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by [email protected] » Tue Nov 18, 2014 11:51 pm

Hi sudipt23,

You're going to see a large number of SCs on Test Day (usually 13 - 16), so that is clearly an area in which your approach is costing you some serious time. You mentioned SC Comparisons, but what is your average time spent on SCs? SCs are a combination of grammar/idiom knowledge and pattern-matching ability (knowing the common patterns that the GMAT writers use in their SCs), so you have a great opportunity to learn this content and patterns.

On the Official GMAT, you may or may not see a Bolded Statement question (and if you see one, it's usually just 1), so any pacing problem you might have in this area might not even be a factor on Test Day.

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

Contact Rich at [email protected]

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sudipt23: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 14; Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 10:38 am

by sudipt23 » Sat Nov 22, 2014 3:12 am

Thanks for the advice,

I gave my gmat and scored 620(Q-39,V-35).

Although Im sure that i can do better with a little better mental preparation as my nerves got the better of me on test day and i wasn't able to figure out the 1st Quant question itself which was a basic percents one.

I had also just recently scored a 640 on MGMAT 5 and a 660 on GMAT Prep 2.

So I'm looking at a retake, would appreciate some advice on it:

When is the earliest i can take it?

Since i have used up all the MGMAT tests, are the Veritas/Additional GMAT prep tests any good ?

Thanks

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manyaabroadtpr: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 321; Joined: Mon Feb 17, 2014 9:04 pmFollowed by: 13 members; Location: B 7/2, Okhla Phase-II, New Delhi - 110020; Thanked: 41 times

by manyaabroadtpr » Sat Nov 22, 2014 3:21 am

Hi,

We believe you are heading in the right direction w.r.t your scores and we shall not also advice you on which test material to use. There are plenty available and the one's you have mentioned are also good.

But, in these last few days here's one thing you should definitely try for your next few mock tests.

Spend more time in analyzing your performance in a mock test than in giving the mock test. Typically if you spend 2 hours on mock test, spend 5-6 hours in analyzing your performance in the same. Go through each and every question and look at time for as long as you want. You need to figure out a better way of doing the same question. Take a note of all the points and then make sure you apply them in the next test. Keep doing this consistently and you will see your score going up.

With just few days to go, focus on building up the momentum and keep telling yourself that you are going to get to your target score.

We wish you all the very best and are hopeful you will do extremely well.

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GMAT/MBA Expert

[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] » Sat Nov 22, 2014 10:02 am

Hi sudipt23,

A 620 is a solid performance, and it's in line with your practice CAT scores (GMAC has admitted that a Score on Test Day is within +- about 30 points of actual ability). With a few "tweaks" to how you approach the Test, you could easily score 650+.

You can take the GMAT once every 31 days, so you'll have to wait a bit before you can retake. During that time, you can continue studying. If you've used all of the Official CATs and the MGMAT CATs, then you shouldn't retake any of those. Both Kaplan and Veritas have "blocks" of CATs that you can purchase. You should NOT be focused on taking CATs though. Improvement comes from practice problems, training, review, etc.; a CAT is just a way to measure your progress (you won't become a better Test Taker by completing lots of CATs).

I mentioned this in an earlier post, but it bears repeating - you have to find and fix all of the little mistakes you make to score at a higher level.

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

Contact Rich at [email protected]

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