Lat few weeks before GMAT exam

Question

Hi Guys,

My GMAT exam is on the 20th of Oct and I have finished with Veritas books and OG.
I have Manhattan Review and GMAT quant and verbal review.

I need some help as I am confused about what to do now? shall I go for Manhattan Review (it takes a lot of time to complete) or shall I go for GMAT quant and verbal review. ?

What should I do in the last 1 week before I appear for the exam?

Vvin

logro · Answer

Hey Vvin - It's not wise to jam in the week leading upto your exam. During your last week stick to the error log and just revise those areas you struggle

Since you have close to 2 weeks of time, i would suggest you to pick up Quant and Verbal reviews (Understand that only official GMAT prep books can prepare you well for the exam, as the questions are coming from previous official GMATs)

Try to finish the books in 3-4 days and circle back to your error log

Vvin · Answer

logro

Thank you for the reply ! I am targetting 750+ GMAT score and i have done , OG, veritas , princeton and manhattan prep 6th edition for both verbal and Quant.

I am still struggling to get good accuracy in Verbal.

Could you please tell me if doing this all books one more time with error log review will help me to reach 750+ score ?

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Vvin,

Since your test is in just 15 days, I have a very important question. Have you taken any recent practice exams? If so, are you scoring near your score goal?

Vvin · Answer

ScottTargetTestPrep

Thank you for your reply ! I have taken practice test however i am not at all close yet.

Could you please suggest me what should i do in last 15 days ? i am preparing for almost 6 months.

shall I go for Manhattan Review or shall I go for GMAT quant and verbal review. ?

What should I do in the last 1 week before I appear for the exam?

Thanks !

VviN

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Vvin,

To start, if you are not scoring close to your Score Goal yet, then you should not 'rush in' to take the GMAT (you will likely just end up paying to retake it again later - so you can save some time, money and stress by pushing back your Test Date so that you can put in the additional study time that's needed).

As an aside, the 750+ score is approximately the 98th percentile - meaning that most GMATers never score that high on the Official Exam. Thankfully, NO Business School actually requires that you score that high - so it's important to realize that the score that you "want" and the score that you "need" to get into your first-choice School are not the same thing.

Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

1) How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
3) Are you planning to take the At-home GMAT or are you planning to take your GMAT at a Test Facility?
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

Vvin · Answer

Hello EMPOWERgmatRichC Thank you for the reply !

1) How many hours do you typically study each week? I study 5 (2hrs SC, 2hrs CR and 1 hr RC) hrs for verbal and almost 5.5 hrs for Quant daily. 2) On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)? last month 2 times Mock 1 : 640 (Q47, V31) Mock 2 : 680 (Q49 V34) 3) Are you planning to take the At-home GMAT or are you planning to take your GMAT at a Test Facility? I have Gmat on 20th and i will be giving it at center, not online. 4) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to? I will be applying in R2 for 2 colleges till the end of this month just after the exam (in case i score good) Regards, VviN

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Vvin,

As you continue with your studies, you have to be careful about confusing "quantity" of study with "quality" of study. I've never asked anyone to study 30+ hours a week - and while it's great that you might have the available time to study that much, with that number of study hours, you would run the risk of 'burning out' before Test Day (and that is something that we want to avoid). If you are going to try to study at a higher volume, then I suggest that you take one hour "off" for every two hours of study. For example, you could study for 2 hours, then stop for an hour, then study for another 2 hours, then take an hour off, etc. Studying 10.5 hours a day is TOO MUCH studying.

1) I'd like to know more about your score progression over time, so we need to look beyond your last 2 practice CATs/mocks. How many additional CATs have you taken? On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
2) What are the exact application deadlines that you are facing?

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

Vvin · Answer

EMPOWERgmatRichC

Thank you for responding !

i have taken only 2 official mocks last month Mock 1: 640 (Q47, V31) Mock 2 : 680 (Q49 V34). This was in first and last week of sept.

28th and 29th is the application deadline for R2 in 2 colleges i am aiming for.

shall I go for Manhattan Review or shall I go for GMAT quant and verbal review in these last 13 days ?

What should I do in the last 1 week before I appear for the exam?

regards,

Vvin

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

I daresay it might be better to stick with Official Material in the immediate run up rather than 3rd party material. Consider going over your error log, too. Also make sure you are as prepared to TAKE a test as possible. What that means may be a bit unique whether that is resting a bit more or noting the time of day (or night) to take it.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Vvin,

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 2 CAT score results show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 660 +/- a few points). You handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but you also make certain consistent mistakes. Raising a 660 to the point that you can consistently score 750+ will likely require at least another 2 months of consistent, guided study - and you'll have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level. With less than 2 weeks of study time though, there will likely be a limit to how much you can improve.

1) What is the minimum GMAT Score that you would be 'happy' with (meaning that you would apply to those 2 Schools in Round 2 as planned)?

I ask because if you're going to keep studying until you score into the mid-700s, then you might want to push back your current Test Date and application plans so that you can continue to study. There's no harm in taking the GMAT in 13 days, but if you think that you 'need' to score that high to get into School, then THAT Score Goal has to come first.

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

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