18 days to go + Veritas Prep CAT

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melguy: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 335; Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2011 11:31 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Location: Australia / India; Thanked: 37 times

by melguy » Fri Aug 23, 2013 5:14 am

Hello All

I have 18 days to before my real GMAT exam. I gave a Vertias Prep full length CAT today (not paying a lot of attention to IR and saving the energy for Verbal) and scored a 610. I am aiming at a score of 640-650. I made a few silly mistakes which I will work on. But apart from that I would like to know what is recommended by experts between now and then to reach a score of 640 - 650 in the real exam? Give as many CAT exams (on alternate days) and review mistakes or revise the course?

Also, I though that Vertias Prep questions were great but I would like to know from experience if scoring of Vertias Prep algorithm is close to the real GMAT exam? (I tried Official gmat CAT more than twice so I see a lot of repeat Q's which inflates my score significantly. Thats why I chose Vertias Prep CAT.)

Although majority will disagree but I find MGMAT CAT easier compared to the real GMAT or Official CAT. I always score ~50 points more on MGMAT CAT. Hence I am seeking some advice on how the Veritas Prep CAT works.

Looking forward to your suggestions and encouragement. Thanks in advance!

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Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Fri Aug 23, 2013 5:14 am

faraz_jeddah: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 358; Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2013 9:46 amFollowed by: 7 members; Location: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Thanked: 42 times; GMAT Score:730

by faraz_jeddah » Fri Aug 23, 2013 9:44 am

I am not an expert but here are my 2 cents -

I would practice the CATs with IR and AWA. You do not want to caught off guard on G-day and seem out of gas in the last few questions on Verbal.

Personally, I have given 3 Veritas CATs and they are close to my score on the Official GMATprep software CATS. I think you are within reach of your goal. Just cut out the silly mistakes.

Let us know how it goes. I plan to give my GMAT in a similar time frame.

A good question also deserves a Thanks.

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melguy: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 335; Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2011 11:31 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Location: Australia / India; Thanked: 37 times

by melguy » Fri Aug 23, 2013 7:27 pm

Thanks for your input faraz. I actually gave the whole CAT including IR and AWA. Only I did not engage a lot in IR questions i.e. if it was difficult I would let it go rather than reading long passages to figure out the correct answer. I applied this strategy so that I have energy left for Verbal section. It worked better in my case atleast because I remained active throughout Verbal (normally I become so tired that after Verbal Q 20 that I can't even understand questions let alone answer them).

Ya, silly mistakes is the biggest problem of all. I will certainly pay extra attention to this area from now on. Hopefully will improve at least 20 - 30 points just by cutting back on my silly mistakes

rakeshd347: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 391; Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2013 5:13 amFollowed by: 4 members; Thanked: 50 times

by rakeshd347 » Sat Aug 24, 2013 3:34 am

Hi Mate,

I am preparing for the GMAT myself and I gave the Veritas prep test last wednesday. I score 710 in that. But I am still not satisfied because I have given the real gmat before and know that the pressure there will be little more than giving at home. Moreover you should consider that you haven't given the essay as well. If I were you, I would just improve my quant in the next 2 and a half week. Specially the weak areas. Generally in Quant I score 49 or so but my verbal is not so good and only score about V36-39. In your case your quant score is bit low I would say concentrate on your weak areas for the next 2 weeks and do lot of practise test along with analysing all the questions. Whether you get a question wrong or right just check the explanation for all. Trust me I have improved my score just by doing that. I just practise and practise more but analyse EVERY SINGLE answer irrespective your your outcome right or wrong.

best of luck with your test

Thanks,
Rakesh

melguy: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 335; Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2011 11:31 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Location: Australia / India; Thanked: 37 times

by melguy » Sat Aug 24, 2013 4:21 am

Thanks for your input Rakesh!! I too was thinking of giving a full length test every alternate day until the exam day and to revise the mistakes every alternate day.

P.S. I attempted all sections of the exam on Veritas prep CAT including the essay but for some reasons its showing up as N/A here.

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[email protected]: Elite Legendary Member; Posts: 10392; Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pmFollowed by: 511 members; Location: Palo Alto, CA; Thanked: 2867 times; GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Sat Aug 24, 2013 2:25 pm

Hi melguy,

Taking lots of CATs in the last few weeks of your studies is NOT a good idea. CATs don't make you a better Test Taker - they just point out your weak spots and any pacing problems that you might have. If your goal is to improve, you'd be better served reviewing old CATs and doing additional practice problems. We advise our clients to take 1 CAT/week. Any more than that is NOT advisable and usually not beneficial.

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