My Current GMAT Strategy and Timeline - Comments and Tips?

Question

Hello GMAT Club,

I am planning to take the GMAT again on April the 18th, (Scored a 550 on my first attempt in December), aiming for a 700+

Did very little studying for the first exam and have buttoned down for my second attempt.

Have been studying since mid-late January off various books (Princeton, Kaplan) and really started going at the OG questions early February.

Have been tracking all my answers on one of the excels I found here. Finished the PS(75% correct) and DS (65% correct) and halfway through SC (76% correct so far)

A little worried since my correct percentage is only in the 75%

My plan for the next 20 days is fairly straightforward.

-Finish the rest of the SC, CR, and RC by mid next week (Mar 31/Apr 1)

-Spend a few days on more PS and DS questions from GMAT club (Apr 2/ Apr 4)

-Do CAT tests (3 per week for 1 week) (Apr 5/Apr 11)

-Alternate between questions and CAT for the last week (Apr 12/Apr 18)

As I mentioned I am a little worried because of my correct % on the questions. I seem to be getting both 700+ level questions correct while at the same time getting some sub 600 ones wrong.

Any suggestions on my current agenda?

Thank you!

C

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi cyyk,

From what you've described, it sounds like you have NOT taken a FULL-LENGTH practice CAT in some time. Until we a set of score results to use as a comparison, we really have no idea what 'level' you're currently scoring at. So you should plan to take a FULL CAT soon (perhaps tomorrow). Waiting until the last week to take 3 CATs is NOT a good idea. If there are problems in how you're approaching your studies, we need to figure them out (and not in the last few days before your Official GMAT). Once you have your score results, you should report back here.

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

cyyk · Answer

Hi Rich,

Thank you for the comments and suggestions. I decided to take the a full-length CAT, (Over Sunday Night and Today) since I started late on Saturday. Did not get a score I was looking for.

Took the free MGMAT CAT and got:
590 (39Q, 33V)

I definitely ran out of time in the quantitative section. Looking at the review, I started guessing at the last ten questions dropping from 62%ile to 43%ile.

For verbal I finished about 9 mins early, and looking at the review it seems my path was opposite (in Quant I started off in 70-75% and eventually dropped whereas in verbal began at 40%ile and climbed up)

I am quite surprised I always felt more confident in the Quant.

I plan to do a review and another CAT this week to see if its a score I am achieving consistently.

What do you think?

Thank you

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

HI cyyk,

It's good that you took this CAT now since you were able to discover that you had some problems with your pacing in the Quant and Verbal sections.

When reviewing this CAT, it's important to consider how much time you're spending on each question AND what you're doing with that time. While the average amount of time spent on a Quant question is about 2 minutes (since you're dealing with 37 questions in 75 minutes), you shouldn't try to answer every question in under 2 minutes. Certain questions are designed to take more time, so you can go up to 3 minutes under certain circumstances. Going OVER 3 minutes CANNOT be allowed to happen though. Based on what you've described, I would bet that you went over 3 minutes on a bunch of Quant questions on this CAT. You should take a good look at each of those questions - figure out why you took so long, then work to make sure that it does NOT happen again.

In that same way, the extra time that you had in the Verbal section COULD have helped you to answer a number of additional questions correctly...IF you had used the time to your advantage. Slowing down a bit, taking more notes, etc. is what you need in this section of the Test.

As you continue to practice before taking your next CAT, you should think about the 'efficiencies' of how you go about answering questions. Could you be better organized? Could you take better notes? Can you fix the 'little things' that eat up your time?

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

cyyk · Answer

Hi Rich,

Just wanted to say I took some time to review that test, and did another free CAT (The one from the official GMAT prep website)

Scored a 660 instead (Q43,V39),

My GMAT exam is on the 18th of April, I am going to move the date, down a month, 
Any tips for increasing the Quant? I have been studying more vigorously for the quant but improvements have not been strong,

Best,
C

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi cyyk,

This latest CAT score is a nice improvement over your last one. Most your Test Date back a month is a smart move; you should be able to use that extra study time to your advantage.

Are you still studying primarily from books? If so, then which books have you worked through recently. If not, then what other GMAT resources have you invested in? I have some suggestions that should help you with the Quant section, but I need to know everything that you've worked with so far.

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

cyyk · Answer

Hey Rich,

Sorry for the delay,

Mainly I have been using the official gmat prep book to study for quant.

I have went through princeton's review before and started to look at quant fundamentals because I thought that may have been the problem.

I had a small hiatus from studying but am back on it today, so will be working through the gmat prep program from the GMAT website.

I would love to hear what you materials I should look/invest in,

Best!

Charles

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Charles,

What is your current Test Date?

It would be a good idea to take another FULL-LENGTH CAT so that we can see how your skills have held up over these last couple of weeks. Using your last CAT score as a gauge, you should be focused more on Quant tactics, pattern-matching, etc. than just doing more and more practice problems. I think that you'd benefit greatly from the EMPOWERgmat Quant Score Booster. Most of our clients can finish that Study Plan in 3 weeks (give or take), so it could fit nicely with your general timeframe.

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

OptimusPrep · Answer

To boost your quant score you should also consider taking Optimus Prep's quant booster. You will have access to video lessons, formulas, lesson notes and more than 3,000 questions with detailed explanations.

The PERFECT way to study is to combine the course with online private tutoring. Then you will have a GMAT expert who can answer all your questions and guarantee the best possible preparation for your success! 3 weeks are more than enough to boost your score as you do not start from scratch

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