Test Day Question

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Test Day Question

by eyelikecheese » Sun Jan 23, 2011 4:36 pm
Hey guys I am taking the GMAT this Friday.

I know its rather mundane, but does the scratch paper hinder you when working problems out? i've heard its like a marker and some type of writing paper. I do my practice with pen and paper, so it is a big difference come test day?
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by David@VeritasPrep » Sun Jan 23, 2011 6:00 pm
Not a big difference...you cannot erase (it is wet erase) so PEN and paper is better than pencil. The marker is fine-tipped but still a little blunt compared to a pen. You should expect to write a little bigger so that can be unusual.

Are you left-handed? If so you may smudge the marker ink as you write.

If you have been practicing by NOT writing in the books then you will be well served. Of course with your practice tests you get the authentic practice of computer screen to scratch paper.

I would not worry about it...it was a little awkward to use the marker but it will not stop you from achieving your score!

Good luck! How are you feeling about the upcoming test?
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by eyelikecheese » Sun Jan 23, 2011 6:54 pm
I truly have no idea what to expect. I've put in probably more hours than anyone in the history or GMAT prep. I started out at a 530, but have improved to 700 area. So I guess we will see. I've been studying for about 2.5-3 months. Any last week prep advice?

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by David@VeritasPrep » Mon Jan 24, 2011 4:59 am
Yes. Here are some thoughts.

Go through any prep tests or other work that you have from past questions you have done. What you are looking for is a couple of things.

1) Silly Mistakes (primarily on Quant). What are these? These are those question that you miss and you say, "I had that! I just forgot that we were looking for the perimeter and not one of the sides" or "I forgot to answer for x instead of y" or so forth. Anytime you say, "I should have had that one!" This is a silly mistake.

When you find these questions that you miss, not because you do not know how to do them but because of some mistake, figure out what it will take to not make the same mistake on test day. You have to work on getting all of the questions right that you can get right. I would rather only address 32 questions and get nearly all of those right and then guess at the other five. That would be a great score.

Some things I recommend

* Write out the question that you are answering at the start of each question. It only takes a second "x = ?" "percentage increase = ?"

*While you are writing out the question, think about what it means. This is really taking a look at the big picture. This is especially great for data sufficiency. For example, if you are asked about the measure of an arc you can write out the formula and realize that all you need for this are the central angle of the arc and the diameter of the circle. So now you know that if you have these two things you will be sufficient.

2) Areas of the quant you are not at all good at. It is powerful for you to know which areas you are not good at. This is because you do not have unlimited time on the test. You may have to let things go. If you know that you are not good at something and you confront such a question on the test give yourself a chance to get this one right, but if it does not look good, this is likely a question to bail on before you spend five minutes to miss it.

3) Figure out what 1 minute feels like. The collective wisdom is that at a certain point in a question if you are not making progress then you have to let go. Some people say that you need to understand it in as little as 30 seconds. I am not so hasty, I say one minute to 1:15. If you do not have an actual plan to address the question then you should guess and move on. So you have to practice so you learn what one minute feels like. Set a countdown timer to 1 minute and do some problem solving and data sufficiency questions and see what it feels like to work on a question for a minute. Train yourself what this feels like so you are not looking at the clock all the time.

On the Verbal and the Quant: What do you do in the first 30 seconds of a question? Do you have a routine so that when you see a data sufficiency here are the steps? Critical reasoning here are the steps, etc. This is the key to consistency on the test and to not wasting time sitting there at the beginning of each question.
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by eyelikecheese » Mon Jan 24, 2011 10:06 am
The only area I am visibly weak in is geometry. I was previously weak in everything, including DS and RC, but by doing countless problems and engaging with the stems/readings, I was able to overcome them.

I guess I will have to resort to guessing if I get a geometry. I usually get 49-50 on quant on GMATPrepand 46-48 on MGMAT, with 1 or 2 repeats, so I'm fairly confident in that regard, although quant was my huge weakness coming into my gmat prep. My first diag was 530 with 33Q

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by David@VeritasPrep » Mon Jan 24, 2011 3:22 pm
It sounds like you are really well prepared. I think you will do well.

By the way, Geometry is about 4 to 6 questions on the GMAT. So I guess you will not want to guess at all of those...

Maybe you are good at some areas of geometry?

Good Luck!!
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