GMAT Strategy

Hello,

I have my GMAT on 20th Sept, My MGMAT scores are:

MGMAT 1: 590
MGMAT 2: 650
MGMAT 3: 630

I'm consistently getting 44 in Quantitative and 33 in Verbal in my exams...

What score could I expect in GMAT?

We seem to be in the same boat. I posted a similar RFF (Request For Feedback) on the GMAT Strategy Forum few days back and got one response so far. You can check it out as well. https://www.beatthegmat.com/stuck-in-ear ... 17841.html

For now i plan to focus on verbal, and continue with periodic practice tests to keep on analyzing. Hoping that will help. Let me know what you think.

Not Manhattan, but GMAC is preparing the GMAT test. So I would use GMAT Prep tests to evaluate myself. IMO, MGMAT CATs are second best tests but your real score is more correlated to your GMAT Prep score.

Sure. But since there are only so many GMATPrep practice tests available it is tough to only rely on them for practice (specially for some of us who need a lot of practice).

So basically even my point was to find out a correlation between the MGMAT scores that we are getting now (in early 600s) and a reflection of that on the final gmat? And based on that correlation what cues we can take to further strengthen our preparation? (sorry if i put it a little complicated, but i hope you got my point )

Well, first of all you can re-install the Gmat Prep software and re-take the both tests. Manhattan GMAT Quant question requires a little more extra time to solve compared to real GMAT questions. People usually add 2-3 points to their MGMAT quant scores in actual test.

You wrote that you have been consistently getting 44 in Quantitative and 33 in Verbal. So let's add 2-3 to your Quant and keep your verbal around 33 ( which is very close to real test)

Q:46-47 + V:33 ===> 650*

* https://www.800score.com/score2.php

This calculation assumes so many things so just use it to have a rough idea.

As long as you do not freak out on the real exam, I would say that your actual exam should either equal or exceed your MGMAT performance. MGMAT is definitely more difficult than either GMATPrep or the actual exam. The quant section, while it tests for the same concepts, is much more complex and convoluted. The verbal section - at least as far as critical reasoning goes - is also quite complex and is more involved than GMATPrep.

I found MGMAT a good preparation tool. After going through all 6 tests and reviewing my mistakes, I started scoring in the 700s on both MGMAT and GMATPrep.

The first time around I was scoring 640 to 670 on GMATPrep and MGMAT and scored a 640.

This time around, I prepared more for the verbal section and went over all of the vital parts of the quant section, and, as I just mentioned, began scoring in the 700s. Therefore, I expect to score at 690 to 720 mark.

Regardless of what you do, the key to this exam is writing effective equations for the quant section, and knowing how to break down critical reasoning and reading comprehension into concise but useful summaries.

Thank you GoMBA and AleksandrM.

GoMBA, I went through the link you posted, it has good tips for verbal section. I agree for RC - the more you read, the better you get. I have to read the entire passage to get the gist of it, if I just roll my eyes over it, then I don't understand the purpose of the passage and fail to answer many questions. I just can not connect the dots by reading just the portion of the passage. So I just read the entire passage and go on answering the questions. That means I do spend more time on RC than recommended. I'm getting on an average 7 correct out of 12 RC questions. I would like to increase that number to 9-10. Do you have any suggestions ?

AleksandrM, I agree that MGMAT critical reasoning is tough, in my second test (MGMAT), I found them relatively easy and scored 39 on verbal but on MGMAT 3rd test, I wasn't able to comprehend the passage and hence was selecting wrong answer choices, that affected my verbal score a lot. It was 33 on 3rd test - where I got only 5 critical reasoning questions correct. I thought, over the time I got better in answering critical reasoning questions, but I guess thats not true. Since I wasn't able to solve CR questions, I was spending more time to get them correct or understand it. I spent as much as 4 mins on one of the CR where you get two bold faced sentences and guess what, I switched from right to wrong answer. Such things costed me dearly in coming questions where I
couldn't spend enough time on the questions I could have gotten correct in 1.3 mins/question.

In Math, I'm making silly mistakes, I do go till end and then make some addition and subtraction mistake, and then either the wrong asnwer is already listed or it is not there (and I panick). DS is surely a problematic area. Time management on MGMAT math, is challenging so far. I find problems quite lengthy and difficult to understand. I value your advice. I will give more GMAC tests by re-installing the software. I hope to go into 700 score range on real GMAT. Now only 13 days to go, I'm not sure whether it is possible now. My work schedule is usually busy, I can't spend much time during week days, but I've taken the last week off. What do you think I can do in those last 7 days before GMAT ?

Thank you for reading my post and responding.

emrahercan, I meant to thank you as well. I wanted to say to you that I'm finding some difficulty with CR questions from MGMAT question pool. I thought I was getting better with OG CR questions, but sometime I see longer passages on MGMAT questions and they are usually 700-800 levels. I spend more time on such questions, any advice if such passages some on real GMAT ?

I actually read the RC passages in their entirety. I usually finish the verbal section with about 10 minutes to spare. However, my reading speed is on the extreme side, as I get through a typical passage in a little over a minute. Therefore, I cannot really suggest anything.

You have a very short time left. Therefore, you cannot change anything, at this point. However, you can still do the following:

Read and re-read your sentence correction notes/flashcards. This will improve your SC performance. Do not forget, these questions account for nearly a third of the verbal section.

You mentioned that you panic once you see that you have taken a wrong turn while solving a problem. Instead of doing this, just go back and try again. Unless, of course, you really are pressed for time; then, just guess and move on.

For critical reasoning, once you see that it is a long and complex argument, start diagramming. In other words, make a very short summary of what the argument is saying. This will help you to identify the premises and the conclusion; it will also allow you to follow the argument, as you will take it a piece at a time. This might seem as if it will take a long time, but it will actually take less, because you will not have to re-read the argument three times. Believe me, I learned the hard way.

As for careless mistakes - you are lucky to have them. What I mean is, it is better to make a careless mistake than a conceptual mistake. It is easy to remedy, just pay attention to what you are doing. I found that the best way to minimize these types of mistakes is to write down what you are doing as you are thinking it through - this is especially true on date sufficiency problems.

Hope this helps.