GMAT Strategy

Hi,

I have a query regarding GMAT Prep practice tests. I would be writing the GMAT exam on 7 Aug, 2015.

I gave the 1st GMAT prep free practice test in end Jan'15 before i started studying seriously for GMAT exam. Got a score of 690 then. Somehow, i accidentally reset the tests on GMAT Prep due to which both the practice tests became available for me to use.

I gave the 2nd GMAT prep free practice test two days back on 27th June and got a score of 760 (Q50/V42). But I observed there were 20-25% of questions in both Verbal and Quant that were repeated from 1st free practice test which i gave in Jan'15.

I am not sure of my exact performance since 760 looks to be an inflated score. Also, since i want to take another practice test in July, which one of the following would be the best option to judge my true performance:
1) Take the 1st free practice test (since it is reset, i might get repeated questions again)
2) Take Manhattan GMAT practice CATs (already taken one in March (score of 640) and one in May (score of 670), but I don't know whether they are as accurate as GMAT Prep tests)
3) Purchase the non-free GMAT prep practice tests (i think 2 tests are available for $49)

Thanks. Looking forward to your thoughts.

am not sure of my exact performance since 760 looks to be an inflated score. Also, since i want to take another practice test in July, which one of the following would be the best option to judge my true performance:
1) Take the 1st free practice test (since it is reset, i might get repeated questions again)
2) Take Manhattan GMAT practice CATs (already taken one in March (score of 640) and one in May (score of 670), but I don't know whether they are as accurate as GMAT Prep tests)
3) Purchase the non-free GMAT prep practice tests (i think 2 tests are available for $49)

This one's pretty straight-forward. Those two additional mba.com tests will be the best indicator of where you currently stand. Review them thoroughly and post any questions that aren't 100% clear here.

Hi twadh,

I have to agree with David on this one - the mba.com tests are the best place for you to start. However, I'm curious about a few other things:

1) Were your previous practice exams full length, timed attempts (including breaks)?
2) What other materials are you using in your prep?

Knowing more about these points will also help us suggest tips to help you get the more out of your time between now and August.

Best,
Rich

Rich@EconomistGMAT wrote:Hi twadh,

I have to agree with David on this one - the mba.com tests are the best place for you to start. However, I'm curious about a few other things:

1) Were your previous practice exams full length, timed attempts (including breaks)?
2) What other materials are you using in your prep?

Knowing more about these points will also help us suggest tips to help you get the more out of your time between now and August.

Best,
Rich

Thanks Rich for the feedback. All my practice tests were full length (Essay, IR, Quant and Verbal) and timed. I am using the following materials for prep:
1. official guide 2015 - solved 80% of questions
2. Manhattan SC - 90% complete. This is my go-to book for SC questions
3. CR powerscore Bible - CR was my weak area when i started my prep. I have read 3-4 chapters in this book and this has made a difference. Since it is extensive, i hope to complete it as much as i can in next 15-20days.

Any suggestions would be helpful. Many thanks.

[email protected] wrote:Hi twadh,

Both of these CAT scores are exceptionally high (relative to where you were in the study process each time you took them). You might just be a naturally strong and strategic thinker, but I'd like to confirm a few things about how you've been studying (so that we can make sure that these scores are accurate):

1) Did you take the FULL CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) What time of day did you take these CATs?
3) Did you do anything that would be considered unrealistic or non-Test-like (skipping sections, pausing the CAT, taking the CAT at home, listening to music, etc.)?

Taking a *new* FULL-LENGTH CAT sometime soon would help to verify your level of readiness to face the Official GMAT in August. When you take this next CAT, you should try your best to make it 'match up' to Test Day in as many ways as possible. You should report back here when you have that next set of scores.

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

Rich,

Thanks for the suggestions. As for your questions, here are my responses in the same order:
1. I took the full length test for each attempt (2 mba.com tests and 2 Manhattan CATs) including Essay, IR, Verbal and Quant. Even i timed the breaks as per GMAT exam.
2. I took the last test (in which i got 760) at 12noon while my GMAT exam is at 9am in the morning
3. I tried to simulate the actual test conditions as much as I could. Taking the test at home and the test time are the things that were different in my practice test.

I will give a full length CAT next week or so, and will report the score once i have the same. I have already given 4 full length tests in last 6 months, so I think it's better to concentrate on the theory and just give 1 more test before the exam on 7th August. Please let me know your thoughts.

