GMAT Strategy

Hi

Somehow, I am still struggling with both time management and stress management on practice tests.

My break-up of scores are as follows -

2nd Jan, 2012 GMATPREP -1 : 730 (Q49, V40) - Mostly because I'd seen/done most of the questions(Courtesy forums, OGs, etc)

3rd Jan, 2012 MGMAT CAT-2 : 650 (Q45, V34)

4th Jan, 2012 MGMAT CAT 3: 680 (Q47, V36)

5th Jan, 2012 MGMAT CAT 4: 670 (Q44 V37)

6th Jan, 2012 MGMAT CAT 5: 660 (Q45, V35)

(Pls note that all the above tests were taken in the classroom of a coaching center with strict time conditions. All breaks were strictly followed as per actual GMAT. Only MGMAT -1 was written with the AWA section, largely due to time constraints.)

Planning to take MGMAT CAT 6 tomorrow. Not planning to take any tests in the last two days.

GMAT score (2.5 years back): 600 (Q48, V24)

I am having major issues with my quant timing. I know that I am conceptually sound as I can do all the questions from the CATs during an untimed review session. I make careless mistakes, especially in arithmetic: Addition/Subtraction/wrong sign when transferring LHS to RHS, etc. Also, I end up double checking my answers because of these calculation mistakes.

2 questions -

1. What should I do in the last 3 days? Especially for the timing and careless error part? I am planning to just review my notes, logs for each OG -12/11/10/Supplement/GMATprep question that I've made for the Quant and Verbal section.

2. How much tougher/easier are the MGMAT CATs compared with GMATPreps or the actual GMAT? I am asking this because I found the Quant section, the CRs, and the RCs to be tougher than GMATpreps, but i've also heard, in the recent past, that quant on the gmat has become tougher.

Pls guide me

Zaara

I don't have any advice per say but I'm having the exact same problem, and I take the test in 5 days. I took a practice test this morning and ended up with only 5 minutes left on question 25--major issue. I didn't even score it because I was so discouraged. I didn't have this issue at the beginning of my studies b/c I didn't understand all the problems, so I skipped quite a few if I had no idea how to tackle it. But now I know the concepts, I just can't get at the answer as quickly on all of them. I actually came to this forum to post this exact question--what should I focus on the next few days?

I've been reading some of the blog posts on timing and am going to try another practice test this week where I limit myself to 3 minutes on a question, then take an educated guess and move on. Here's to hoping that helps. Looking forward to some strategy advice.

BTW, here are the articles/blog posts I read, I found them helpful and encouraging:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2011/06/ ... n-pacing-2
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2011/03/ ... n-the-gmat
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/05/ ... -bezos-way

Please let me know what you decide to do and how your actual test goes!