GMAT Strategy

Hello GMAT Experts,

Myself Sudeep, an MBA aspirant from Bangalore. Request your help and guidance in sorting certain issues that am currently facing during my preparation

It has to do more from an exam perspective,I have certain concerns that have been hindering me .
But before that , i would like to give you a brief heads up on my preparation thus far.I have been preparing for the GMAT since 26th July and i have booked my slot for the 2nd of December. I still have close to 2 months time at my disposal.
Below is a quick synopsis of my progress:

Books Used:
"¢ Completed all the 800 questions in the GMAT Official Guide (2015)
"¢ Realized i was struggling with the finer nuances of English grammar. Hence purchased the Manhattan Foundation Verbal Guide. I've completed the same.
"¢ Wanted to fine tune my Quant skills. Hence purchased the Manhattan Advanced Quant Guide. I am halfway through it as of now.
"¢ Wanted a set of Mock tests to practice. Hence, ordered the sentence correction guide which has a set of 6 mocks that come along with it.
"¢ Purchased the GMAT Verbal Review guide (2015). Yet to start working on this. Planning to start with this in a couple of days

Practice results:

Problem solving:
Percentage of questions answered CORRECTLY from the GMAT official guide - 72%

Data Interpretation:
Percentage of questions answered CORRECTLY from the official guide - 49.2% (Struggling)

Reading comprehension:
Percentage of questions answered CORRECTLY from the GMAT official guide - 61%

Sentence correction:
Percentage of questions answered CORRECTLY from the GMAT official guide - 56%

Critical Reasoning:
Percentage of questions answered CORRECTLY from the GMAT official guide - 50%(Struggling)


Mock Tests Results:
GMAT Prep Mock Test 1 - 470
MGMAT Mock Test 1 - 510
MGMAT Mock Test 2 - 530


Major Concern:

Though i have been working hard over the past 2 months or so, i still find that my scores haven't improved dramatically. From what i have observed of myself, i findit very difficult to keep my focus throughout the entire duration of 3.30 hrs Infact, by the time i am done with Quant itself, i feel itchy ,restless and tend to run out of steam.I literally feel like there is gorilla on my back sapping all of my energy. From thereon, i just feel like finishing off the test in a hurry and relaxing Though i am aware of this limitation, there seems to be nothing that i can do to ward this problem off.
Time and again, i am confronted with issues related to mental fatigue and its the same deja vu feeling (finishing pff the test in a hurry without bothering to analyze any further)

Can you please suggest ways that would come in handy to overcome this limitation? I have another 4 Mocks left and i am aiming for a score of 700+ in my actual GMAT exam. I do believe deep down that i can do it, but it's this mental aspect that would need some conditioning and strengthening.


Awaiting your valuable inputs on the same.Also please let me know whether my study plan as of now looks solid or if i would have to beef it up further.

PS: Any suggestions related to my GMAT approach as a whole is also welcome I would be more than happy to incorporate them in my studies going forward.


Thanks,
Sudeep

Hi Sudeep88u,

You've identified several issues on your post.

With regard to your energy level depleting throughout the exam, this could be a result of both time management and your confidence level in answering these questions.

As you continue studying, try grouping five Quant questions together and spend no more more than ten minutes on them. You can use this strategy on both practice questions and simulation exams. If you fall behind schedule, make a strategic guess or two to catch up. Make strategic guesses on questions that you aren't confident on or that would take you much longer than two minutes to answer. That way, you buy yourself some time and you can spend more time on questions that you can confidently answer.

Apply the same strategy on the Verbal section, except give yourself nine minutes to answer five questions.

I would also suggest that you schedule a session with an online tutor. Tutors can help you develop a prep strategy that works for you. The Economist GMAT Tutor provides online tutors, if you sign up. However, I know that there are other products out there that offer it as well.

