Hi Everybody!
I started studying for the GMAT in september last year, using Magoosh and following their 3 month study plan. For several reasons, I couldn't make much studying in december and january, but I continued in february, and I just ended their study plan (saw all the videos, but did around half the problems).
I have taken 5 MGMAT CATS and these were my scores:
530 - Q33 - V31 (25/10/2015)
520 - Q27 - V34 (15/11/2015)
590 - Q40 - V32 (21/11/2015)
600 - Q37 - V35 (13/2/2016)
600 - Q37 - V35 (28/2/2016)
Then I took two GMAT PREP CATs and these were my scores:
580 - Q34 - V35 (6/3/2016)
590 - Q36 - V35 (13/3/2016)
I am aiming to get at least a 650, and honestly I feel stuck, especially on the quant section, which is the one I struggle with the most (I'm a lawyer!). I'm pretty discouraged because of my GMAT PREP Cat results because I thought it was supposed to be easier than MGMAT (or so they say).
I want to take the real GMAT at May, and I feel stuck, frustrated and running out of time.
Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions that could help me improve?
Thanks a lot!
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Stuck at 600! Help!
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Hi matiasrbz,
Your last 4 CAT scores are remarkably consistent, which means that you're responding to your CATs in the same general ways every time you take one (you do certain things consistently well, but you make the same consistent mistakes). You're actually closer to your score goal than you probably realize and you could pick up the missing points that you're looking for in either the Quant section, the Verbal section or both. That last point having been said, Business Schools tend to prefer that applicants have higher Quant scores, so you can raise your GMAT score AND strengthen your overall application by raising your Quant Scaled Score.
I have a few questions about how you took your CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)?
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once?
6) Did you have trouble finishing the Quant section on time (and did you end up guessing on a bunch of questions?)?
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Your last 4 CAT scores are remarkably consistent, which means that you're responding to your CATs in the same general ways every time you take one (you do certain things consistently well, but you make the same consistent mistakes). You're actually closer to your score goal than you probably realize and you could pick up the missing points that you're looking for in either the Quant section, the Verbal section or both. That last point having been said, Business Schools tend to prefer that applicants have higher Quant scores, so you can raise your GMAT score AND strengthen your overall application by raising your Quant Scaled Score.
I have a few questions about how you took your CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)?
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once?
6) Did you have trouble finishing the Quant section on time (and did you end up guessing on a bunch of questions?)?
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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MartyMurray
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The solution is pretty simple.
Use the practice test analytics to see what types of quant questions you need to work on. Then work on those types one at a time.
Basically one question right on quant is worth about one more point in your scaled score and about 10 points in total score. So in a sense you need to get roughly 8 more quant questions right to hit your target. That means working on maybe 10 types of questions that you are not that strong in handling and getting super good at handling them.
Meanwhile, you could work on accuracy and hacking in general and get more right answers that way.
Also, here's a key thing. The GMAT is not set up to test what you have learned in terms of content. The concepts are mostly just building blocks for questions. Rather the GMAT is set up to test your skills in using resources and logic to get to answers. So those skills are what you need to develop, and watching videos is only the beginning of what it takes to do that. Now you actually have to do questions, playing the GMAT like a video game. You need to do practice questions slowly at first, developing skill in GETTING TO RIGHT ANSWERS. You can get right answers any way you want to, by using the answer choices, by using algebra, whatever works.
By getting better at handling certain types of questions, getting better at hacking your way to answers and learning to work more accurately, you can and will drive that quant section score anywhere you want it to go.
You can also play verbal in a similar way, doing the questions slowly at first and learning to do whatever it takes to achieve a high hit rate. I have people spend hours doing just a few CR questions, for instance, pondering them to become wicked clear about what's going on in them and how to get them right. If you use that level of intensity to develop great skills you will totally rock GMAT verbal too.
Any kid who plays a video game enough and who is determined to develop gaming skills learns to jam on that game. You can play the GMAT that way and take your skills to whatever level you want to.
Use the practice test analytics to see what types of quant questions you need to work on. Then work on those types one at a time.
Basically one question right on quant is worth about one more point in your scaled score and about 10 points in total score. So in a sense you need to get roughly 8 more quant questions right to hit your target. That means working on maybe 10 types of questions that you are not that strong in handling and getting super good at handling them.
Meanwhile, you could work on accuracy and hacking in general and get more right answers that way.
Also, here's a key thing. The GMAT is not set up to test what you have learned in terms of content. The concepts are mostly just building blocks for questions. Rather the GMAT is set up to test your skills in using resources and logic to get to answers. So those skills are what you need to develop, and watching videos is only the beginning of what it takes to do that. Now you actually have to do questions, playing the GMAT like a video game. You need to do practice questions slowly at first, developing skill in GETTING TO RIGHT ANSWERS. You can get right answers any way you want to, by using the answer choices, by using algebra, whatever works.
By getting better at handling certain types of questions, getting better at hacking your way to answers and learning to work more accurately, you can and will drive that quant section score anywhere you want it to go.
