URGENT HELP 7 days to GMAT&not given any tests

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I have been practicing each section individually with a timer in place. Based on shorter tests I have been trying to strengthen my problem areas, But I haven't taken a full test yet. Due to some problem with my GMAT prep software this week I couldn't give the test I had planned. Plan to give my first one tomorrow.

I have 7 days to the GMAT. How many practice tests should I attempt? and which ones should be the best and most accurate (other than the ones on the GMAT prep software)

Any help is much appreciated, thanks

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by MartyMurray » Thu Jun 02, 2016 8:47 pm
Hi shaurya012.

Probably you should take one and see how it goes.

Then, maybe, depending on what your review of the test shows about how you did and what factors affected your score, you could maybe take another one to get better at handling the various aspects of the test experience.

Two is probably the max though. If you really go at it, you will get a little exhausted by taking practice tests, and you don't want to be burned out when you go to take the real thing.
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by [email protected] » Fri Jun 03, 2016 8:45 am
Hi shaurya012,

With so little time left before your Official GMAT, you should NOT be taking too many CATs. As Marty mentioned, you might take one more after this initial CAT, but taking more than that would not be a good idea. It's important to remember that taking lots of CATs will NOT make you a better Test Taker. A CAT is really a 'measuring device' - when used correctly, it will give you a realistic score and help define your strengths and weaknesses, but it will NOT help you to fix any of those weaknesses. To raise your scores, you have to put in the necessary practice and repetitions. The CAT will show you whether your studies are helping you to improve or not. As such, under normal conditions you really shouldn't take more than 1 FULL CAT per week.

1) How long have you been studying?
2) What is your score goal?

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by shaurya012 » Sun Jun 05, 2016 12:23 pm
Thank you both for your insights. I have been preparing for the last one month or so. I did take a Kaplan test on Friday and scores a 650, with 46 in quant and 33 in verbal. But worst was IR, I did not manage well with the time limit.

My aim is a 700 atleast, and I plan to take the GMAT Prep Software test #1 tomorrow. Any feedback on what I should focus on will be much appreciated. I have been practising IR vigorously.

Thanking you again.
Regards
Shaurya

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by [email protected] » Sun Jun 05, 2016 2:23 pm
Hi shaurya012,

Your IR score is a separate score from 1-8, and has no impact on your overall score out of 800 - so if the immediate goal is to score 700+, then spending more time on IR likely won't make much of a difference. In the long term, IR and Verbal CR have a lot in common, so improving in one area often can help improve in the other, but you have just 3 more study days remaining, so spending time on IR now is not a good use of that time.

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by OptimusPrep » Sun Jun 05, 2016 8:34 pm
shaurya012 wrote:Thank you both for your insights. I have been preparing for the last one month or so. I did take a Kaplan test on Friday and scores a 650, with 46 in quant and 33 in verbal. But worst was IR, I did not manage well with the time limit.

My aim is a 700 atleast, and I plan to take the GMAT Prep Software test #1 tomorrow. Any feedback on what I should focus on will be much appreciated. I have been practising IR vigorously.

Thanking you again.
Regards
Shaurya
Hi shaurya012,

I would recommend you to not study for IR anymore. You should focus on the Quants and Verbal section to achieve your target score.
The best way would be to go ahead and take a GMAT prep mock CAT. This would be the most realistic mock test.

Do not give any test after this. Sit back and analyse your mistakes in the test and try to improve upon them.
If you have prepared an error log, go through it and revise the concepts learnt.

A few things to keep in mind on the test day:

1. Do not think about the final score at any point of time
2. Once done with a section forget about it and concentrate on the next one.
3. Take both the breaks. It helps you to freshen up
4. Take a note of the time when you are out for break. Do not exceed the break
5. Do not rush through the last 5 questions in the verbal sections in a bid to see your final score
6. Make sure you complete the section. There is a high penalty for not completing the test.

All the best!

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by MartyMurray » Mon Jun 06, 2016 4:34 am
shaurya012 wrote:I did take a Kaplan test on Friday and scores a 650, with 46 in quant and 33 in verbal. But worst was IR, I did not manage well with the time limit.

My aim is a 700 atleast, and I plan to take the GMAT Prep Software test #1 tomorrow. Any feedback on what I should focus on will be much appreciated. I have been practising IR vigorously.
You don't have to answer every IR question in order to get a decent score. Probably you should plan to answer 9 or 10 IR questions and shoot for accuracy.

Meanwhile, to get to 700+ go over your practice tests and figure out what has tripped you up.

In quant maybe there are three question types that you are not really comfortable with, with the result that you either take too long to answer the questions or you get them wrong. In the next few days you have time to become a TOTAL expert at answering questions of those three types. Getting better at handling three types of questions can radically change your quant score, as not only will you do better at handling those questions but also you will give yourself more time to find answers to other questions.

If you want some categorized quant questions for practice, you could sign up for a free practice account in the GMAT area here. https://bellcurves.com.

Also, I think that you will find that had your accuracy been a little better you would have scored higher in quant. So as you go over your practice tests, consider how you could have been more accurate.

Similarly, in verbal, go over each question you didn't get, before you read the explanations, and figure out what you had to see in order to get each right.

GMAT verbal is a test of vision and use of logic, and you need solid processes in order to get right answers. So consider what you have to see, how you could have been more logical, and how your processes could be changed in order to get you to right answers rather than wrong answers.

