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2 weeks for the gmat

Problem Solving — algebra and arithmetic (GMAT Focus Edition)
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2 weeks for the gmat

by GAL064 » Sun Feb 21, 2016 1:22 pm
Hello all,
I have been studying for the gmat exam for the past 4 month aiming to get +730.
I have completed:
OG - verbal + quant + general
All 10 Manhattan strategy guides
Manhattan advanced quant
Kaplan 800.

My Cat Scores:
4 month ago - Gmatprep - 670 - 48 quant and 34 verbal
2 Month ago - Manhhatan CAT 1 - 680 - 48 quant and 35 verbal
3 Weeks ago - Manhattan CAT 2 - 680 - 44 Quant and 38 verbal.
2 Weeks ago - Manhattan CAT 3 - 670 - 42 Quant and 39 Verbal.
1 Week ago - Gmatprep test 1 (again) - 730 - 47 Quant 44 Verbal
2 days ago - Manhattan CAT 4 - 690 - 45 Quant 39 Verbal

In high school I excelled in math so I am very confused by the low scores and especially the decrease in quant . I feel it's partially because of low stamina and lack of concentration during the quant (When i solve the problems when reviewing the exam I do much better than the actual CAT).

I have 2 weeks till my exam. I will take one week of work prior to the exam to study.:

1. What do you recommend me do to in my week off? is there a specific source I should use to practice?
How can I improve my quant?

I feel confident with the basic concepts. I did all of the CATs except the 2 First with AWA and IR.

Thanks Gal.
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sun Feb 21, 2016 1:30 pm
Keep in mind that the GMAT is a test of your math and verbal skills AND it's a test of your test-taking skills (endurance, time management, anxiety control, etc). So, 750-level math/verbal skills combined with 650-level test-taking skills will likely result in a score that's closer to 650 than to 750.

I suggest that you take some more practice tests. You can build your test-taking skills AND identify any remaining area(s) of weakness.

While CAREFULLY analyzing your practice tests, there are four main types of weakness to watch out for:
1. specific Quant skills/concepts (e.g., algebra, standard deviation, etc.)
2. specific Verbal skills/concepts (e.g., verb tenses, assumption CR questions, etc.)
3. test-taking skills (time management, endurance, anxiety etc.)
4. silly mistakes

For the first two weaknesses, the fix is pretty straightforward. Learn the concept/skill and find some practice questions to strengthen that weakness. To focus on one topic at a time, you can use BTG's tagging feature to isolate one concept. For example, here are all of the questions tagged as statistics questions: https://www.beatthegmat.com/forums/tags/ ... statistics
See the left side of that linked page for more tag options.

If your test-taking skills are holding you back, then you need to work on these. For example, we have a free GMAT time management video at https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... video/1244

Finally, if silly mistakes are hurting your score, then it's important that you identify and categorize these mistakes so that, during tests, you can easily spot situations in which you're prone to making errors. I write about this and other strategies in the following article: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/articles/avo ... teaks-gmat

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
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by [email protected] » Sun Feb 21, 2016 8:22 pm
Hi Gal,

Assuming that you took your CATs in a realistic way that 'mirrors' what you'll face on Test Day, you're closer to scoring 730+ than you probably realize. However, at this level the GMAT becomes really 'sensitive' to little mistakes - if you make too many, then that score will simply become impossible to achieve. It's worth noting that since your 730 practice score was a retake of a Test that you had already taken, that score result is likely 'inflated', so we can't count that as a truly accurate assessment of your abilities.

Since your Verbal Scaled Scores are so strong, you can actually hit your overall goal with a variety of Quant and Verbal Score 'combinations' - and you can find the missing points that you're looking for in EITHER the Quant or Verbal sections (or a combination of the two). With just 2 weeks before your Exam though, there's some question as to whether you could master any new Concepts or Tactics in such a short period of time. You could potentially improve your overall note-taking and organization though. As you've reviewed each of these CATs, how many questions did you get wrong because of a silly/little mistake? Be honest with that assessment. Fixing 'those' issues could be enough to put your score over the top.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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by ceilidh.erickson » Mon Feb 22, 2016 7:46 am
There's one thing I noticed about your scores: they're very inconsistent.

On quant, you've gone from a 48 (very strong) down to a 44, then 42, then back up to 47. Inconsistency on quant almost always indicated CARELESS ERRORS. As Brent pointed out, you need to focus some serious attention on these. A lot of students brush off careless mistakes when focusing on what seem like larger content issues. It's the "little things" that drag down your score, though, by making you miss the easy questions!

On the verbal side, inconsistency usually indicates that you don't have a consistent process, and you're just winging it: relying on your ear in SC, and not having a strategy for CR and RC.

Analyze your last CAT in depth, and start tracking your mistakes in an Error Log. Then, start looking for patterns in the kinds of mistakes you make. Here's how: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -studying/

Take 1 or 2 more CATs, but no more than that. The majority of your time between now and the test should be spent REVIEWING, not doing new problems. With each new CAT, set yourself process goals based on common mistakes you've made:
"I'm going to read more carefully so I don't answer the wrong question"
"I'm going to do algebra more carefully, so I don't mess up signs"
"I'm going to skip 2 extra problems, so I have more time to do computation carefully"
etc.

Then, evaluate yourself on how well you achieved those goals. If you mitigate a few common mistakes with each CAT, your score will go up.

Good luck!
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
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