GMAT prep advice for last 2-3 weeks before the test

Question

Hi experts,

So i have my gmat exam in exactly 3 weeks time.
Issue is i was preparing well before but due to some things i have been off studys and prep for around 1.5 months.
I 've given GMAT prep -1 got a low score of 610 (V30-Q44)

Can you guys please give a word of advice on how to do the prep in next two to three weeks to get a decent score of around 650-700
What all materials to be followed.Should i practice 700 level questions ..or just revise basics and practice as many questions as
i can.I am ready to devote 6-8 hours daily starting next week. But as we know its not just bout hours rather quality of study.
Any help is appreciated..

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi prnvprem,

Before I can offer any advice, I'm hoping that you can clearly define your timeline and goals:

1) What is your goal score? You gave a 'range', but that's not what I'm asking for. What score will make you happy?
2) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
3) Do you know what Schools you plan to apply to?

As far as your studies are concerned:
1) Is this the ONLY CAT that you've taken?
2) Did you take the FULL CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?
3) What materials have you been studying with so far?

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

KarishmaB · Answer

It all depends on what you have done till now and the resources you have available or are willing to buy. If you are willing to invest 6-8 hrs a day, then you have a lot of time. Have you worked through the theory from the curriculum of a test prep company? If not, there may be many gaps in your fundamentals. You should try to cover those up before you stick to just practice. What strategies do you adopt while working on RC? In which sections do you make maximum mistakes? Where do you invest maximum time? There are a lot of things you need to answer to figure out how to improve dramatically. I will give you some links to some of our free resources. They will help in conceptual understanding. https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/ At the end of the page here, you will find links to our DS book, our SC video and a full length practice test. For Quant, our blog has many conceptual discussions which you should check out: https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/categor ... mat-quant/

prnvprem · Answer

Hi,

1. I will be happy with a 700 .
2.As i have just 2 + working experience i want to work for another year and apply next year for B.Schools
3.Yes i have some target Schools (a 680-700 score will help me really )
 
Regarding studies :
1.Yes this was the only CAT.
2.Ya i took the full cat with essay and IR.
3. I have solved most of OG 2015
Also some additional books for practice questions from a local prep center.

Thanks-
Pranav

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Pranav,

Since you're not planning to apply to Business School until next year, you should have some flexibility with your Test Date. Can you push it back? The extra study time would be quite valuable and increase your chances of hitting your 700+ score goal. You don't have to decide right this moment, but you'll have to decide relatively soon. You should plan to take another FULL-LENGTH CAT this weekend, so we can get a sense of how you're progressing through your studies.

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

prnvprem · Answer

Hi ,

I can't push the dates actually. I am on flexible work agreement till my GMAT test with my organization .After that i go back to full time work and my work is at client location
and implementing stuff. Although experience in number of years is less but i am always involved with project management and client dealings.
So that leaves me with no option to study once m working full time being at client site.
I will give another full length CAT and see whats the score is..

Thanks-
Pranav

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Pranav,

That next CAT score will be vital in establishing your level of 'consistency' and what you should work on during these last few weeks. It's important to take the FULL CAT (including the Essay and IR sections), at the same time of day as your GMAT, away from your home, in a realistic and test-like fashion, etc.

Given your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores on this first CAT, you have the potential to pick up points in BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections, so we'll have to 'nitpick' both CAT results to figure out which areas give you the biggest opportunity to earn those 'missing' points.

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

prnvprem · Answer

Hi,

Thanks for all the advice , i have been taking some CATs with IR and AWA recently and have seen some improvement .I took one test on friday.
score was 650 
Quant -42
Verbal-32
Yesterday again i attempted the test and score improved significantly to 720
Quant - 48
Verbal - 42

But the last score may be affected as i got some questions repeated that i have already seen on previous CATs and while solving numerous questions but still
the confidence level has improved.
With less than 10 days to go i will stick to this routine and not going to try too many things or material, frequent full length CAT
and then analysis of questions i get wrong and brushing the concepts. I do not think any more study material or any thing will be
helpful now.

Thanks for all the advice . I hope to do well .

Thanks-
Pranav

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Pranav,

I would advise that you NOT take too many FULL CATs in these last 10 days (if you did, then you might run the risk of 'burning out' before your Official GMAT). You still have plenty of time to get in some reasonable practice and review though and take 1 more CAT. Since your last CAT was a 'retake' of a previous CAT, that second score is almost certainly 'inflated', so we cannot trust it as being 100% accurate. If you do end up taking another CAT, then it should be a *new* CAT.

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

prnvprem · Answer

Hi Rich, I took one last prep test GMAT-2 . The scores were as below: V-37 Q-48 Total-690 I am not taking any more test now.Going to brush up all concepts and rule tonight and tomorrow and rest the next day. I have done prep whatever i could . Could have been better (but that's a part of life always present

) ,and certainly there's scope for improvement always. But, i feel pretty confident with things and hope to just do well on actual test. Thanks for all the advice through the last few weeks. Regards- Pranav

bfarooq · Answer

What was your gmat score mate?

prnvprem · Answer

Hi , I got 640.

Q-46 V-31

Thanks- Pranav

bfarooq · Answer

Pranav,

Dont get disheartened. It's still a pretty damn good score. I think it mustve come down to silly mistakes or something during the test. Did you run out of time in any of the sections?

Also, are you applying for schools in 2016 R1 or R2? If so, maybe you can retake the exam and get close to 700 in a months time :D

prnvprem · Answer

Hi,

Yeah may be silly mistake. I ran out of time in Quant still attempted all question. Last 10 question i had to just run through to complete the section.
Verbal score is low but i finished verbal section with 10 mins left.

N yes i will be applying next year only R1. I want to work a year more.. Just wanted to get finished with GMAT then would have worked on my profile
and application. But now again i have to start preparing for GMAT and re-take it.

Thanks-
Pranav

KarishmaB · Answer

Since you have taken your test recently and plan to take again, you must jot down everything you remember about the test - the topics tested, the kind of questions, content areas in which you faced problems, some questions where you spent too much time - whatever you can remember. After a month, the recollections will be hazy and the experience won't count for much. Of course, you cannot share these notes with anyone but you should have them for your own reference.

Since you have plenty of time, focus on passive learning too i.e. reading for Verbal. At least half an hour with a daily newspaper and 2-3 hrs every week with a magazine. Plus you should have a fiction/non-fiction book going at all times.

Also, look for alternative methods of solving in Quant. The logical/holistic approaches are very efficient though it takes time to get used to them.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Pranav,

I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as hoped. GMAC has publicly stated that a Test Taker's Official Score is within +-30 points of actual ability, so your Official Score is 'in range' of most of your practice scores.

Based on what you described about your pacing, you could very well have scored higher though. Having to rush through the final 10 questions of the Quant section means that you over-committed to several of the earlier questions (and spending more than 3 minutes on a Quant question is usually NOT a good sign). In that same way, finishing the Verbal section 10 minutes early means that you were rushing through questions that you probably could have gotten correct IF you had spent a little more time working them.

It's possible that you just had a 'bad day', but you should use all of this as a learning experience to better plan out how you'll handle your next attempt at the GMAT.

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

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