GMAT Strategy

Hello,

I am in a state of panic right now. I took a GMAT Prep Test 1 and scored a 640 (Q48 V30).

I am looking to break 700+ barrier on 9th April. With little time left on my corner, I am all at sea right now. I have gone through 80% of material I have( MGMAT SC, CR Bible, OG12, OG Verbal) and I hoped that doing so would have propelled my score at at least 670+ or so but I am extremely demotivated with my score.
I am still left with 5 of my MGMAT Tests and GMAPRep Test2 which I plan to take in the duration left.

Can any one help me chalk out a plan to achieve this

In a not so happy place,
Vaibhav.

Adding to the above post, I have analysed my verbal incorrect questions and I have found that I got 6-7 (4SC + 1 CR + 2 RC) questions wrong in particular which I should have got right under all circumstances. (silly mistakes).
Is it OK think that if I would have got these 7 questions right I would have scaled my score close to 700; so my knowledge base is not weak? Or may be I am short of exam practice?
Any advice from any one would help me immensely. How to handle this situation in such short time I got?

Vaibhav.

Well 7 more questions right is quite a few so that would have certainly helped if you had not made those silly errors. I am not sure it would have taken you all the way from a 640 to a 700, but it would have helped a lot!

I am not sure that we can say that your knowledge base is not lacking, it may be that if you had not made the mistakes you would have reached a higher level and perhaps found some area that you were lacking, however, I can certainly say that much of the verbal section is about technique more so than knowledge.

Have you taken the GMATPrep test 1 only the one time? You should take each of those tests at least twice. You might run into a few questions that you have seen before but it is still worth it.

It seems like you have gone through your mistakes, be conscious of eliminating those silly errors and see if you can get closer to that 700. It might be that if you take the GMATPrep test 1 again tomorrow you would get a 670+. Just remember to work all the way through any repeated question that you might see. It is not fair for you to get a question right in like 20 seconds because you remember the answer!

Let's see what you would get if you can avoid those silly errors and you can know better how to proceed from there. Because at this moment, I am thinking of those errors as the main problem and what you should be focused on, rather than seeing them just as a side issue....

David@VeritasPrep wrote:Well 7 more questions right is quite a few so that would have certainly helped if you had not made those silly errors. I am not sure it would have taken you all the way from a 640 to a 700, but it would have helped a lot!

I am not sure that we can say that your knowledge base is not lacking, it may be that if you had not made the mistakes you would have reached a higher level and perhaps found some area that you were lacking, however, I can certainly say that much of the verbal section is about technique more so than knowledge.

Have you taken the GMATPrep test 1 only the one time? You should take each of those tests at least twice. You might run into a few questions that you have seen before but it is still worth it.

It seems like you have gone through your mistakes, be conscious of eliminating those silly errors and see if you can get closer to that 700. It might be that if you take the GMATPrep test 1 again tomorrow you would get a 670+. Just remember to work all the way through any repeated question that you might see. It is not fair for you to get a question right in like 20 seconds because you remember the answer!

Let's see what you would get if you can avoid those silly errors and you can know better how to proceed from there. Because at this moment, I am thinking of those errors as the main problem and what you should be focused on, rather than seeing them just as a side issue....

Thanks a ton David for reverting to my post. I am currently in contemplating mode and also going through a couple of old BTG posts in the current category which dealt with these issues and helped similar people stuck in my situation.
Also to add I did take Veritas Free GMAT test 3 weeks ago and scored a 650 on it. My verbal, a 30 odd, took a toll on my score. I worked on my concepts (went to MGMAT SC and CR Bible[not thoroughly]) and brushed my basics to reach till date and I scored a 640 again.
With few dates left in my pocket(9th April) I am left wondering and searching for RIGHT ideas to get my score to soaring 700+.
Btw this was my second attempt @ GMAT Prep Test 1. The 1st test I took in Aug, 2012 as a diagnostic and scored a 590. But that also implied that all the questions were relatively fresh to me when I took the test today.

Your thoughts David.

Thanks,
Vaibhav.

In my set of action items, I look to go through all questions I got wrong in Veritas Prep Free GMAT exam and all the questions I got wrong while solving OG problems, spl for SC and CR (Main). I am still in process to completely solve OG Verbal Supplement (I am half way through it). I saved it for the later half-end period of my preparation as it was a good question bank to practice concepts that I learned during my prep. So I will continue with that. And yeah also take up PS CR Bible revision diligently. Looking to complete these before Sunday when I plan to take MGMAT CAT Test 2 or PR Practice free GMAT test.

