What is going on with my GMAT prep?

Question

All right guys, so I'm about a hair away from a full-blown freak out and need some need some serious advice/feedback/help.

Here is my basic story: Target score is 750. August 1 test date (with another crack in early September, if need be). Looking to send out applications in September and matriculate in the fall 2016 class. In general I have been really strong on verbal, mediocre as can be on Quant despite a lot ( a lot ) of hard work. In general, feel like I've worked my tail off preparing for this test. Been doing prep over a very long period of time (probably 15 months), and started working from the most basic and fundamental of skills (long division, parts of speech, etc.) all the way up to advanced GMAT concepts.

I took the two official practice CATs from GMAT Prep in April, and scored a 680 and a 690, respectively. Studied for another month or so, and then took the free Manhattan GMAT and got a 710. Now I feel confident, like my goal is attainable, and so I keep on plugging away, working hard, trying to improve my Quant, trying to max out my Verbal.

I studied another three weeks, and then bought the Manhattan GMAT practice test package. I took a second Manhattan GMAT CAT, and... 660. Very disappointing and confounding. Quant took a dip from slightly above mediocre to dead-on mediocre, and Verbal took a big decline after missing 4 of the final 6 questions (was at 99th percentile after question #35). So I thought this may be a fluke, so I studied another week, and took another Manhattan GMAT CAT yesterday, and... 630. Quant didn't budge an inch, and Verbal went even lower (was at the 99th percentile after the question #19, then tanked down the stretch to a 35V, when I scored 42V on my first three Verbal CATs).

After the 630, I was pretty devastated, and I just feel at a total loss right now. I have no idea what is happening and what I should (or can) be doing. Again, I've worked hard and gone through so much material -- all Manhattan GMAT books, all Quant questions in the OG and the OG Quant Review, all Magoosh videos and practice problems, all of the Manhattan GMAT practice banks, etc. -- and I just feel like nothing good is happening and I'm barely four weeks from test-day. Can anyone offer any advice or feedback?

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

It sounds like you are running into a lot of trouble with timing. Can you give us some insights to what your timing was like on the high-scoring tests compared to the more recent ones? You can also PM me your name and I can take a look at your Manhattan CATs.

outsidethesidelines · Answer

I think it's a bit more helpful if I segregate out the responses here on Quant and Verbal:

On Quant, I finished my first CAT with plenty of time, scoring a 42Q (680 overall). The Quant section let my head spinning and I was confused on several problems, so I believe I maintained my pace mainly by skipping a few problems that I just simply didn't know how to solve. On my second CAT (41Q, 690 overall), I ran out of time with three questions left and had to guess on the final three questions, which I surmised was due to me taking more time to actually work through all of the problems and not skipping as many. On both the third CAT (44Q, 710 overall) and the fourth CAT (42Q, 660 overall), time wasn't an issue either way, and I finished both sections on time without having to rush at the end. With the fifth CAT (42Q, 630 overall) this past Saturday, though, I was admittedly behind time at the end, and I am reasonably confident that this directly led me to miss three of the final problems that I believe I likely would have gotten correct had I more time to work with.

In general on Quant, I know pacing is a bit of an issue because on some problems that I really cannot solve, I'm just stubborn and -- wanting to get all of the problems right -- refuse to admit defeat, which ends up costing me time that otherwise could be utilized solving problems that I actually can solve. For example, on my CAT this past weekend, on four Quant problems I spent between 4:00 and 4:30 attempting to solve each, and I got all four questions wrong. Had I just cut bait on these four questions after, say, 2:30 minutes each, I would have had 6:00-8:00 more time at the end of the exam to do the one of those problems that I feel I probably would have gotten right with more time. In general, I know that's a change I have to make, though having said that I'm not sure how much that can positively affect my score. That may raise my Quant score to a Q43 or Q44, but I would be very surprised if better time management alone could get me to Q47 or Q48, which is my goal.

