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15 Jul 2019, 15:19
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I scored a 660 Q43 V38 on the GMAT I took last month. I'm looking to get it up to at least 740 in the next 2 months. I suppose I had some test jitters and definitely timing issues (I ran out of time to submit my answer on the last question on quant so it was unanswered and was at a 5 something minute deficit on verbal because I took too long of a break...) but looking at my overall averages for previous official practice tests the score is actually exactly on point.
Some indicators of previous performance:
-- This month I started to do timed GMAT Club Tests, Scores: Q:47,40,34,36,42,49,42,46,30,29, V:45)
n.b. I take CATs at fluctuating times and with poor sleep sometimes, so some of those low scores can be chalked up to that but surely there are still other issues.
My Prep & Plan:
-- Timeline: about 2 months
-- Applying: Top 10 schools and a couple safety schools in R2
-- I've finished all the OG/Quant book math (haven't looked at the newest editions for extra Qs yet), doing GMAT Club tests now
-- Did about half the verbal questions, no time recently, but I need to do these on a regular basis to not forget things.
-- Rereading MGMAT books, useful posts on GMATClub
Some questions:
-- I'm already working on the issues (mentioned below) but would like specific advice on how to go about fixing things like weak algebra (besides "do more algebra problems!"). Is it really just as simple as sitting down and re-doing all the problems I get wrong to drill the steps necessary?
-- Am I burning myself out trying to do too many timed CATs? Recently I have taken them almost every other day and I feel like it was a mistake to do my last GMAT Prep the day before the test.
-- Is it worthwhile to hire a private tutor? My hope would be that they could identify weak concept areas even though I feel like I mostly don't have 'specific' questions so it might be a waste. I also feel like I mostly understand the concepts but - to use a metaphor - have more trouble reaching into my bag of knowledge and picking out the correct thing quickly under timed pressure.
-- Any other insights would be greatly appreciated.
My thoughts about current weaknesses:
-- Timing is definitely an issue. On verbal I usually just go until I run out of time and then start guessing at the end. I think I need to nail down specific rules to eliminate faster in SC and have a better algorithm for evaluating CR rather than just going off gut feelings, but honestly I have spent 95% of my time studying math because I am so weak at it... just to give you an idea, at the start of my prep I had to do the MGMAT introductory math guide because I didn't remember how to express negative exponents as a fraction or that I had to switch the sign when multiplying by a negative number in inequalities and other elementary things like that.
-- I think the biggest issue are lingering weak understanding of fundamentals. Like, getting confused and not being sure about performing some operation, second guessing myself and then asking “wait, am I allowed to do this” and then taking time to figure it out. On quant I try to guess 'strategically' following MGMAT guidelines from Advanced Quant and their time-keeping strategy. However, I'm pretty bad at using backsolving or 'thinking logically' and eliminating answer choices when I feel pressure due to being behind on time; I just want to rush into doing calculations. Obviously, I would rather not guess at all, but again, it takes me too long do some problems. Another issue is applying the knowledge I have to solving problems. Sometimes, it just takes me too long to figure out what they want and how to get to the solution.
-- Algebra is also a big problem, in particular, I'm horrible at manipulating equations in stems and AC ... I don't see shortcuts enough so I resort to number picking. I feel like if I can grasp underlying concepts better I can use logic to come to quick deductions about ACs ... I think this is a big problem currently because if I 'see through' a 700 level problem I can solve it in under a 2 minutes correctly, but if I'm unsure and I have to pick and test numbers and it will take 3 or 4 minutes. This is especially the case for hard number properties/inequalities/modulus questions and statistics questions. If I can draw or picture what is going on in a problem it is a lot easier to intuit answers on DS rather than making equations to figure out what's going on.
-- Writing neatly and systematically (on my actual exam I remember I made a mistake in calculations on what I'd say was a low 700 level percent problem and I couldn't figure out what I wrote to get to the end result so I wasted about 5 minutes...) Along with this I need to not get mixed up with simple arithmetic and check answers for traps/common mistakes (again, the problem is that I feel like I DON'T have time to do this, even though I know I must). Sometimes even on problems I know how to solve 100% i get mixed up in writing down variables, etc and end up wasting a lot of time or make stupid mistakes.
P.S. Hopefully this is not too huge of a wall of text...
P.P.S. I have my ESR if it's necessary. I don't think it was that useful other than that it told me I need to work on inequalities and FDP which I already knew were weak going into it, and that my RC was 'weak' because I ended up having to guess on an entire passage.
