Gmatclub Test transmutation into mocks

Question

I have given in total 20 quant mocks of gmatclubtest, i was getting around 47,48,45,45,46, in my last 5 mocks, given within 10 days.
However, I recently gave Expert Global Mocks, and scored a dismissal Q47. (I was little overconfident too, I remember.)

After going through the reviews I thought that I should be able to get Q49 in mocks at least, but scored q47.
I am little worried, I have done thousands of questions, reviewed religiously and made notes too. have I improved.

In my first attempt I had got Q37.

AndrewN · Answer

hero_with_1000_faces  - Your results seem perfectly consistent with where you have been scoring, by your account "within 10 days," and it does not get much more recent than that. I know the consensus is that GMAT Club mocks are a little harder than the real thing, but I like to say that your score will only likely be as good as the weakest of the practice lot. You cannot expect your score to jump simply due to the number of hours you have invested or the high quality of the questions you have been studying. (This is a common misconception.) Have you, for example, grouped your missed questions into different content areas? Have you figured out which types of mistakes are costing you correct answers? Along these lines, I like to place errors into three categories:

1) those you have made due to carelessness. Such errors can include misreading the question or answering a question that is not being asked (e.g., figuring out the value of  x  when then question is asking about  y  or 3x - 5). These are the first sorts of errors you should seek to eliminate or significantly reduce if you are shooting for a high Quant score.

2) those you have made due to a fundamental lack of understanding. Examining which types of questions you tend to miss (e.g., combinatorics, rates) or guess on can help you home in on these areas.

3) those you have made due to a lack of test-specific technique. This is where a good set of video tutorials, an Internet forum (ahem), a guidebook, or a live tutor can come in and revamp your perhaps inefficient manner of tackling more difficult questions especially. Maybe you are spending 3 minutes on certain questions because you are too tied to the notion that you need to get the exact answer, but the DS question in front of you is a simple Yes/No that does not require such precision. You should focus your efforts on this sort of fine-tuning with high-quality study materials or study buddies, preferably those you do not have to pay to bounce ideas off of. (And yes, I say this as a tutor.)

Something about all your hard work is still missing the mark, or else you would be earning higher scores. One more matter to consider: if that was your first Experts' Global mock, then the slightly different format of the questions could have thrown you off. I have seen this happen many times with clients who switch from, say, Princeton Review questions to those from the OG. It may take time to accustom yourself to the Experts' Global question format. If you score the same consistently, then I would say to go back up and reexamine which (combination) of 1), 2), or 3) may be holding you back.

Best of luck to you in your studies.

- Andrew

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi hero_with_1000_faces,

About 2 weeks ago, you posted that you had scored 540 on your 2nd attempt at the Official GMAT (here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-disaster-307668.html). There are clearly some factors that are keeping you from scoring higher, but we really have to define those issues before you will be able to earn a much higher Score.

If you can answer a few questions about your studies and plans, then I'll be happy to assist:

Studies:
1) How long did you study before each of your Official GMATs? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) 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)?

Goals:
4) What is your overall goal score?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
6) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

You might also choose to purchase the Enhanced Score Report. While the ESR doesn’t provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what went wrong on Test Day (and what you should work on to score higher). If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.

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

hero_with_1000_faces · Answer

MentorTutoring

Hi Andrew,

You are totally right, I consider myself to be a sloppy person (mild ADHD guy), I do have tendency to make 1 or 2 silly mistakes in Mocks, I just gave one more global expert mock got Q48.

Whatever you have written is right on money!

1) those you have made due to carelessness. Such errors can include misreading the question or answering a question that is not being asked (e.g., figuring out the value of x when then question is asking about y or 3x - 5). These are the first sorts of errors you should seek to eliminate or significantly reduce if you are shooting for a high Quant score.

I have improved on this area, although I do sometimes misread (mostly due to mental fatigue) or make 1 or 2 silly mistakes.