On Verbal, it's a very different story. That's my strong-suit just due to my career background, and on my first two CATs (41V and 42V), I raced through both sections and finished each with between 12 and 15 minutes to spare. On the third CAT (42V, 710 overall), I tried to slow down, take my time, and focus on problems I wasn't certain about, but while I finished the section on time my Verbal score remained basically unchanged from what it had been when I raced through on my first two CAT attempts. On the fourth CAT (38V, 660 overall), I again tried to slow down and take my time, but for whatever reason my Verbal score tanked on the last few questions. On this past CAT (35V, 630 overall), I have no idea what happened, but somehow around question #20 I started to get way behind on time, and ended up having to rush like hell through the last few problems, which I know resulted in several wrong answers and, therefore, a reduced score. I'm really not sure what happened on that -- if I just middled too long trying to be patient, or if I was just earnestly struggling with some problems -- but it absolutely affected my score. Based on how I had performed through the first, say, 35 questions, I'm not sure I could have gotten back up to a 42V, but I certainly wouldn't have ended up with a 35V and a 630 overall had I utilized better time management.

outsidethesidelines · Answer

As a follow-up, what befuddles me on Quant is my apparent lack of real progress since my initial CAT. I've spent nearly all of these past three months focused heavily on Quant -- reviewing principles, watching videos, working practice problems, etc. -- and my Quant score just hasn't budged.

CAT 1: 42Q
CAT 2: 41Q
CAT 3: 44Q
CAT 4: 42Q
CAT 5: 42Q

It seems like basically no matter I've done, I'm stuck right in the 42Q range, give a take a point or so either way to account for random variation. In general I feel like I've learned a tremendous amount and that I'm much better at Quant than I was in the past, but the end-of-day scores just refuse to meaningfully budge. I was hoping to be in the Q46-Q47 range by this point, but obviously that hasn't happened.

I'll also add that, for better or worse, my Quant score doesn't seem to be responsive to how I "feel" the section went. For example, I thought the Quant on CAT 1 and CAT 2 were absolute trainwrecks, and ... Q42. On the other hand, I thought the Quant on CAT 2 and CAT 5 went pretty well, and ... Q42. And even on CAT 3, which is the highest I've scored to date, it felt the same as it did on CAT 2 and CAT 5, when I scored a couple of points lower.

KarishmaB · Answer

Stats say that if you haven't successfully solved a GMAT Quant question in the first 2.5 to 3 mins, it is very unlikely that you will get it correct by spending another min or two on it. Most GMAT Quant questions are designed in a way that they can be solved in about a minute. A general sense of confusion due to anxiety and long winded approaches lead to about 2 mins spent on every question. If you are taking more than 2 mins, it implies a gap in conceptual understanding and hence the probability of answering that question is low. I suggest you to check out this post: https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/2010/10 ... for-field/ It discusses a couple of strategies for time management. But as you pointed out, problems in Quant run deeper than time management. Use the last few tests you have taken and find out "why" you made mistakes. The topics, the relevant concept etc. Also, consider questions in which you were unsure though correct. Review all this topics from another, more detailed source. Then try more of those type of questions. Work on each individual concept in which you have problems. The quant score will run up if you do so. As for Verbal, your intuition is probably spot on but you have started overthinking. Note that GMAT is an aptitude test - a test of all you have learned in school. Many high school kids would probably do quite well in GMAT without any prep. Sometimes we get so lost in grammar, idioms etc on GMAT questions that we forget to think logically and hence falter when faced with rarer formats. I would say that you should go with your gut on CR and RC - if you are comfortable with English, you shouldn't face any problems in these two (assuming you know the different question types etc). On SC, decide what you think is the right answer but before you mark it, take a step back to ensure that all is in place grammatically too. Try this strategy for a test and see if it works.

OptimusPrepJanielle · Answer

Hello outsidethesidelines,

If you don't think timing is the major issue here there are a few other things you may consider. But before going on to those I would like to mention a handful of things about timing. If you are finishing with time to spare it's possible that you are making many mistakes in your calculations or not reading carefully enough. You can know the material cold but if you move too quickly you can still miss very simple problems. It's important to look back at the problems that you missed on your CATs and understand the reason you missed the questions. If the answer is apparent now that you're not under exam conditions, if for almost every question you say, "How could I have possibly missed that?" you may be working too quickly (either due to occasional rushing because you spent too much time on other questions or because you feel more confident on one question compared to the others.)

The second point I would look into is your CAT test conditions. It's important that you take many of them during the course of your studies, and do the whole thing, including the essay and IR. Take the normal allotted breaks only. Taking long pauses between sections or only completing the core sections could produce higher scores than normal, simply because you're more relaxed and probably in a better state physically and mentally. That point is related as well to focus. Completing full length CATs are also important to build your ability to remained focused for an extended period of time.

In this month leading up to exam day I would first pause to look over the previous CAT tests. Take note of the question types you missed and why. I would then schedule 1-2 tests a week, the whole thing under testing conditions, and time to review the results. I hope you can gain valuable insight from that process.

Good luck!

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