Some indicators of previous performance:
-- This month I started to do timed GMAT Club Tests, Scores: Q:47,40,34,36,42,49,42,46,30,29, V:45)
n.b. I take CATs at fluctuating times and with poor sleep sometimes, so some of those low scores can be chalked up to that but surely there are still other issues.
My Prep & Plan:
-- Timeline: about 2 months
-- Applying: Top 10 schools and a couple safety schools in R2
-- I've finished all the OG/Quant book math (haven't looked at the newest editions for extra Qs yet), doing GMAT Club tests now
-- Did about half the verbal questions, no time recently, but I need to do these on a regular basis to not forget things.
-- Rereading MGMAT books, useful posts on GMATClub
Some questions:
-- I'm already working on the issues (mentioned below) but would like specific advice on how to go about fixing things like weak algebra (besides "do more algebra problems!"). Is it really just as simple as sitting down and re-doing all the problems I get wrong to drill the steps necessary?
-- Am I burning myself out trying to do too many timed CATs? Recently I have taken them almost every other day and I feel like it was a mistake to do my last GMAT Prep the day before the test.
-- Is it worthwhile to hire a private tutor? My hope would be that they could identify weak concept areas even though I feel like I mostly don't have 'specific' questions so it might be a waste. I also feel like I mostly understand the concepts but - to use a metaphor - have more trouble reaching into my bag of knowledge and picking out the correct thing quickly under timed pressure.
-- Any other insights would be greatly appreciated.
My thoughts about current weaknesses:
-- Timing is definitely an issue. On verbal I usually just go until I run out of time and then start guessing at the end. I think I need to nail down specific rules to eliminate faster in SC and have a better algorithm for evaluating CR rather than just going off gut feelings, but honestly I have spent 95% of my time studying math because I am so weak at it... just to give you an idea, at the start of my prep I had to do the MGMAT introductory math guide because I didn't remember how to express negative exponents as a fraction or that I had to switch the sign when multiplying by a negative number in inequalities and other elementary things like that.
-- I think the biggest issue are lingering weak understanding of fundamentals. Like, getting confused and not being sure about performing some operation, second guessing myself and then asking “wait, am I allowed to do this” and then taking time to figure it out. On quant I try to guess 'strategically' following MGMAT guidelines from Advanced Quant and their time-keeping strategy. However, I'm pretty bad at using backsolving or 'thinking logically' and eliminating answer choices when I feel pressure due to being behind on time; I just want to rush into doing calculations. Obviously, I would rather not guess at all, but again, it takes me too long do some problems. Another issue is applying the knowledge I have to solving problems. Sometimes, it just takes me too long to figure out what they want and how to get to the solution.
-- Algebra is also a big problem, in particular, I'm horrible at manipulating equations in stems and AC ... I don't see shortcuts enough so I resort to number picking. I feel like if I can grasp underlying concepts better I can use logic to come to quick deductions about ACs ... I think this is a big problem currently because if I 'see through' a 700 level problem I can solve it in under a 2 minutes correctly, but if I'm unsure and I have to pick and test numbers and it will take 3 or 4 minutes. This is especially the case for hard number properties/inequalities/modulus questions and statistics questions. If I can draw or picture what is going on in a problem it is a lot easier to intuit answers on DS rather than making equations to figure out what's going on.
-- Writing neatly and systematically (on my actual exam I remember I made a mistake in calculations on what I'd say was a low 700 level percent problem and I couldn't figure out what I wrote to get to the end result so I wasted about 5 minutes...) Along with this I need to not get mixed up with simple arithmetic and check answers for traps/common mistakes (again, the problem is that I feel like I DON'T have time to do this, even though I know I must). Sometimes even on problems I know how to solve 100% i get mixed up in writing down variables, etc and end up wasting a lot of time or make stupid mistakes.
P.S. Hopefully this is not too huge of a wall of text...
P.P.S. I have my ESR if it's necessary. I don't think it was that useful other than that it told me I need to work on inequalities and FDP which I already knew were weak going into it, and that my RC was 'weak' because I ended up having to guess on an entire passage.
15 Jul 2019, 15:36
Kudos
Bookmarks
energetics
energetics
You have a very low quant score, I suppose that could arise from exposure to too much outside material, I've got two posts for you that might help
Please leave kudos if they help.
I'd suggest you to stick with official GMAT Material develop momentum and strike. I also think you can easily score a Q 49, 47 atleast.
https://gmatclub.com/forum/beginner-to- ... s#p2313182
https://gmatclub.com/forum/hit-a-platea ... s#p2314655
You can apply momentum strategy discussed in link 1, plz leave a like if i was even a lil helpful
16 Jul 2019, 07:49
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Would really appreciate any expert insights into what I'm doing wrong or what I can do differently to improve.
