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.
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15 Jul 2019, 15:19
