Wrong time management statistic in GMATPrep software?

Question

Hey Folks!

Thanks for this gread community, it really helps me a lot in my preparation for the GMAT. Right now, I am still fighting for my goal of 630 Points which is one important part of an application in Germany. Not too much points, I know, but I only have 10 days left.

Today I took another GmatPrep Test. In order to finish it in time, I guessed the last 2 quesions in the verbal section. Nevertheless, the time management option in the software seems to point out I exceeded the time in the verbal part (see screen below, time 1:15:09). Now I am not 100% sure (though pretty sure) whether or not I accidently did not finish the last verbal question.

Are you aware of a software bug in the GMATPrep? I'm asking because if not it seems to be my mistake in the test. Which means I would have scored higher

Regards,
Philipp

Attachments

GMATPrep 2.3.322 2015-02-27 17.37.40.png [ 137.44 KiB | Viewed 2441 times ]

Regards, Philipp

alexau · Answer

I found that error too at times. Even when I would finish the verbal section with a minute left it would tell me that I took longer than the 75 minutes allowed. I just assume that its something on their end and never worried too much about it.

The most important thing is that you know you can complete each section within the allotted time. While the timing breakdown may be nice to see which questions may be taking you too long, you can usually get a feel for that as you take more exams and do more practice questions. I would make sure to time yourself as you do other prep to get yourself in the 1 min 45 sec habit for verbal and 2 min habit for quant.

If you make your practice realistic to the actual test, it should help to boost your score a bit.

shoveit88 · Answer

Hi alexau,

thanks for your reply. That piece of information really helps! So I guess there was no penalty in my score.

I got your point. Timing is very important, though I am sometimges wondering wether I should also put myself on the clock while practising. I've been exercising for almost 3 weeks now only to lift my PrepTest score from 560 to 580.. think I wasted quite a good amount of time with rushing and tricking myself. Wish me luck, I might need it

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi shoveit88,

If you're trying to raise a 560 to a 630, then you should know that you're not that far from your goal. You really need to 'nitpick' this last CAT result though.

When reviewing the wrong answers in the Quant, how often did you get a question wrong....

1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because of a math rule that you did not know?
3) Because the question was just too hard?

In the Verbal section, how often did you get a question wrong....

1) Because you 'narrowed it down to 2 choices, then "guessed" wrong?'
2) Because the question was too wordy and you felt as though you did not understand it?

The first item in each of those lists is what you need to work on the most. If you can fix those problems, then you can greatly improve your scores.

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

shoveit88 · Answer

Hi EMPOWERgmatRichC

Thanks for your advise! I'm really trying to get as much findings as possible out of the Prep tests. As you recommended, I listed my error log to find some issues.

Verbal
How often did I get a question wrong:

1) because "guessing" wrong.
Good point. Most times I am able to narrow down to 2 choices. Anyways, I'm still struggling then.

2) because of too wordy questions
This happened serveral times in SC questions. In one RC part I was mentally so exhausted that I stared at the text for almost 4 minutes not understanding the great picture, which leads to 4 wrong choices. I think it was also an issues of focus, but at the end it is lack of stamina. CR worked quite good, SC was my main problem, although I already trained it a bit.

Quant
How often did I get a question wrong:

1) because of silly/little mistakes
That's devastating. I think 7 out of 15 mistakes were silly. I solved them while reviewing all by myself in 2 minutes, though I was not able to solve them in the test. Sometimes I am really freaking out, because I am put on the clock. At the end I think I can only counter this problem with more tests and practise. I have to build stamina.

2) because math rules I didn't know
I really suck in number properties. In the test, there were two Sub-600 questions which I couldn't solve, because I was trying to find a formula instead of using my brain. I really will drill number properties. As bb already analysed (I'm not able to post the Link here) and according to my error log, number properties are quite common in the quant part (compared to geometry, permutations, etc). And surprisingly I seem to be bad in percentages. :D

3) because questions being to hard
I think i understand most of the concepts, though I have to drill them to be able to solve them in time. Which leads me to a questions.

How would you encounter this situation?

In terms of sentence correction many users recommended the Manhatten SC book, which I am trying to work through a bit. Also, I have still many questions in the OG, which are waiting to be done. At the end I think, being able to solve SC questions fast, is the key to the whole verbal part. RC and CR worked pretty good if I had a bit more time.

In terms of number properties I plan to read through the Manhatten Review Number propertie guide the next days, because I think there is quite potential as there are many questions in the GMAT related to this topic. I don't need to ball in the 700+ range, so do you think it is possible to work through the book in few days?

In terms of me freaking out during the test and not being able to use my normal potential ... Anyone of you had the same problem? I think I should just build confidence by working on some 600- and 600/700 questions. And maybe some sport would help in order to not implode

Plus I bought some earplugs to improve my focus on the test. Any further suggestions or experience guys? 10 days to go

600 to reach.

Philipp

PS: To make it complete, here my OG error log analysis. Maybe someone has some advise like "Damn, you really have some serious problems" .. or "Nevermind, you're able to make it".

Attachments

GMAT & IELTS Masterplan - Google Tabellen - Google Chrome 2015-02-28 13.01.42.png [ 99.8 KiB | Viewed 2310 times ]

Plus I bought some earplugs to improve my focus on the test. Any further suggestions or experience guys? 10 days to go

600 to reach. Philipp PS: To make it complete, here my OG error log analysis. Maybe someone has some advise like "Damn, you really have some serious problems" .. or "Nevermind, you're able to make it".

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Philipp,

Based on the answers that you provided, you've already defined the most significant issues in how you approach the GMAT:

1) Silly mistakes in the Quant section.
2) Fatigue issues in the Verbal section.

The good news is that each of these two issues should be easy enough to fix. The 'catch' is that you don't have a lot of time left to fix them and you're not going to fix ALL of the problems that you described. The short answer is that you have to be more ACTIVE in your work - take more notes, don't just read the prompt over-and-over, don't do work in your head, etc.. The fatigue issue is probably more about the physical things: sleep, breakfast, what you do during your breaks, how you sit in your chair, etc.

You should plan to do a reasonable amount of work over this last week+. Working on SCs and Number Properties is a good idea, as both of those categories will show up repeatedly on Test Day. That does NOT mean that you have to do every question in the book. DO NOT cram. DO NOT take lots of practice CATs (maybe 1 or 2, but that's it). Try to relax a bit before Test Day. The best Test Takers are the ones who stay calm, think about how questions remind them of work that they've already done and are active with their approaches.

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

	Magoosh increases your score, guaranteed - 15% off ALL Magoosh GMAT plans with code GMATCLUB15 + Free GMAT Club Tests.
	Manhattan Prep: $79 Bonus Score Higher on Your GMAT Exam. Guaranteed.
	Target Test Prep - Save up to $325 $200 Discount + $79 Bonus GMAT Club Tests
	e-GMAT: 60% Off on GMAT Focus Get to 735+ from any starting point
	Experts' Global - ~~$1720~~ $960 End-to-End GMAT Prep + App Support: 150+ Videos, 2000+ Questions, 15 FLTs +
	GMATWhiz - $299 ~~$499~~ Experience the course through a free trial.
	GMAT Club Tests - Free Included with every course purchase of $149+ View all deals

Wrong time management statistic in GMATPrep software?

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards