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Plateauing with practice tests and need advice

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Plateauing with practice tests and need advice

by Rastis » Mon Jan 30, 2012 9:11 am
Hi,

I've been studying for most of the fall and winter and have taken 10+ practice tests. After taking a GMATprep practice test over the weekend (didn't take a practice test since before the holidays) I manage to score only a 470...even though I thought I did really well at the end. I have always had a range of 470-510 on my practice tests. It seems that no matter how much I study and do practice questions, when it comes to taking the test everything goes out the window. I'm taking the GMAT in late April and it seems like it's going to be a lost cause. Any advice that can be given would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Rastis
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by tpr-becky » Tue Jan 31, 2012 10:18 am
Sounds like you may be doing the same things over and over and achieving the same result. What type of review do you do after you have taken the exam? a good review will not only look at what quesitons you got right or wrong but also the content area of those questions, and the real reason you got the question wrong. Did you misread the question, did you lose focus in the middle, did you make a wrong assumption about a rule, did you rush or did you simply not know how to do the problem? it is very important to figure out your real weaknesses and work on those. I woudl recommend an error log for the three most recent practice tests.

Also, I recommend you study the main concept areas of the exam to develop a consistent approach to each type of problem, not simply to be able to get any single problem correct. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Best of Luck
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by Rastis » Tue Jan 31, 2012 12:57 pm
Thank you for your feedback.

I can tell you that right from the start, most of my issues (in math) come from not knowing how to set up a problem and/or how to do the algebra that's involved. That really goes for PS and DS as a whole. Specifically with DS I have trouble recognizing the potential "next steps" that are needed to determine sufficiency and also the concept of yes/no questions always makes me second guess everything.

I just did the first 40 questions in the OG (first 20 in PS, first 20 in DS) and got 12 incorrect basically because of the aforementioned issues. The next time I take another practice test (probably this weekend) I will do a error log sheet.

As for the verbal issues, I have a hard time concentrating on both RC and CR without my mind starting to wonder (stems from ADHD) and end up having to reread them, specifically the CR questions, over and over. I tried recently taking notes for RC questions but that didn't seem to do anything whatsoever. I think SC it's more of a "rule" type of issue. I could get 90% of advanced SC questions in my test prep books correct but that never reflects on practice tests.
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