Help on Mahattan GMAT practice tests

vsr123

Hi
I am a little discouraged by my last two performances (I bought the 6 tests) in the Manhattan GMAT tests. I have done two GMATprep and have scored 660 and 700. On the Manhattan GMATs I have scored 630 and 680. The order in which I took them was

MGMAT 630
GMATprep 660
MGMAT 680
GMATprep 710

I found the math harder on the second MGMAT. I had no problem completing the math section on the first MGMAT but on the second one I was able to do about 31 and guessed on the last 6.

Now I have done a third MGMAT math section in which I was barely able to complete 25 questions (I just guessed on the last 12). I didnt even feel like answering the verbal after this performance.

The gap between these two tests is at least a week and my performance has dropped instead of going up. One observation on the second and third MGMAT is that I have seen the problems as taking more time to solve unless one has seen them (and know the formulae instead of trying to derive or figure it out on the spot). It seems that the last two MATH GMAT sections had too many of these type of problems ...lets just say the usual problems with a lot of special cases.

I have read posts that mention MGMAT math as being harder but are the kind of questions that I am seeing typical of all MGMAT math (although I didnt see it in the very first MGMAT that I took)? My question is whether
I should concentrate a lot of memorizing special cases and the equations/formula used or is this not worth it as I wont see many questions that need this on the actual GMAT? I have gone from not answering 1-2 questions to 6 to 12. I am not aiming for a high GMAT but I thought I could manage a 680 to 710.
appreciate any feedback...I am planning on taking the GMAT in about 2 weeks

thanks
Sri

beatthegmat · Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 10:44 pm Post subject:

If you expect to be scoring in the high 600 to low 700 range, then you will likely be facing a lot of difficult questions on the test (i.e., the HARD Bin of questions). I think that you would be well served to memorize the special cases/equations.

The way I would do this, so it won't consume all your time, is to create a set of flashcards. When you encounter a particularly difficult concept, write it down on an index card. Pretty soon you'll grow a nice set of flashcards--I would recommend reviewing these flashcards one or two times per day.

I'm a big proponent of this learning method, and I think it would do a lot for you for getting comfortable with the difficult concepts.

Best of luck!

Stacey Koprince · Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:02 pm Post subject:

It is true that our math sections are a bit on the computation-intensive side. We also don't have experimental questions, as the real test does, so you will get little "brain breaks" on the official test when you get an easier experimental question that doesn't count toward your score.

At the same time, you did see the same kinds of questions on the first test. The distinction is that you recognized how to handle most of them so you didn't run into trouble. On the later tests, you hit things you didn't recognize as much, so you had to revert to figuring things out, which takes longer and tires you out more. In turn, that makes it harder to finish the test.

You need to study those questions so you can remember and recognize the harder stuff, the special exceptions, the esoteric rules - the more you can recognize on the test (as opposed to having to figure something out from scratch), the better you'll do.

Note: when I say "recognize," I don't mean memorize. You're not going to see the same questions on the real test, of course. I mean that you recognize a particular problem structure or set-up so that you know what to do when you see a similar set-up in the future.