Should I schedule my GMAT exam in the next 10 days?

Question

Hi friends, I gave my Gmat prep mock exam today (few minutes back) with all the sections -awa+IR+quant and verbal and two 8 min break (must say it was exhausting) scored a 720 with a quant-49 and verbal-40.(Target was 730+) got about 9 PS & 6 DS problems incorrect and 7 SC, 2 CR and Zero RC wrong. Time management was better than before but it went a till haywire in PS towards the end where I made a few stupid calculation errors and In the last 3 questions in verbal where I had 1.30 seconds per question only (all were SC questions) stamina and stress-- I was feeling drained out towards the fag end of the test from 36 question onward in verbal. So I need to work on that. I don't know how though :?:

So considering the above should I schedule my Gmat exam in the next 10 days? I am 10-20 points off my target score with stamina and some timing issues. I have been studying from the past months but did not give a full length test till today only solved timed, mixed, quizzes and gave sectional tests. Oh almost forgot about the IR part, just got a 2 (only 3 questions correct) , and this is the first time I am solving IR questions without even looking at the new OG13 , so I guess I can improve that by a couple or more of points more in the next week or so. Any advise /inputs will be highly appreciated. Thanks

mansoorfarooqui · Answer

Hi.. That sounds incredible.. 0 RC wrong and 40 verbal is too good.. keep it up

I would suggest you to give atleast 5-6 CATs in similar fashion.. that will make you feel comfortable and will improve your stamina. Can you please share your RC attacking strategy. Best Regards, Mansoor

bluemints · Answer

Hi, I don't want to exhaust myself by giving 5-6 Cats in the next 10 days or so because won't be able to review them . Just writing a mock is completely useless

GMATNinja · Answer

It sounds like you're in a pretty darned good spot, bluemints. The thing that jumps out at me is the distribution of your errors on the verbal section. Maybe this test was fluky in some way, but it looks like your reading skills are phenomenal, and you'll have a chance at an otherworldly GMAT score if you play your cards right. If we assume that this test is indicative of your skills, then you'll probably want to spend some serious time working on SC. I would argue that SC is the most "learnable" part of the GMAT for most people, which means that you could improve your score substantially if you work hard enough at it. (If you didn't notice the terrible modifier error in the last sentence, then you definitely need to do some extra studying.

) If you can maintain your RC and CR while cutting your SC errors in half, you'll be in an amazing position... and it might be possible to cut your SC errors even further, giving you a chance at a 750+. Unless you have a compelling reason to take the test really soon, it probably makes sense to spend some extra time working on SC and stamina. I would be careful not to take too many non-official verbal practice tests, since the it's unbelievably hard for test-prep companies to perfectly copy the nuanced style of GMAT verbal questions, but you might consider suffering through a mix of, say, MGMAT quant sections and LSAT CR/RC sections. I'd argue that an MGMAT quant test followed by an LSAT CR section and an LSAT RC section is a pretty painful combo, and it should really strain your ability to power your way through dense language when you're starting to lose steam. So if you have the time for it, do tons of SC and practice tests, and you'll be more than fine. Good luck with everything!

jumsumtak · Answer

I'm with GMAT ninja on this one. You will do well if you use your coming 20-30 days wisely. Anyhow, R2 deadlines would be over by 10 days. So, there is no point in rushing things. A few tips for the final few days: Only do official questions in the next 10 days. Use the document that has collection of the official questions - both verbal and quant. (Especially verbal) Review and revisit your mistakes and error logs. Only way to improve stamina is to train your mind. The most direct way to do this would be to write tests. I'd say 3 tests would do - again, I'd prefer GMAT prep. Don't fret over IR. But don't ignore it completely. I'd say 2 is a low score (even if you tell me adcoms are not looking at IR scores). Read some text and you may use this: integrated-reasoning-ir-177/ -- don't overdo it though. good luck.