Hope this helps, and best of luck.

sudeep88u wrote:Hello GMAT Experts,

Myself Sudeep, an MBA aspirant from Bangalore. Request your help and guidance in sorting certain issues that am currently facing during my preparation

It has to do more from an exam perspective,I have certain concerns that have been hindering me .
But before that , i would like to give you a brief heads up on my preparation thus far.I have been preparing for the GMAT since 26th July and i have booked my slot for the 2nd of December. I still have close to 2 months time at my disposal.
Below is a quick synopsis of my progress:

Books Used:
"¢ Completed all the 800 questions in the GMAT Official Guide (2015)
"¢ Realized i was struggling with the finer nuances of English grammar. Hence purchased the Manhattan Foundation Verbal Guide. I've completed the same.
"¢ Wanted to fine tune my Quant skills. Hence purchased the Manhattan Advanced Quant Guide. I am halfway through it as of now.
"¢ Wanted a set of Mock tests to practice. Hence, ordered the sentence correction guide which has a set of 6 mocks that come along with it.
"¢ Purchased the GMAT Verbal Review guide (2015). Yet to start working on this. Planning to start with this in a couple of days

Practice results:

Problem solving:
Percentage of questions answered CORRECTLY from the GMAT official guide - 72%

Data Interpretation:
Percentage of questions answered CORRECTLY from the official guide - 49.2% (Struggling)

Reading comprehension:
Percentage of questions answered CORRECTLY from the GMAT official guide - 61%

Sentence correction:
Percentage of questions answered CORRECTLY from the GMAT official guide - 56%

Critical Reasoning:
Percentage of questions answered CORRECTLY from the GMAT official guide - 50%(Struggling)


Mock Tests Results:
GMAT Prep Mock Test 1 - 470
MGMAT Mock Test 1 - 510
MGMAT Mock Test 2 - 530


Major Concern:

Though i have been working hard over the past 2 months or so, i still find that my scores haven't improved dramatically. From what i have observed of myself, i findit very difficult to keep my focus throughout the entire duration of 3.30 hrs Infact, by the time i am done with Quant itself, i feel itchy ,restless and tend to run out of steam.I literally feel like there is gorilla on my back sapping all of my energy. From thereon, i just feel like finishing off the test in a hurry and relaxing Though i am aware of this limitation, there seems to be nothing that i can do to ward this problem off.
Time and again, i am confronted with issues related to mental fatigue and its the same deja vu feeling (finishing pff the test in a hurry without bothering to analyze any further)

Can you please suggest ways that would come in handy to overcome this limitation? I have another 4 Mocks left and i am aiming for a score of 700+ in my actual GMAT exam. I do believe deep down that i can do it, but it's this mental aspect that would need some conditioning and strengthening.


Awaiting your valuable inputs on the same.Also please let me know whether my study plan as of now looks solid or if i would have to beef it up further.

PS: Any suggestions related to my GMAT approach as a whole is also welcome I would be more than happy to incorporate them in my studies going forward.


Thanks,
Sudeep

Hello, Sudeep! It is great to hear that you are so dedicated to your GMAT exam. That is great news! I suggest you move this post to one of the main forum threads. This is the forum to ask questions to GMAC, the makers of the GMAT exam and, unfortunately, we cannot advise you on specific study strategy, nor can we guarantee you a specific score. If you move your question to the main forum thread, other students or GMAT prep coaches will be able to help you. Please note the other posters on this thread are third-party test prep instructors and are not endorsed or reviewed by GMAC.

Thank you!

Rebecca

Thanks Rebecca! Will move this asap to the main forum thread.

Hi Rich,

For Question 1:
Please find below the scaled scores during each of my practice tests :

MGMAT Test 1:

Quant - 15/37 answered Correctly
Verbal - 21/ 41 answered Correctly

MGMAT Test 2:

Only a slight improvement seen overall

Quant - 19/37 answered Correctly
Verbal - 27/ 41 answered Correctly

For Question 2:
I had skipped IR in both the practice exams. I was planning to take this up only after i have got all
my concepts covered and cemented in both QUANT and VERBAL

For Question 3:
I had taken my tests on the 21st and 28th of September. I tried to closely simulate the exact exam environment
by taking the test at 9 AM in the morning.

Kindly let me know your thoughts

Thanks,
Sudeep

[email protected] wrote:Hi Sudeep,

You've provided some useful information about your studies so far, but I'd like to know a bit more:

1) On your practice CATS, what were your Scaled Scores for the Quant and Verbal sections?
2) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR)?
3) What time of day do you start your CATs?

Your fatigue could be due to a variety of factors, so we should start with the obvious. If you do not already do so, then you should plan to eat breakfast and have a snack during each of the two 8-minute breaks. This should help with your energy levels.

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