EMPOWERgmatRichC JeffTargetTestPrep ScottTargetTestPrep IanStewart VeritasKarishma GMATNinja GMATGuruNY
EMPOWERgmatRichC JeffTargetTestPrep ScottTargetTestPrep IanStewart VeritasKarishma GMATNinja GMATGuruNY
16 Jul 2019, 08:36
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Bookmarks
Your Verbal scores are very strong, and once you get to that high of a Verbal level, it becomes very hard to improve (there really aren't any Verbal resources I'm aware of that are aimed at test takers at a level as high as yours). The one aspect of Verbal where you might make meaningful progress is in pacing - that's not always easy to do, and exactly how to do that depends on why you're short on time. If you find yourself sometimes debating for a minute between two answer choices in Verbal, and end up guessing between them anyway, you might save time just by being more decisive in those situations. But if you truly just need to speed up your reading, it will take some time to get faster, since that's a skill that develops slowly.
It's in Quant where you're likely to see the bigger improvement, not only because it's your lower score (in percentile terms) but also because Quant is easier to improve at. If you're relying on strategies like backsolving and number-picking, it would make perfect sense that your scores are generally in the Q40-Q43 range, because those strategies just don't work on harder questions. A lot of higher level questions can be answered conceptually (i.e. with minimal algebra), but you will need to be good at algebra to answer quite a few of the harder questions you'll see. It does sound as if you're willfully avoiding algebra in a lot of situations where you probably should be using it, and that's going to cap your score around a Q43 level. Improving at Algebra is something you can often do just through self-study, though it takes some time - it's much like learning a new language. If you have good resources to study from, resources that tell you what rules you can use and in what situations to use them, then you'll improve just through practice. You want to reach a point where you know exactly what types of algebraic things you should do in any common algebraic situation, so solving standard equations becomes almost instinctive. So you want to reach a point where any time you see x^7 - x^5, say, you know you should factor out x^5, or if you see a/b = c/d, you know you should cross-multiply to get rid of fractions. If the books you're studying from aren't reinforcing those habits, then you should find better books before doing anything else. Those algebraic fundamentals are going to be tested in very challenging ways in inequalities questions, so it doesn't make sense to spend much time on inequalities until after you've built up your algebraic foundation.
It's certainly possible that a good private tutor would help you; he or she would at least be able to identify those situations where you need to develop better algebraic habits, and the situations where you might be misapplying algebraic rules. Even with a tutor, a lot of the progress you'll make will be because of the work you do on your own, since the only way to get good at algebra is by doing a lot of it. Tutoring can be expensive, but you'll also reach your goal more quickly, so when making that decision you should weigh the importance of cost and time.
It's in Quant where you're likely to see the bigger improvement, not only because it's your lower score (in percentile terms) but also because Quant is easier to improve at. If you're relying on strategies like backsolving and number-picking, it would make perfect sense that your scores are generally in the Q40-Q43 range, because those strategies just don't work on harder questions. A lot of higher level questions can be answered conceptually (i.e. with minimal algebra), but you will need to be good at algebra to answer quite a few of the harder questions you'll see. It does sound as if you're willfully avoiding algebra in a lot of situations where you probably should be using it, and that's going to cap your score around a Q43 level. Improving at Algebra is something you can often do just through self-study, though it takes some time - it's much like learning a new language. If you have good resources to study from, resources that tell you what rules you can use and in what situations to use them, then you'll improve just through practice. You want to reach a point where you know exactly what types of algebraic things you should do in any common algebraic situation, so solving standard equations becomes almost instinctive. So you want to reach a point where any time you see x^7 - x^5, say, you know you should factor out x^5, or if you see a/b = c/d, you know you should cross-multiply to get rid of fractions. If the books you're studying from aren't reinforcing those habits, then you should find better books before doing anything else. Those algebraic fundamentals are going to be tested in very challenging ways in inequalities questions, so it doesn't make sense to spend much time on inequalities until after you've built up your algebraic foundation.
It's certainly possible that a good private tutor would help you; he or she would at least be able to identify those situations where you need to develop better algebraic habits, and the situations where you might be misapplying algebraic rules. Even with a tutor, a lot of the progress you'll make will be because of the work you do on your own, since the only way to get good at algebra is by doing a lot of it. Tutoring can be expensive, but you'll also reach your goal more quickly, so when making that decision you should weigh the importance of cost and time.