bluemints · Answer

Hi GMATNinja and jumsumtak, Thanks for your inputs. Well I have always done well in RC (accuracy using OG 12 and new passages inOG 13 was 90-95 % under timed conditions) and on my previous mgmt mocks I got 0-3 questions wrongs in all my mocks out of 12-13 RC questions.So RC accuracy can't be a fluke I think. But q49 did surprise me coz I haven't done much quant in the last 3 weeks and got quite a few questions wrong. Sometimes I just fail to understand the scoring algorithm. Well the weird part is everyone says that SC is the most learnable part in verbal but I have spent most of my time studying SC and the improvement isn't much my current 10/17 demonstrates that (btw I did notice that 'which' modifier error in your sentence

) So I am going to tie some loose ends and revisit some concepts in SC to address that. This is what I am really worried about is -- what if this happens during the actual exam ? During this mock I got 2 RC passages in succession and I was a little behind on time already (about 2 mins) so had to solve 7 questions under time pressure this was really difficult given that I was felling fatigued. I will customize my study sessions and do more full length tests to overcome the stamina issues Is there any other source to see a few LSAT RC & CR without purchasing to full set, because I won't be able to solve all of them?? The Forum thread has a huge compilation of gmatprep SC,CR, and RC documents that I wanted to solve but won't that inflate my gmat prep mock scores? yeah 2 is a low score wrt IR and it was expected since I had never done ANY IR questions before so will solve the sample questions in the og and gprep software. I know R2 deadlines are going to be over soon, but just wanted to submit a application for deadline on 29th jan so was looking to rush things a bit.(lets see how that goes now) Btw both of you have amazing gmat scores. congrats! @jumsumtak --excellent gmat debrief on both forums and u took the risk to take it again in spite of the 720, hats off @ GMATNinja--well a V-48 is mind blowing (and you think my reading skills are gr8) and how do you do it? I guess for a v48 you might such be missing only a couple of questions at the most that's incredible. .

GMATNinja · Answer

Yeah, the GMAT scoring algorithm is pretty strange. You can miss tons of questions on quant and still get a 49, since your score is mostly dependent on which questions you miss, not necessarily on how many you miss. The GMATPrep runs the same scoring algorithm as the real thing, and you'll see some crazy stuff come out of those tests--one of my students missed seven questions and still got a 51Q, another missed 20 questions and got a 44Q. As long as you nail the easier ones (whatever "easier" may mean for you), you can miss tons of hard questions and still do really well. On verbal, the algorithm works similarly in theory, but if you're scoring a 40 or above, there seems to be a tighter relationship between your score and the number of questions missed. A 46 or above on verbal means that you only missed one or two questions. (Full disclosure: I have the completely unfair advantage of working as a GMAT tutor for a really long time, so my score isn't anywhere near as impressive as jumsumtak's. :-D

) And yes, running through the GMATPrep problem sets (the ones that are compiled from GMATPrep test questions) will definitely inflate your GMATPrep scores. Plenty of people disagree with me on this, but I think it's best to avoid those sets until you're certain that you'll never take a GMATPrep test ever again. Feel free to use the GMATPrep Question Pack (the official one sold by GMAC) if you haven't already, though. If you can get a 49Q/40V, you'll ultimately be fine on IR. I agree that it's wise to go through some of the practice IR stuff, but don't herniate too many brain cells on that section. You've probably already thought about this, but be sure to be as lazy as you reasonably can on the AWA and IR during the actual exam, and make sure that you eat (and drink caffeine, if that's your thing) during your breaks. Low blood sugar (or a caffeine crash) can really hurt you toward the end of the test. I doubt that it's actually an issue for you, but I figured that it wouldn't hurt to mention it, just in case. Keep us posted, bluemints!

jumsumtak · Answer

thank you for the kind words!