Hi Rich,

I gave a full length practice exam (AWA+IR+Quant+Verbal) on 12th Jul and got a score of 720 (Q49/V38). Also, I simulated the actual test conditions as much as I can:
1. Started the test at 9 am (which is the actual time of GMAT test)
2. Took 2 breaks of 8 min each, which are as per the official rules
3. No music, noise or external help

Since I have about 4 weeks left, I want to concentrate on revising things already learned and to iron out the weaknesses. Here is my section wise break-up:

CR - 34
RC - 36
SC - 44
Quant (all sections) - 49

I think CR is still one of the improvement for me. Also, being an engineer and someone who works with numerical data every day in my job, I would like to push my Quant score to 50 or 51, so that even if I have a bad day in Verbal during the exam, the score is still pretty decent. I am targeting a score of 740 in GMAT.

Just wanted to share the details with you to check if you have any suggestions.

Thanks,
Tushar

[email protected] wrote:Hi twadh,

All things concerned, you appear to be in a great position to hit your score goals. At this level, the GMAT becomes really 'sensitive' to silly/little mistakes though, so you have to focus on the 'precision' in your work - take notes, label your work, stay organized, do NOT do work in your head, etc. Your last group of CATs also need to match-up with Test Day in every reasonable way possible.

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

Thanks Rich. I will try to keep your advice in mind, going into the final leg of my preparation.

Hi,

I gave my GMAT on 7th Aug and got a score of 690 (Q50/V32). I was quite disappointed with my verbal score as I got a minimum of V35 in my mock tests.

Since I feel this score is not a true reflection of my verbal skills, I have decided to re-take GMAT on 15th Sep.

Need advice on the preparation part for Verbal:
1. I used Enhanced Score Report and found that I scored really low on CR (44%ile) and SC (59%ile). While I knew CR is my weak area, SC was one of my strengths. I used to score around 85-90%ile comfortably in SC in my GMAT prep mock tests. Did RC well.
2. I am revising my SC and CR concepts which I learned from Manhattan SC and CR powerscore Bible. Any other material i should refer?
3. Since I used all my GMAT prep and Manahttan tests, I am looking for a good practise test as I plan to take at least one before the exam. Do you think Veritas or Kaplan free tests would be a good idea?

Any suggestions on the above are most welcome.

Thanks,
Tushar

twadh wrote:Hi,

I gave my GMAT on 7th Aug and got a score of 690 (Q50/V32). I was quite disappointed with my verbal score as I got a minimum of V35 in my mock tests.

Since I feel this score is not a true reflection of my verbal skills, I have decided to re-take GMAT on 15th Sep.

Need advice on the preparation part for Verbal:
1. I used Enhanced Score Report and found that I scored really low on CR (44%ile) and SC (59%ile). While I knew CR is my weak area, SC was one of my strengths. I used to score around 85-90%ile comfortably in SC in my GMAT prep mock tests. Did RC well.
2. I am revising my SC and CR concepts which I learned from Manhattan SC and CR powerscore Bible. Any other material i should refer?

Those materials sound fine, but remember the concepts are only the building blocks one uses to get to answers. More important are your approaches to getting to right answers.

Many people rely heavily on rules and concepts when doing SC and CR. The thing is that, as you experienced, one can run into trouble doing that. What seems like a rule may not be a hard and fast rule, and a GMAT SC question may be written in such a way as to make it seem that a rule is the decision point, when in fact something else, possibly meaning, is the actual decision point.

I have seen someone who knows all kinds of sentence construction rules score in the 6th! percentile in SC. The same guy scores relatively high on quant, but he somehow gets caught up in rules and doesn't really reason when doing verbal.

So maybe what you need to work on more than rules and concepts is how to play the SC and CR games and get right answers.

Interestingly you mention that you do well on RC. Possibly that is because you are not leaning on rules so much there and instead are reasoning or hacking your way to right answers.

You learn to really reason and hack your way to SC and CR answers and you will likely stabilize your verbal score at a higher level.

For more good, if not always perfect, verbal questions, you could sign up for the free Veritas Question Bank. The SC questions there particularly force you to hack as they have been designed with false decision points. So they may be good for you.

Do them slowly and really seek to get a high hit rate. Then as you get better at getting right answers consistently, speed up.

twadh wrote:3. Since I used all my GMAT prep and Manahttan tests, I am looking for a good practise test as I plan to take at least one before the exam. Do you think Veritas or Kaplan free tests would be a good idea?

Speaking of Veritas, I recommend their practice tests as the next ones for you to use.

Thanks a lot Marty. Really nice suggestion. I devoted 80% of my time on Verbal, learning as many rules and concepts as I could in SC and CR. Along the way, I might have started focusing less on a macro view of the question.

Will keep your inputs in mind.

Thanks,
Tushar

Thanks Rich for the help. I have mailed you my ESR. Let me know if you have any thoughts.

Thanks,
Tushar