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Last 30 days

by gmat7m » Mon Oct 20, 2014 6:14 am
Hi,

I'm in the last thirty days of my preparation and here's my schedule:

A) Next ten days for completing OG 12 AND 13
B) Last ten days for full length mocks (8 tests) and revision

That still leaves me with 10 days. I want to focus on the following areas:

A) Speed
B) Silly Mistakes
C) Exam (4 hour) stamina
D) Tougher (700+level) questions

In the previous mocks I'm in the range is 640 - 710.

What other books can I get for practice questions? OG quant/verbal (retired questions) with Kaplan 800 or Manhattan? or a combination of these.

Any inputs would be really appreciated
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by gmat7m » Mon Oct 20, 2014 6:18 am
(Cannot edit the post for some reason.)

I want to target a score of at least 740 and I'm willing to slog for that.
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by BestGMATEliza » Mon Oct 20, 2014 8:36 am
I think the MGMAT Advanced Quant book is definitely a must for a 740. Whether or not you need Kaplan 800 as well depends on how your close your verbal score is to your goal score. If you are not close in your CATs then it is probably a good idea to also get practice with those difficult verbal questions with the Kaplan 800.

Your plan sounds good! I think the best way for practicing stamina is to take a bunch of full length (including IR and AWA) practice tests.
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by [email protected] » Mon Oct 20, 2014 1:20 pm
Hi gmat7m,

I went back and re-read some of your earlier posts and I'm curious if you've taken any FULL-LENGTH practice CATs (including the Essay and IR) in one sitting? If so, then what were your scores? If not, then you should plan to do so sometime soon.

I'm concerned about some of what you're planning for this last 30 days and I'd like to see some recent scores so that I can advise accordingly.

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by gmat7m » Fri Nov 07, 2014 2:41 pm
Double post, removed
Last edited by gmat7m on Fri Nov 07, 2014 2:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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by gmat7m » Fri Nov 07, 2014 2:42 pm
Hi Rich,

I had a mixed preparation fortnight after the above posts. Unfortunately for me, I had only non adaptive tests so didn't have a score to show.

I gave a full length TPR mock including awa and ir today and scored a 680 (Q47 V37)

My problems are:

1) Answered 4 questions incorrectly in quant despite them being sitters for my prep level. I need advice on how to control my silly errors (mis-reading/ not reading a word etc.) which is causing this. Post the exam when I reviewed the wrong answers.. I was able to correctly answer then in under a minute each.

2) verbal: just not a able to maintain my concentration levels by the time I reach the section

3) pacing: I end up competing both verbal and quant within an hour each (fifteen minutes earlier than my limit)

My exam is exactly two weeks from now and I'm really looking for someone to help me with the strategy.

Thanks
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Fri Nov 07, 2014 3:26 pm
gmat7m wrote: 1) Answered 4 questions incorrectly in quant despite them being sitters for my prep level. I need advice on how to control my silly errors (mis-reading/ not reading a word etc.) which is causing this. Post the exam when I reviewed the wrong answers.. I was able to correctly answer then in under a minute each.
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 for BTG: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2012/09/ ... n-the-gmat
gmat7m wrote: 2) verbal: just not a able to maintain my concentration levels by the time I reach the section
Long/difficult/boring RC (and CR) passages can really kill one's concentration, and it's easy to starting "zoning out." In these instances, it's crucial that you engage 100% in the passage. So, rather than approach a passage with dread ("yeesh, this is going to be a killer"), try to feign interest ("Excellent! This passage is about protozoa!! I can't think of anything more exciting!!!!"). It may sound silly, but it helps. The greater your engagement, the better your results.

You can find additional tips to help you better engage with the passage in this free video: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat- ... on?id=1123

gmat7m wrote: 3) pacing: I end up competing both verbal and quant within an hour each (fifteen minutes earlier than my limit)
I suggest that you use the following Milestone Charts to keep you on track:
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We (at GMAT Prep Now) feel that these times are easily remembered so you can quickly jot them on your noteboard on test day.

This (and more) is covered in our free GMAT time management video at https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... es?id=1244

I hope that helps.

