I scheduled my GMAT for September 17 and have 20 days to go. I just finished the Manhattan GMAT Guided Self-Study and want advice on the best way to maximize my studying (I work Monday to Friday 8-5pm) in order to get at least a 700. Below are a few details:
In my diagnostic (Manhattan GMAT CAT Test 1), I got a 610, 33 Quant (39%-ile) and 40 Verbal (91%-ile). After about 3 weeks of studying (MGMAT self-prep course), I took the second CAT and got 620, 42 Quant (66%-ile), 33 Verbal (69%-ile).
I finished taking my third practice test over the weekend and got the below results:
Quant 42 66 %
Verbal 36 81 %
Total 640 80%
Compared to my previous results, this sort of the middle of the road I feel. My Quant improvement from the 1st test is still visible (39%-ile to 66%-ile) but there was no change from Test 2. The difference I did notice was I felt much more relaxed and less time-constrained than the first 2 tests. In CAT 2, there were moments when I was lagging behind and had to guess a few in the middle and towards the end. On CAT 3, on the other hand, I was consistent with the time and made it til the end with a few seconds to spare. I'm not sure if this is a bad thing or a good thing? I had more time to answer questions but why didn't I get a higher score? Or did I get the timing down pat, all I have to do now is brush up on content?
As for the Verbal, the roller coaster continues. I had a 91%-ile in CAT 1, dropped to 69%-ile, and went up to 81%-ile. Whereas in the CAT 2 where I had a lot of time left and made some careless mistakes, in CAT 3 I felt like I was too careful and spent too much time on questions, especially in the beginning that I rushed towards the end. I want to bring this back to the 91%-ile level that I got in CAT 1 or even higher as I know I am stronger in Verbal than Quant and need an excellent Verbal score to offset an average Quant score. Am I too concerned with the Prep strategy than answering the question correctly and using my own intuition/stock knowledge?
What do you advise I should do now that the self-study program is over? How will I best prepare? I am aiming to get to a 700 or above and I believe I still can considering if I combine my highest Quant (42) and Verbal (40) in the 3 CAT tests, I would be at around a 680. What do I need to do to maximize my score and is it remotely feasible to get my ideal score given the time left?
In my diagnostic (Manhattan GMAT CAT Test 1), I got a 610, 33 Quant (39%-ile) and 40 Verbal (91%-ile). After about 3 weeks of studying (MGMAT self-prep course), I took the second CAT and got 620, 42 Quant (66%-ile), 33 Verbal (69%-ile).
I finished taking my third practice test over the weekend and got the below results:
Quant 42 66 %
Verbal 36 81 %
Total 640 80%
Compared to my previous results, this sort of the middle of the road I feel. My Quant improvement from the 1st test is still visible (39%-ile to 66%-ile) but there was no change from Test 2. The difference I did notice was I felt much more relaxed and less time-constrained than the first 2 tests. In CAT 2, there were moments when I was lagging behind and had to guess a few in the middle and towards the end. On CAT 3, on the other hand, I was consistent with the time and made it til the end with a few seconds to spare. I'm not sure if this is a bad thing or a good thing? I had more time to answer questions but why didn't I get a higher score? Or did I get the timing down pat, all I have to do now is brush up on content?
As for the Verbal, the roller coaster continues. I had a 91%-ile in CAT 1, dropped to 69%-ile, and went up to 81%-ile. Whereas in the CAT 2 where I had a lot of time left and made some careless mistakes, in CAT 3 I felt like I was too careful and spent too much time on questions, especially in the beginning that I rushed towards the end. I want to bring this back to the 91%-ile level that I got in CAT 1 or even higher as I know I am stronger in Verbal than Quant and need an excellent Verbal score to offset an average Quant score. Am I too concerned with the Prep strategy than answering the question correctly and using my own intuition/stock knowledge?
What do you advise I should do now that the self-study program is over? How will I best prepare? I am aiming to get to a 700 or above and I believe I still can considering if I combine my highest Quant (42) and Verbal (40) in the 3 CAT tests, I would be at around a 680. What do I need to do to maximize my score and is it remotely feasible to get my ideal score given the time left?