2) those you have made due to a fundamental lack of understanding. Examining which types of questions you tend to miss (e.g., combinatorics, rates) or guess on can help you home in on these areas.

Yes, I still lack something in probability and combinatorics, also sometimes I find it difficult to convert rates and get totally confused mid examination. I will revise material and work on this again. Thanks

3) those you have made due to a lack of test-specific technique. This is where a good set of video tutorials, an Internet forum (ahem), a guidebook, or a live tutor can come in and revamp your perhaps inefficient manner of tackling more difficult questions especially. Maybe you are spending 3 minutes on certain questions because you are too tied to the notion that you need to get the exact answer, but the DS question in front of you is a simple Yes/No that does not require such precision. You should focus your efforts on this sort of fine-tuning with high-quality study materials or study buddies, preferably those you do not have to pay to bounce ideas off of. (And yes, I say this as a tutor.)
 
Agreed.
 
Something about all your hard work is still missing the mark, or else you would be earning higher scores. One more matter to consider: if that was your first Experts' Global mock, then the slightly different format of the questions could have thrown you off. I have seen this happen many times with clients who switch from, say, Princeton Review questions to those from the OG. It may take time to accustom yourself to the Experts' Global question format. If you score the same consistently, then I would say to go back up and reexamine which (combination) of 1), 2), or 3) may be holding you back.
 
I agree, I was slightly thrown off guard by the type of question in Expert global, felt very different from gmatclubtest .

what I would like to know from you is, 
rather than giving any more mocks, should I work on my weak areas for sometime rather than giving a mock again ?

I have serious problems with functions,co-ordinate geometry, difficult geometry questions.
Also I take 3 minutes for "SET" questions, as I find it difficult to process all that information and put it into paper.

AndrewN · Answer

Hello again,  hero_with_1000_faces . To answer your question directly, I see no harm in doing small sets of questions, maybe 5-10 at a time in either Verbal or Quant, just to maintain your test sharpness, but in terms of full-length mocks, I am not a big fan of burning through high-quality questions while (most likely) making the same mistakes. To address certain content areas in Quant, you may want to check out the October deals on this site, several of which offer monthly access options for under $100: Math Revolution, Target Test Prep, and, indeed, EMPOWERgmat. (Disclaimer: I do  not  work for any of these companies, but I have read many positive reviews of their methods and video tutorials, and among my clients who have tried these companies' products, no one has expressed regrets.) What you will likely find is that addressing your weakest points in a systematic manner will not only increase your accuracy across those content areas, but the skills you learn to apply to such questions will also transfer onto other types of questions, perhaps the ones that you are currently blundering into and making silly mistakes on or taking too much time to solve. Note that you do not have to sign up for any such service, but on your own, you will likely spend more time singling out deficiencies you need to address, and you will almost certainly have a harder time going against your own methods of solving problems if you are just reading what a guidebook or two may say.

Whatever you decide, I hope you crack the code and hit a Q50-51. If you do, whether in practice or on the real test, please let the community know so that others might follow in your successful footsteps.

- Andrew

hero_with_1000_faces · Answer

Thank You, I appreciate for taking the time and replying.
I think I'll have to go my own way, as I think am in a position only I can help myself.

I have downloaded my logs from gmatclub test, will review the questions were I am facing discomfort or making silly error and will definitely write what helped has me.

Thanks again

AndrewN · Answer

Glad I could be of some assistance. You know what? I am more of a self-starter myself, open to new ideas but persistent in the belief that I can figure matters out on my own. I hope your dedication pays off. In any case, I think analyzing past errors will help you much more than forging ahead into new sets of questions. Be ruthless in your analyses; do not convince yourself that you know anything you really may not. If you are honest with yourself--and why would you not be, since only you have to know about your errors?--then you should be able to push past what has held you back. And of course, if you need another nudge, then just post again, and I am sure others will jump in to lend a helping hand.

Good luck.

- Andrew

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