Cheers,
Brent
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by [email protected] » Fri Nov 07, 2014 6:16 pm
Hi gmat7m,

There are plenty of CATs available through a variety of sources, so why are you taking non-adaptive Tests? Was this TPR Test adaptive or not? If it's not, then we can't truly rely on this recent score as an indicator of your ability because a non-adaptive Test isn't realistic. If it's all that we have, then so be it, but waiting 2 weeks to tell us that you didn't have any adaptive CATs to use seems like a potential waste of some serious time.

Most silly mistakes are CAUSED because a Test Taker does not take ENOUGH notes. In your case, you're moving so quickly (finishing 15 minutes early in each of the sections) that you're clearly not taking enough notes. You could have spent an extra minute (or more) on each of the questions that you got wrong because of a silly mistake and probably gotten ALL of those questions correct. SLOW DOWN and take more notes. In Verbal, SLOW DOWN, read more carefully and take more notes.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
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by gmat7m » Fri Nov 07, 2014 11:16 pm
[email protected] wrote:Hi gmat7m,

There are plenty of CATs available through a variety of sources, so why are you taking non-adaptive Tests? Was this TPR Test adaptive or not? If it's not, then we can't truly rely on this recent score as an indicator of your ability because a non-adaptive Test isn't realistic. If it's all that we have, then so be it, but waiting 2 weeks to tell us that you didn't have any adaptive CATs to use seems like a potential waste of some serious time.

Most silly mistakes are CAUSED because a Test Taker does not take ENOUGH notes. In your case, you're moving so quickly (finishing 15 minutes early in each of the sections) that you're clearly not taking enough notes. You could have spent an extra minute (or more) on each of the questions that you got wrong because of a silly mistake and probably gotten ALL of those questions correct. SLOW DOWN and take more notes. In Verbal, SLOW DOWN, read more carefully and take more notes.

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

The TPR mock was adaptive, so I think I can use that score as baseline.
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by [email protected] » Fri Nov 07, 2014 11:28 pm
Hi gmat7m,

With an adaptive score of 680, and the details that you described, you now know what needs to be fixed. You need to slow down, do more diligent work and keep ALL the silly mistakes from happening. To that end, DO NOT do work in your head, write EVERYTHING on the pad and be sure to use ALL of your available time in each section.

With the two weeks of remaining study time, you should focus on doing accurate work. I'd recommend that you stick to about 1 CAT/week (so you have the time to take 2 FULL-length CATs before your Official GMAT) and emphasize accuracy and good note-taking.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
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by gmat7m » Sat Nov 08, 2014 3:51 am
Thanks Rich and Brent, your advice really helps at this critical point.
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by manyaabroadtpr » Mon Nov 10, 2014 8:54 am
gmat7m wrote:Hi,

I'm in the last thirty days of my preparation and here's my schedule:

A) Next ten days for completing OG 12 AND 13
B) Last ten days for full length mocks (8 tests) and revision

That still leaves me with 10 days. I want to focus on the following areas:

A) Speed
B) Silly Mistakes
C) Exam (4 hour) stamina
D) Tougher (700+level) questions

In the previous mocks I'm in the range is 640 - 710.

What other books can I get for practice questions? OG quant/verbal (retired questions) with Kaplan 800 or Manhattan? or a combination of these.

Any inputs would be really appreciated
Hi,

In the last 30 days, best advice would be to take as many mock tests as possible. However, more than giving mock tests, what is more important is how many hours do you spend in analysing the same. Typically, we recommend that if you spend 2 hours on a mock test, spend 6 hours in analysing your performance. Your scores are already looking good but to be able to keep up the momentum, follow the above advice and try to optimize your score to keep them as high as possible.

For all the rest, you are smart enough to figure it out. In case, you have any specific query, please do let us know.

Wish you all the best and do let us know how did your exam go.

www.manyagroup.com
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Mon Nov 10, 2014 11:23 am
gmat7m wrote: What other books can I get for practice questions? OG quant/verbal (retired questions) with Kaplan 800 or Manhattan? or a combination of these.
For additional practice, you need not look any further than Beat The GMAT. There are thousands (more like tens of thousands!) of practice questions posted on this site, AND they're answered by expert GMAT instructors.

Also, to help you focus on one topic at a time, you can use BTG's tagging feature. 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.

Cheers,
Brent
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