Agree on this 100%. I highlighted this on my debrief as well. You need to take on the prep questions after you have completed your GMAT preps (preferably 7-10 days before the exam). That gives you enough time to go through them once. Best

dentobizz · Answer

hi bluemints,
 Good improvement on your score, well I am in a similar position as you, got a 730 on on gmat prep mock 1 yesterday. My verbal accuracy also is in the same order RC>CR>SC. For improving your SC accuracy just work on the concepts/topics that are commonly tested and that you get wrong frequently.
 and gmatninja and jumsumtak are correct that solving gmat prep questions prior to giving the mocks can inflate your score. So use the paper tests and question pack. good luck.happy prepping

Kenny0929 · Answer

One piece of advice on the "stamina" part. I know that one needs a lot of energy, concentration and stamina. So, it's important that you eat well during the exam and replace all your brain cells. What I did was eat 2 bars of Snickers and 1 small bottle of Gatorade: 1 bar after the Essay section and half bottle of Gatorade and another bar after the Quant section (and the rest of Gatorade). It worked for me, so you may give it a shot in one of your mock tests to see how it pans out for you.

Good Luck.

Good Luck.

bluemints · Answer

Thanks for all the inputs :-D

. I will adopt a minimum effort policy wrt AWA and IR and will try to get a 4 or 5 .

bluemints · Answer

Hey dentobizz, nice mock scores

will use the question packs as suggested. happy studying to u too

bluemints · Answer

Thanks. Will try the snickers and Gatorade on my next mock. I might be too stressed to to finish all of it though.Lets see if that helps.

bluemints · Answer

Hi, don't you think that given the huge collection of SC (appox 640 questions) ,CR [around 110 questions),and RC [abt 120 questions) 7-8 days won't be enough.How can I streamline this process, may be I should just solve selective questions??

GMATNinja · Answer

In a completely perfect world, you would probably want to take plenty of time (a few weeks, depending on how anal you want to be) to really perfect your SC skills and develop your stamina on the test. If you stick with your test date in 7-8 days, you'll still have a shot to do really, really well, but you're unlikely to really get the reps you need to  guarantee  a super-high verbal score, since there's only so much you can do to develop stamina in a week.

Sleeping, exercising, and eating well probably are the most important things at this stage of the game; it's probably not a great idea to do too many practice tests so close to your exam.

So if you're taking the test next week, then pick your battles carefully. Another full practice test (including AWA and IR) is definitely a good idea, but you won't have all that much time for other stuff. Lots of SC for sure, just enough RC and CR and quant to keep you sharp, maybe an extra quant section here or there. But you just can't do all that many marathon study sessions (or practice tests) without starting to compromise your sharpness... which will have exactly the opposite effect that you want.

Don't feel obligated to go through the GMATPrep questions (the unofficial sets available on GMAT Club), especially if there's any chance that you'll retake the GMATPrep again. If you've already exhausted all other official materials, fine. But if you can still get something out of the OG, verbal supplement, and (official) GMATPrep Question Pack, then stick with those, at least until after you're sure that you've gotten enough from the GMATPrep tests.

AbhiJ · Answer

You will have to judge how much more steam you have got left. If you think you can prepare for 3-4 weeks or more, you are better of postponing it. 
Else you are good to go.

bluemints · Answer

Hi GMATNinja, You are right about the marathon study sessions. Earlier I had made the same mistake and clearly it went against me. Its very easy to get in that mental frame where you feel that solving 200+ questions can boost your score but in reality it is always counter productive I am not doing that again for sure.I could go from 46-49 in quant because I walked away from solving xxquestions/day to just simply solving occasional quizzes with review. Didn't go for the overkill. I just need some more practice ( read confidence) to go and give this test after tackling my stamina and timing issues because both of these problems can be deal breakers. Definitely will give the second mock next week then will take a call wrt the test date. Plenty of stuff to do from the OG and the pack still. So I'm not doing gmatprep questions for now (may be after the mock?)and just looked at my review sheet plenty of official questions still left to revisit.

Thanks for all your advice, was definitely helpful.

bluemints · Answer

Hi AbhiJ,
 I do think that I need to give it some more time (at least 10 days-2 weeks from what I feel now). Will take a call after the next mock. lets see how things pan out.

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