You can also play verbal in a similar way, doing the questions slowly at first and learning to do whatever it takes to achieve a high hit rate. I have people spend hours doing just a few CR questions, for instance, pondering them to become wicked clear about what's going on in them and how to get them right. If you use that level of intensity to develop great skills you will totally rock GMAT verbal too.
Any kid who plays a video game enough and who is determined to develop gaming skills learns to jam on that game. You can play the GMAT that way and take your skills to whatever level you want to.
Last edited by MartyMurray on Fri Feb 08, 2019 9:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
Marty Murray
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Perfect Scoring Tutor With Over a Decade of Experience
MartyMurrayCoaching.com
Contact me at [email protected] for a free consultation.
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matiasrbz
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Thank you both Rich and Marty, your input is very helpful.
Rich, here go my answers to your questions:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)? Yes, every time.
2) Did you take them at home? Yes, every time
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT? Yes, I took almost all of them from 10 am to 2pm, which is the time I intend to take the test.
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)? No
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? No
6) Did you have trouble finishing the Quant section on time (and did you end up guessing on a bunch of questions?)? I usually end up guessing a lot of questions throughout the entire quant section. When I see I'm spending too much time on a question I tend to guess and move on. I also usually have trouble finishing on time so at the end I do more guessing.
Let me know if you have any good suggestions for me considering my answers.
Best!
MatÃas
Rich, here go my answers to your questions:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)? Yes, every time.
2) Did you take them at home? Yes, every time
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT? Yes, I took almost all of them from 10 am to 2pm, which is the time I intend to take the test.
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)? No
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? No
6) Did you have trouble finishing the Quant section on time (and did you end up guessing on a bunch of questions?)? I usually end up guessing a lot of questions throughout the entire quant section. When I see I'm spending too much time on a question I tend to guess and move on. I also usually have trouble finishing on time so at the end I do more guessing.
Let me know if you have any good suggestions for me considering my answers.
Best!
MatÃas
GMAT/MBA Expert
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Hi Matias,
The consistency with which you took your CATs is not surprising considering how consistently you scored. There are a couple of things that you'll have to change though before you'll be able to score at a much higher level.
To start, taking your CATs at home is NOT realistic; Test Day involves travel and taking the GMAT at another location, so you'll need to incorporate that into your CAT-taking process. Second, having to guess on so many questions implies that you either don't know the content well-enough or you don't know the most efficient ways to go about answering Quant questions (or both). Since you've been studying for so long, you've likely developed some 'bad habits' that will take time to fix (and replace with new 'good habits'). That will likely involve investing in some new materials and learning/practicing some new tactics.
Thankfully, your overall score goal is closer than you probably realize - and you could potentially pick up all of those points in the Verbal section, if you chose. Business Schools tend to prefer applicants who have strong Quant Scaled Scores though, so it would likely benefit you the most if you could improve your Quant score.
1) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
2) What Schools are you planning to apply to?
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
The consistency with which you took your CATs is not surprising considering how consistently you scored. There are a couple of things that you'll have to change though before you'll be able to score at a much higher level.
To start, taking your CATs at home is NOT realistic; Test Day involves travel and taking the GMAT at another location, so you'll need to incorporate that into your CAT-taking process. Second, having to guess on so many questions implies that you either don't know the content well-enough or you don't know the most efficient ways to go about answering Quant questions (or both). Since you've been studying for so long, you've likely developed some 'bad habits' that will take time to fix (and replace with new 'good habits'). That will likely involve investing in some new materials and learning/practicing some new tactics.
Thankfully, your overall score goal is closer than you probably realize - and you could potentially pick up all of those points in the Verbal section, if you chose. Business Schools tend to prefer applicants who have strong Quant Scaled Scores though, so it would likely benefit you the most if you could improve your Quant score.
1) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
2) What Schools are you planning to apply to?
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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matiasrbz
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Dear Rich,
Thank you for your quick answer, and sorry for my delay (just took a vacation).
I plan on taking the GMAT in early june, so that I can apply at first round in september/october.
I'm mainly focusing on european b-schools because I have a community passport, and they are more flexible when it comes to durations of the MBA, there are more options. The schools I've been looking into are: HEC, LBS, INSEAD, IESE, ESADE, IE, Cambridge and EDHEC. I may also apply to two or three top schools in the US (Harvard, Chicago, etc).
I am now finishing the GMAT math foundations book from MGMAT, so that I can strenghthen my basic knowledge of the quant section, but I feel that what I need the most is some tactics training.
Thank you very much for your help.
Thank you for your quick answer, and sorry for my delay (just took a vacation).
I plan on taking the GMAT in early june, so that I can apply at first round in september/october.
I'm mainly focusing on european b-schools because I have a community passport, and they are more flexible when it comes to durations of the MBA, there are more options. The schools I've been looking into are: HEC, LBS, INSEAD, IESE, ESADE, IE, Cambridge and EDHEC. I may also apply to two or three top schools in the US (Harvard, Chicago, etc).
I am now finishing the GMAT math foundations book from MGMAT, so that I can strenghthen my basic knowledge of the quant section, but I feel that what I need the most is some tactics training.
Thank you very much for your help.