Also, really, probably you can drive your verbal score up just by being more determined to see what you have to see and to finish the section with style. People miss verbal questions simply because they are too complacent and not as determined as they could be and because they slack off at the end of the verbal section. I bet that with a certain attitude you could score 38+ in verbal today.

Very roughly speaking you need only about five or six more right answers to break 700. So by improving accuracy and getting better at handling certain question types in quant and by seeing a few more key things in verbal, you could hit your goal when you take the test.
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by shaurya012 » Wed Jun 08, 2016 12:46 am
Marty Murray wrote:
shaurya012 wrote:I did take a Kaplan test on Friday and scores a 650, with 46 in quant and 33 in verbal. But worst was IR, I did not manage well with the time limit.

My aim is a 700 atleast, and I plan to take the GMAT Prep Software test #1 tomorrow. Any feedback on what I should focus on will be much appreciated. I have been practising IR vigorously.
You don't have to answer every IR question in order to get a decent score. Probably you should plan to answer 9 or 10 IR questions and shoot for accuracy.

Meanwhile, to get to 700+ go over your practice tests and figure out what has tripped you up.

In quant maybe there are three question types that you are not really comfortable with, with the result that you either take too long to answer the questions or you get them wrong. In the next few days you have time to become a TOTAL expert at answering questions of those three types. Getting better at handling three types of questions can radically change your quant score, as not only will you do better at handling those questions but also you will give yourself more time to find answers to other questions.

If you want some categorized quant questions for practice, you could sign up for a free practice account in the GMAT area here. https://bellcurves.com.

Also, I think that you will find that had your accuracy been a little better you would have scored higher in quant. So as you go over your practice tests, consider how you could have been more accurate.

Similarly, in verbal, go over each question you didn't get, before you read the explanations, and figure out what you had to see in order to get each right.

GMAT verbal is a test of vision and use of logic, and you need solid processes in order to get right answers. So consider what you have to see, how you could have been more logical, and how your processes could be changed in order to get you to right answers rather than wrong answers.

Also, really, probably you can drive your verbal score up just by being more determined to see what you have to see and to finish the section with style. People miss verbal questions simply because they are too complacent and not as determined as they could be and because they slack off at the end of the verbal section. I bet that with a certain attitude you could score 38+ in verbal today.

Very roughly speaking you need only about five or six more right answers to break 700. So by improving accuracy and getting better at handling certain question types in quant and by seeing a few more key things in verbal, you could hit your goal when you take the test.
thank you so much for the feedback. Since my GMAT in day after in the evening. I have only a period of 48 hours left. I gave an official GMAT prep test day before, but scored poorly with a 610 with Q43 V31, my IR has improved and i got an 8. but thats irrelevant as of now.

I think it was lack of determination in verbal and silly mistakes in quant.

I've been practicing questions from online forums of the 700 level difficulty for the SC section and PS problems of 700 level that i couldn't get right, like statistics and sets.

What else would you suggest for the last day?

Also, should I give the second GMAT prep test to access weak points? Hoping for a prompt reply. Thank you

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by MartyMurray » Wed Jun 08, 2016 4:29 am
shaurya012 wrote:
Marty Murray wrote:thank you so much for the feedback. Since my GMAT in day after in the evening. I have only a period of 48 hours left. I gave an official GMAT prep test day before, but scored poorly with a 610 with Q43 V31, my IR has improved and i got an 8. but thats irrelevant as of now.

I think it was lack of determination in verbal and silly mistakes in quant.

I've been practicing questions from online forums of the 700 level difficulty for the SC section and PS problems of 700 level that i couldn't get right, like statistics and sets.

What else would you suggest for the last day?

Also, should I give the second GMAT prep test to access weak points? Hoping for a prompt reply. Thank you
Probably you should not take another full GMAT Prep test, as if you really go at it, you will drain yourself and still be feeling the effects when you go to take the actual test. However, if you feel that you will gain new insights and some good practice by doing so, taking just the quant section or just the verbal section might make sense. I would think that you could tell what your weaker areas are without doing that though.

Whatever you do, for this last day, keep working on those weaker areas, seeking to become comfortable handling questions of types that you are not all that comfortable with. Overlapping sets questions, for instance, are pretty easy to get right, but can be very time consuming if you are not familiar with how to handle them.

Also, really keep accuracy in mind. Silly mistakes give you wrong answers, and even worse sometimes, suck up time.

Tomorrow, do a little practicing before the test, to get warmed up. That way when you go to take the test it will feel like an extension of your practice session, and you will already be in GMAT mode when you see the first question. Remember when you are doing the verbal section to be totally determined. You only have that one section to finish at that point. So no matter how you feel just intensely look for right answers.
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by [email protected] » Sun Jun 12, 2016 10:09 am
Hi shaurya012,

How did your Official GMAT go? How did you score (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?

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by shaurya012 » Sun Jun 12, 2016 10:34 pm
[email protected] wrote:Hi shaurya012,

How did your Official GMAT go? How did you score (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?

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

I scored a 690, with 47 in Quant and 38 in Verbal. I'm not too happy with the score and am contemplating taking the GMAT again.

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by [email protected] » Mon Jun 13, 2016 8:26 am
Hi shaurya012,

First off, a 690/Q47 is a fantastic score (it's just a bit shy of the 90th percentile overall), so it's likely strong enough to get you into your first-choice School. As such, a retest might not be necessary.

1) What Schools are you planning to apply to?
2) When are you planning to apply?

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