Test day help, time management

I do certainly try that and recognize it is a bad mindset. One of the things I am attempting to do now is analyzing past practice exams so I can play to my strengths and weaknesses.


1) 42 Q 38V
2) 10+ hours a week for 6+ Months, inconsistently though. (took me a long time to get a system that worked for me)
3) OG Problems / Manhattan Prep Course and problems
4) 4/6/19 640 (42Q/35V), 7/19/19 630 (44Q/35V), 8/10/19 620 (39Q/35V) -- my last 2 scores were both while travelling on business which I felt played a role in the decline. I feel like my knowledge has improved substantially since the beginning of my journey.

5)700+
6) 2020
7) Top 20 schools (US) or Top 10 (International). Aiming to go to schools with ties to entertainment or luxury goods industries OR to get into the investment banking / private equity space in a different industry than I currently am in (I am currently in a financial role). Schools include LBS, Oxford, USC, UCLA, NYU - but I am open to a wide range.



I think you hit the nail on the head here. The pressure I have on myself to achieve this has definitely been affecting me and adding to my stress as I consistently underperform! 'perfectionist' is right on and I know it is not the mindset we need to beat this exam.


I appreciate both of your responses. My current strategy is looking over my past exams to identify my strengths and weaknesses so I can allocate resources properly. Thanks again, guys.

Hi BradenK,

I’m sorry to hear how things have been going with the GMAT. I’d like to address your issues with timing, as I believe they are very fixable. Honestly, the best way to improve your timing is to improve your GMAT quant skills. As you develop mastery of each individual quant topic, better timing WILL follow. In fact, a great way to know how well you have mastered a particular topic is to be cognizant of your reaction time when seeing a particular question. For example, consider the following simple question with which many students who are beginning their prep struggle:

14! is equal to which of the following?

(A) 87,178,291,200
(B) 88,180,293,207
(C) 89,181,294,209
(D) 90,000,000,003
(E) 91,114,114,114

Upon seeing this question, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Trying to add up the values in the expression? Or are you able to quickly recognize that using the “5 x 2 pair rule” will allow you to efficiently attack the problem? (See the solution below.)

Solution:

14! = 14 × 13 × 12 × 11 × 10 × 9 × 8 × 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1.

Notice that there is at least one (5 × 2) pair contained in the product of these numbers. It follows that the units digit must be a zero. The only number with zero as the units digit is 87,178,291,200.

Answer: A

Although this is just one example of many, you see that you must have many tools in your toolbox to efficiently attack each GMAT quant question that comes your way. As you gain these skills, you will get faster.

Regarding some practical timing strategies for the quant section, first off, you need to be really careful about blindly guessing on quant questions in order to pick up time during the exam. If you have too quick a “trigger finger,” before you even realize it, you’ll have guessed on 5+ quant questions, and then what will happen to your score, right? Thus, you may consider taking a more organic approach to solving GMAT quant questions. In other words, your goal should be to correctly answer as many quant questions as you can (all the while keeping an eye on the clock).

To know when to give up on a question, you need to trust your instincts and follow your internal clock. For instance, let’s say you are 2 minutes into a question, but you know that you are on the right path; in that case, you’d want to keep going even if you needed 3 minutes to answer, right? After all, if you have fully mastered GMAT quant, then you should be in a position to answer some questions in 30 seconds, and thus it’s OK to spend more than 2 minutes on certain problems. On the other hand, say you are 60 or 90 seconds into a problem, and you know that you are going down a rabbit hole and likely will not be able to correctly answer the question. In that case, take an educated guess and keep things moving.

My overall point is, yes, it’s OK to guess, but ensure that you take a strategic approach to how and when you guess, OK?

If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out. Also, you may find it helpful to read the following articles:

Timing Strategies for a Higher GMAT Quant Score

How to Get Faster at Solving GMAT Questions

Hi BradenK,

GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in how your CATs function, your 3 CAT score results - along with your Official Score - show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 640 +/- a few points). You handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but you also make certain consistent mistakes.

With a Q42, your general math knowledge is probably just fine, but you made a number of little mistakes as you worked through that section AND you missed out on LOTS of 'strategy-based' questions. The Quant section of the GMAT is NOT a 'math test' - it's a 'critical thinking test' that requires lots of little calculations as you work through it. To score at a much higher level in this section, you need to become more of a 'strategist' and less of a 'mathematician.'

Thankfully, with this 660, you're closer to a 700+ than you probably realize - and you've given yourself plenty of time before you plan to apply to Business School - which is good. That having been said, you've named some highly-competitive Schools, so you will likely need a much higher Quant Scaled Score to be considered a strong applicant. By extension, while you currently have the opportunity to pick up points in both the Quant and Verbal sections, your time would best be spent focusing on the Quant side.

1) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?
2) Which 'brands' of practice CATS have you used so far?

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