Advice after Practice Tests

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aditya432: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 8; Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2015 9:47 amFollowed by: 1 member

by aditya432 » Thu Apr 30, 2015 10:20 am

Hi,

I took GMAT in July'2014 and my score was 640 (V28,Q49)

I have taken a few practice tests now and I am so confused with the results and where I stand. I am listing below my scores in the test (In the order I took the tests)
1) Manhattan CAT 1: 640 (Q43,V34)
2) Kaplan CAT 1: 680
3) GMATPrep CAT 1: 700 (Q49, V34)
4) Manhattan CAT 2: 650 (Q45, V34)

These results are varied! I can't understand my level right now at all.

Please help.

I want to go above 700, any advice for that is also welcome.

Thank you.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Thu Apr 30, 2015 10:20 am

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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] » Thu Apr 30, 2015 10:34 am

Hi aditya432,

GMAC has publicly stated that a Test Taker's Official Score on Test Day is within +-30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar "swing" in the accuracy of CAT scores, all of your scores are within +-30 of a 670. In that way, your scores don't vary THAT much, even if that's how you're interpreting the numbers.

The good news is that you're fairly close to a 700+ score right now, but at this scoring level, the GMAT becomes really "sensitive" to little mistakes, so you have to find (and "fix") those mistakes to improve your scores.

To that end, on your last CAT, how many questions COULD you have gotten correct, but did NOT (for whatever reason)? THOSE questions represent most (if not all) of your missing points. You might be able to self-train to "fix" all of those issues, but if you can't do it on your own then you'll need to invest in some new GMAT resources to help you learn some new tactics.

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

Contact Rich at [email protected]

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DavidG@VeritasPrep: Legendary Member; Posts: 2663; Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 8:25 amFollowed by: 128 members; Location: Boston, MA; Thanked: 1153 times; GMAT Score:770

by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Thu Apr 30, 2015 10:36 am

Given that you scored a 49 on quant for both the GMATPrep test and the actual exam, it seems like verbal improvement/consistency will be the key for you going forward. What resources have you used thus far?

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aditya432: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 8; Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2015 9:47 amFollowed by: 1 member

by aditya432 » Thu Apr 30, 2015 10:45 am

Thank you guys for your reply. I can see that there is scope for improvement in Verbal.

I have used Manhattan Strategy Guides. I am using Official Guide for practice.

What else can I invest in?

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DavidG@VeritasPrep: Legendary Member; Posts: 2663; Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 8:25 amFollowed by: 128 members; Location: Boston, MA; Thanked: 1153 times; GMAT Score:770

by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Thu Apr 30, 2015 3:50 pm

Worry less about what else to invest in, and more about how you're using your resources. Have you worked through the majority of the questions in the Official Guide? If so, make sure you reviewed anything you struggled with and make sure you understand why you struggled. (And post any questions that still aren't clear here!) If you noted that you had difficulty with a given category of question, make sure you spend time practicing and mastering that category. When you review old practice tests, spend time considering where you might have improved. (Did you miss a parallel construction in a Sentence Correction question? Were you paying close attention to transition words in Reading Comprehension? etc.) Make notes of anything you might have done better. Internalize that list. Then take another practice test.

The one thing I would suggest, resource-wise, is to incorporate a bit more official material. In addition to the Official Guide and the GMATPrep practice tests, I'd advise you to work through this additional question bank and two official practice exams: https://www.mba.com/us/store/store-catal ... ction.aspx

Last, I'd encourage you to start a mindfulness meditation practice. There is interesting research about how mindfulness meditation can impact standardized test scores: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archi ... on/275564/

I encourage all of my students to try to sneak in at least four sessions a week. (This is what the subjects in the study did.) Here is my favorite guided meditation: https://www.last.fm/music/Jon+Kabat-Zinn ... Meditation

Keep us posted...

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