pikachu wrote:
I have given 3
MGMAT CAT exams so far and it seems like I am stuck in a score range and can't manage to get out of it. Any ideas how I can break the barrier and improve my performance. Here is the timeline of my tests and the scores I got for each test.
First Attempt: Took a blind test at manhattangmat.com to see where I stood in early Nov 12 as I had been out of school for quite some time now. I got a Q37 V30 with 560 as the overall score.
Second Attempt: Almost a month after the first attempt again at manhattangmat.com. In between I had started reading the
MGMAT SC and CR guides and did a very quick review of the Quant. I got Q36 V29 with a score of 540
. Seeing the score drop by 20 points was very disappointing and I started to panic.
Since I had bought the entire 9 book set, 5th edition, from
MGMAT I buried myself into them and reading them trying to understand the concepts and its application. I have been out of school for more than 11yrs and have a full time job. So I was mostly reading after a day of work and weekends. I picked up steam during the Christmas and New Year Holidays and started feeling good about the progress I was making. At the same time I would try and solve SC or CR questions on gmatclub. I lost 10 days in January due to an emergency. But when I got back I picked up the books again. I decided to retest myself and see where I stand again. So gave a 3rd test.
ANY HELP WOULD BE GREAT. I am planning to take the exam before end of Feb 2013.
Third Attempt: Almost after 2 1/2 months of studying I was feeling little more confident and gave my 3 test at manhattangmat.com. I scored Q37 V29 with an overall score of 550
. Smack in the middle of the earlier two attempts.
Now my hopes have really been punctured and I am wondering if I can ever break this barrier and score higher. I cannot enroll in an online or a course due to various constraints and need to self study. Ideally I would like to score in the high 600 to low 700 range for my target school. Any ideas that can help me would be great.
I have started to look at the logs from all these 3 tests and trying to find out what I did wrong. I am doing that as well with all the questions I am attempting from the
OG '13 and discovering few things about myself like I am getting equal % of right answers in all 3 categories in the verbal in all 3 test as an example. If folks are interested I can upload my
error log from the 3
MGMAT exams to see if they have any more ideas in what areas and how I can improve.
Hi pikachu,
For the score you want you have to target quant around 45+ and Verbal 34+ with a total score of 650+. Have you taken GMATPrep test, if not then do so today or tomorrow. It would give you a much realistic picture of your level right now. A score of 600 means that you have got most of the basic concepts in place and now you have to identify your weaknesses and increase your level.
If you take your test on 28th you have approx 4 weeks.
MGMAT books are really good. You first develop sound basics by going through the
MGMAT guides and reviewing the exercises at the end of each chapter. Study the concepts, do easy questions, figure out what concept a question is testing and what is wrong in all the incorrect answer choices. Do not worry about the time that you are taking while solving questions when you are solidifying the concepts. Even if you take 10 - 15 for a single question, go for it. Then spend double that time in analyzing the solutions. Do this until you reach the 600 barrier, once you start scoring around 600, it means you have got the basic concepts in place. Then go for the harder questions, moreover you will start getting harder questions in Computer Adaptive Tests such as GMATPrep.
If you are not able to reach a level of 600 after 3 - 4 weeks of studying basic concepts, I would then suggest you to reschedule the test.
Vercules,
close
01 Feb 2013, 17:47
) point increase in your score. 
