GMAT Strategy

Hi sidrsharma,

Do you have the flexibility to push back your Test Date? I ask because I'm concerned about some of your scores. Since 2 of your 5 CAT results were based on re-takes, those 2 scores are likely "inflated" and do not provide an accurate assessment of your abilities. With your score goal (700+), we really need some viable data to assess your chances - and 15 days might not be enough time to assess, and fix, any problems in how you deal with a full CAT.

We need to see a score result that is based on a FULL CAT which you have not previously taken. You can choose whichever "brand" of CAT that you'd like (but the 2 remaining CATs from www.mba.com are arguably going to give you the most accurate evaluation). Once you have those scores, you should post back here. We'll then have a much better sense of what you should do in these last 2 weeks and if a reschedule is required.

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

I typically suggest that students achieve their target score on at least 2 practices tests before they take the official test. Keep in mind that you can reschedule your test up 1 week before the test day.

If, however, you don't have any flexibility regarding rescheduling, then you have to make the best of the time constraints. I suggest that you first focus on concepts that have the greatest return on investment (ROI). These are concepts that are tested frequently and require the least amount of time to learn. In my opinion, these concepts are:
- Sentence Correction
- Data Sufficiency strategies
- Percent
- Integer Properties
- Powers/roots
- Algebra
- Geometry
As you can see, there's a big emphasis on math here. Your quant scores suggest that you're pretty strong in that area, so a focus on SC might be in order.

I should mention that CR and RC questions probably have the lowest ROI. I'm not saying that you shouldn't prepare for them; I'm just saying that improvement can take a long time. For CR, be sure you understand the various question types.

Over the next 15 days, take several official practice tests in order to perfect your time management skills and build your endurance. Remember that the GMAT is a test of your math and verbal skills AND it's a test of your test-taking skills.

Finally, As part of your preparation, work on adopting the proper mindset/attitude on test day. To this end, you may be interested in reading the following BTG articles:
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2013/06/ ... -destroyer
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2011/04/ ... n-the-gmat

I hope that helps.

Cheers,
Brent

sidrsharma wrote:Hey guys,

I took the GMAT Prep 3 today - scored a 570. (IR 5/12, Q35, V34)
I am deeply disappointed and really don't understand what could be going wrong.
I was stumped with the Quant score - I have been doing pretty okay with my previous attempts. This one seemed a shocker!
I have taken screen shot of the Rights and Wrongs.. can someone tell me if it's possible to get a Q35 with the following?



Thanks.

Regards,
SS

Hey SS,

I'm not sure what you mean when you ask, "Can someone tell me if it's possible to get a Q35 with the following?" It sounds like Q35 is exactly what you got with those results.

If you're asking whether it's possible to answer 12 of the 37 quant questions incorrectly and get a quant score of 35, the answer is yes. Keep in mind that your scores are not based on how many questions you answer correctly; they're based on the level of difficulty of the questions you answer correctly.

To illustrate this, I'll share an experiment I performed:

I took GMATPrep Practice Test #1 four times, and each time I answered every second question correctly (I did this for the quant section only)

Given that I correctly answered exactly half of the questions each time, you'd expect my quant scores to be roughly the same for all 4 tests.

My 4 scaled scores were: 19, 23, 26 and 42

This represents a percentile range from approximately 8th percentile to the 63rd percentile.

So, don't worry about how many questions you answered correctly. It has nothing to do with your score.

Aside: If you're interested, we have a free video explaining the GMAT scoring algorithm: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... es?id=1251

Cheers,
Brent

Don't put too much emphasis on the results of one test. You may have just had an off day.
Take another practice soon a see how you do. Then, we'll take it from there.

Cheers,
Brent

Hi SS,

The scoring algorithm for the Official GMAT (and the Official practice CATs) is far more complicated than most people realize. There are a variety of factors that determine your score on Test Day - one of which is the inclusion of "experimental" questions that do not count. They can show up at any time and you won't know if they're experimental or not.

When you reviewed this recent practice CAT, of the Quant questions that you got wrong, how many COULD you have gotten correct BUT didn't because you made a silly/minor mistake? THOSE are the issues that you need to fix. If you make too many little mistakes on Test Day, then the "damage" from those missed questions will keep you from scoring at the highest levels.

Since you've now scored in the 500s on 3 Official GMAT CATs (on the first attempt of each), then we have a certain amount of evidence that THIS is your current level of ability. You've previously explained why you don't want to push back your Test Date (which is fine) and there's nothing wrong with taking the GMAT as planned. It's important to remember that Business Schools don't care if you take the GMAT more than once - because at this point, I don't think that it's likely that you'll score 700+ on Test Day. You need more time, new tactics, more practice, etc. to get to that higher level.

With these last days, you should focus on eliminating as many silly/little mistakes as possible. It could be that you end up with just the right mix of material on Test Day that your score bumps up.

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