Vaibhav.

Hi David,

I took manhattan gmat cat test (test2) and scored another 630 (v31,q46). This is really demotivating. I dont know where I am going wrong in verbal. Atleast the score should be on increment even if not touching the perfect score. With 2 weeks to go for GMAT (9th April) I am looking down the abyss.

Vaibhav.

There is no abyss. Do not think of it that way...

You are in a process, you may not have everything click until you get closer to the test date. You cannot lose faith now.

You need to keep trying to understand what is happening in CR and SC. It is about understanding the reasoning process. It can be done. As you go forward try to make Verbal simpler, try to narrow your focus. Understand what is in play on a particular SC question. Focus in on what matters on a CR question.

Do you have a process for CR that you use each time? Yes, question types are different, but understanding the stimulus is very much the same.

When are you taking that GMATPrep 2 test? I don't know if you have said, but are you getting the Prep Pack 1 to add on to the GMATPrep?

By the way, have you read this article? https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2013/01/ ... n-the-gmat

David@VeritasPrep wrote:There is no abyss. Do not think of it that way...

You are in a process, you may not have everything click until you get closer to the test date. You cannot lose faith now.

You need to keep trying to understand what is happening in CR and SC. It is about understanding the reasoning process. It can be done. As you go forward try to make Verbal simpler, try to narrow your focus. Understand what is in play on a particular SC question. Focus in on what matters on a CR question.

Do you have a process for CR that you use each time? Yes, question types are different, but understanding the stimulus is very much the same.

When are you taking that GMATPrep 2 test? I don't know if you have said, but are you getting the Prep Pack 1 to add on to the GMATPrep?

By the way, have you read this article? https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2013/01/ ... n-the-gmat

Thanks a lot David. After reading your post, I do feel a bit relieved. I tried to analyse my mistakes in both verbal and quant. I found that I did miss out on a lot of questions which I should have got right. It may be because I did not recognize the traps in the question, specially in verbal, and fell for them. Or may be just exam pressure is getting the best out of me.
Analysis did bring out a lot of points and I have noted them down. I look to go through them once again before I take the next test.
I will be taking another MGMAT CAT test shortly this week, probably during weekdays. I have planned to take GMAT prep test 2 some time next week; basically saving it for the last, but keeping enough buffer time in hand so as to retake it if necessary. I need to plan that schedule very carefully. Till then I look to complete all my MGMAT Tests and look to achieve some sort of progression.
I am also planning to take GMAT prep test 1 again (3rd time). Though I might have some questions repeated, but mostly it will be a confidence booster going ahead i.e. if I score well.

As per my last analysis of verbal I have got CR: 6qs, SC: 7qs and RC: 6qs incorrect. In RCs I missed out few questions because I did not pay attention to details and I chose the options which were more general in nature. In SC I need to have more attention details look out for splits more diligently. In my second attempt at SC, I got most/all of them correct. The CR again was tricky in few questions. I have learnt from my analysis to recognize the argument in question and evaluate each answer type based on the impact it has on the argument. Obviously it would vary on the question type. I have gone through Power score CR Bible again and made notes. I will go through them again before taking the next test. I am currently solving CR questions from Verbal Supplement OG. I have completed all the questions from SC and I have mostly had an accuracy ranging from 80-90%+ (same as in Gmat prep add on 1).

Yes I did take Add on GMAT Prep Pack 1. It really helped me. I exhausted all the SC and CR questions mostly. 20 odd questions remain though. I have been getting scoring 8-9/10 in SC and 6-7 on CR regularly. RC questions are sequenced randomly hence I am unable to take them at one go.

Your thoughts David..

Vaibhav.

5 days to go...and FINALLY a score of 700!!!!!(GMAT Prep1 -Retake).
QA: 49.
VA: 35. (ran short of time in the end)
with 90%+ questions new.
Learnt a very essential fact about GMAT...the only plan that works on GMAT is to attack all the questions that pop on the screen and get them right.
Plan to take another MGMAT GMAT Mock either today or tomorrow.
Hoping to see some more progression.

Learnt a very essential fact about GMAT...the only plan that works on GMAT is to attack all the questions that pop on the screen and get them right.

What a great quote!

But then again you did not get them all correct right? You attacked them all and you did you best and stayed focused but it was still okay to miss a few and get 700 right?

The point is that you said to each problem "I will get this one right" and you did what it takes to get lots of them right!

Nice job!

got a 630(qa: 48; va: 29)...no surprises there.. how do i improve my VA score???? I am planning to retake GMAT soon before Aug. How do I go about it?