stuck at 620... target 680-700...exam on 15th feb

Question

Hi,

need help and direction

I have been preparing for gmat since nov 11, now i have my gmat scheduled on 15th feb.

I have taken 4 mgmat tests , my break ups have been Quant - 43, 44,43,44 and Verbal 28-31,32,29

I am really stuck at this 620 level for the last one month almost.... dont know seriously what to do ????

Some more points

1) i did OG with mgmat archer , my accuracy for SC was 70%, for CR - 72% and for RC - 60%, all within the time limits, for Quant the accuracy was 80% within time limit rather less than the required average time.

2) in kaplan Q bank, my accuracy for SC is 75% in SC, and around 75% in Quant.

3) when i do problems of same time , my accuracy is very high, the moment i take test.. i make silly mistakes in simple Q also.

In terms of verbal , my accuracy in CR varied for the first two tests.

I have exactly 22 days left now,,, i really fail to decide what to do ???, to revise basics again... to practice... to take test ???

i do have 4 hours in a day to study.... please suggest

wallstreetbarbie · Answer

You are forgetting a crucial part ... How is the GMAT scored? Accuracy has something to do with it however a test taker with 70% accuracy on 600 level questions will have a lower score than a test taker with 60% accuracy on 700 level questions.

Are you learning the higher point questions? Are those the ones you get wrong? Are the silly mistakes really silly or are indicative of a knowledge gap? More importantly what are you doing to prevent the silly mistakes from happening?

bb · Answer

I would highly recommend picking up a copy of MGMAT GMAT Roadmap for $15. it has quite a bit of wisdom collected. It is not a study book but rather a tool to help you use your time more effectively and it summarizes the ideas pretty well.

mydreammba · Answer

Me too On the same Boat, struggling at 610-620,Even i do many silly mistakes when i review i almost crack every question...i don't know what's going wrong during exam time...My Exam is on Feb 3rd 2012 more 8 days to go donno what to do...confused regarding postponing the exam.. :cry:

...any Expert's suggestions are appreciated

bb · Answer

Well, if you don't want a 620 or 650 then you should reschedule. I don't think anything magical will happen before then (though there are glitches and there is a 40 point error built into the GMAT).

You need to either take a pause before you jump to answer the questions or take one at the end to take a brisk last look to see if you have messed anything up.

Build a check list of errors and run through them. If you make dumb mistakes - create a check list to make sure you don't.... the point - eliminate your weaknesses and address your mistakes. Whatever it takes. Usually this means hard work, creating written notes, studying subjects in-depth, etc.

wallstreetbarbie · Answer

best advice i got to correct dumb mistakes... write out every step of the solution... do not try and do math in your head ... write it all out... it has helped a lot

struggle2win · Answer

Thanks everyone for your inputs.

does consistency of 43/44 in four mgmats give better assurance for possible 44 in real gmat , i know there are thousand things beyond the score of 44 in mgmat ?, just trying to understand if my consistency in four exams is somewhat assuring 44 in real gmat... i would start giving more time to verbal now ?

I mean i have two options... to take Quant 44 to 47 ==== i believe this is somewhat possible because i make a lot of mistakes in DS, and i was weak in geometry, combi, probability and inequalities... so i would focus on these topics for two days and will try to improve from 44-47.

I have to increase my verbal considerably from 33/34 to 37/38 to reach to that 700 score fig, for which i am going to keep on revising my SC, second priority will be on CR and then RC .. for 5 days.

So, this is the game plan till 3rd Feb, and my date for exam is 15th feb, so i will get some 12 odd days to take a few more practice tests.

Do you guys this is the right approach or do you suggest any change in this to make it better...??

Also, please suggest me something concrete for DS to study, especially on strategy front.

thanks very much for your inputs and time again

cecilpaladin32 · Answer

I am also planning on taking the GMAT fairly soon (haven't schedule the exam yet)...I was wondering if there is an easy way to tell which problems from the Manhattan guides/official guides are at which target level? A friend of mine who recently scored a 730 told me that you will rarely see questions above the 700 level in either of these places. I am hoping to score a 720+ (and really can't afford anything below a 700) and was planning on using only the 8 Manhattan books and the official guides to get me through. I am now starting to wonder if that is a prudent choice, or whether I should be looking at more targeted studying.

I am slowly approaching the time where all I will be focusing on is practice tests/questions and no longer doing any more conceptual review, and I am hoping to be able to get exposure to these "hard" questions during this time.

I am slowly approaching the time where all I will be focusing on is practice tests/questions and no longer doing any more conceptual review, and I am hoping to be able to get exposure to these "hard" questions during this time.

WaitinginNY · Answer

I want to say the 8 MGMAT books definitely have the hard questions, and their practice exams are harder then the real thing, which is good.

Are the 8 MGMATs enough? I think so, however I think getting a Kaplan book would be useful just to get access to the practice exams, which are not bad at all.

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stuck at 620... target 680-700...exam on 15th feb

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