level. For verbal, I felt that the easy and medium verbal tests were very easy, as I mostly got 100% on them, but the hard ones were very difficult, and I had to often redo them to reach the target score. I was struggling with data insights the most and had trouble reaching the target score on even the easy tests. This has thrown me off, as I found all the other material more manageable.
After I completed the TTP course, I started to do the mock exams, and to my shock, after more than 500 hours of studying, I got the same score as at the beginning of my preparation. I felt like the questions were too different from the ones tested on TTP, especially their wording and how they required the utilization of multiple concepts at once. I was also struggling with time and had to often guess on the last few questions. So I started to do additional quant tests on TTP but timed. After a few weeks, I was able to reach the target scores on all difficulty levels for all chapters, often with a few minutes to spare. When I moved to the mock exams again, my scores were almost the same and I had the same issues as before.
I don't even know how to interpret the mock exam scores. Quant is often my weakest part, but I sometimes get very high verbal and data insights scores and sometimes very low ones. I am desperate and don't know what to do. Can you please give me some advice on how to proceed? Did some of you experience a similar situation? If yes, what did you do?
Here are all my mock exam scores in chronological order:
First practice exam:
535 with 74 (DI)/75/(QR)/81(VR)
After the preparation:
535 with 78/76/76
575 with 81/76/78
595 with 72/79/88
555 with 74/76/82
Thank you very much for your help.
18 Apr 2024, 12:44
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi FediseK700+
Thanks for your post.
You mention working through TTP and then moving on to the mock exams ... but have you worked through the material in the Official Guide? If not, I would suggest that as the immediate next step.
GMAT wording can be pretty weird, so you need to expose yourself to as much recent GMAC-produced content as possible once you've covered all the concepts in a source like TTP. Of course, do not rely on the official explanations for guidance as to the most efficient ways of solving the question; for that, come here to GMATclub!
Are you keeping an Error Log to analyze your mistakes? You didn't mention it. It's crucial to assess what's driving your errors: process errors ("silly mistakes") vs. content issues vs. mindset problems. Once you know what the issues are, then you can make a plan to address them. If you are not spending time and effort in analyzing what caused a mistake, then mock tests are wasting your time. A mock test allows you to rehearse what you plan to do on test day, get feedback from that rehearsal, and then fine-tune your performance before the next show. (The purpose of a mock test is NOT to predict your score and NOT to make you feel good about yourself.)
Finally, can I ask why your initial target is a score above 700? On the Focus, a score of 705 is the 98th percentile; it's comparable to a 750 on the Classic GMAT. Do you really need to rank in the top 2% of all GMAT candidates to be competitive at your target programs? Sometimes this kind of a goal is motivating, but sometimes it turns your GMAT prep into a pressure-cooker atmosphere that is less than constructive. I just wrote a new post about what represents a good score on the GMAT Focus.
Happy to hear back from you!
Best, Jennifer
Thanks for your post.
You mention working through TTP and then moving on to the mock exams ... but have you worked through the material in the Official Guide? If not, I would suggest that as the immediate next step.
GMAT wording can be pretty weird, so you need to expose yourself to as much recent GMAC-produced content as possible once you've covered all the concepts in a source like TTP. Of course, do not rely on the official explanations for guidance as to the most efficient ways of solving the question; for that, come here to GMATclub!
Are you keeping an Error Log to analyze your mistakes? You didn't mention it. It's crucial to assess what's driving your errors: process errors ("silly mistakes") vs. content issues vs. mindset problems. Once you know what the issues are, then you can make a plan to address them. If you are not spending time and effort in analyzing what caused a mistake, then mock tests are wasting your time. A mock test allows you to rehearse what you plan to do on test day, get feedback from that rehearsal, and then fine-tune your performance before the next show. (The purpose of a mock test is NOT to predict your score and NOT to make you feel good about yourself.)
Finally, can I ask why your initial target is a score above 700? On the Focus, a score of 705 is the 98th percentile; it's comparable to a 750 on the Classic GMAT. Do you really need to rank in the top 2% of all GMAT candidates to be competitive at your target programs? Sometimes this kind of a goal is motivating, but sometimes it turns your GMAT prep into a pressure-cooker atmosphere that is less than constructive. I just wrote a new post about what represents a good score on the GMAT Focus.
Happy to hear back from you!
Best, Jennifer
