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General Advice After First Practice Test (Updated)

by outsidethesidelines » Thu Apr 09, 2015 11:30 am
I took my first GMAT practice test yesterday (one of the official ones in the GMAT Prep software), and scored a 680 (42Q, 41V, 8IR). I was pleasantly surprised by the result, because my head was absolutely spinning throughout the quant section, and felt like it was a solid effort for a first attempt.

By way of background, I started brushing up on general GMAT skills -- arithmetic, basic algebra, grammar, etc. -- about six or eight months ago, and have been studying more advanced topics over the past three or four months. I work full time as an attorney (40+ hours per week), so study time has routinely been a scarce commodity, so I've tried to stretch my study schedule out over a longer period of time. Nevertheless, I've gone through all of the Manhattan GMAT books, and watched all of the Magoosh videos, but I haven't done very many practice problems to date and my studies have focused more on learning/comprehending the raw material.

On the verbal section yesterday, I did extremely well yesterday on CR and RC, and a bit less well on SC, although I was still pretty strong in that respect.The quant section was, however, a head-spinner. I feel generally comfortable with the quant overall material -- though I do need to improve on number properties, which I'm working on -- but the actual questions presented just seemed so vastly different than the raw, isolated material I've been reviewing the past few months. Nothing was at all straightforward, and it seemed at times like every question was convoluted layer upon convoluted layer. I think (or hope, I should say) a lot of that will go away in time after I do more practice problems (the old notion that math is not a spectator sport and whatnot), but either way I know I've got a lot of work ahead on quant, and am ready to attack it. I just want to get some general feedback about the best way to move forward.

Any specific suggestions for improving my quant score and my success on SC questions? On quant in particular, I'm hoping that if I can get my score up to, say, the 85th percentile while maintaining my level of success yesterday on the verbal section that I can push into the 700s.

My target GMAT date is August 1st. Obviously I want to score as high as possible, but my target score is 735. Does anyone have any general advice as to how I should approach the next three months of prep, given the above?

Many thanks in advance for all of the feedback.
Last edited by outsidethesidelines on Thu May 21, 2015 7:23 am, edited 4 times in total.
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by [email protected] » Thu Apr 09, 2015 8:41 pm
Hi outsidethsidelines,

This first score is a great initial CAT performance. Based on your career/work, you'll likely continue to find CR, RC and IR to be easy-enough to handle. The V47 is a score that most Test Takers will never achieve in their lives. The Q42 means that you're pretty good at most of the "math" questions that you faced, but you likely missed out on a bunch of tactics-based questions and a bunch of DS questions. To pick up those missing points, you'll likely need to focus more of your studies on strategies/tactics and pattern-matching.

I have a couple of questions about your overall timeline/plans:

1) Have you worked through all of the materials that you've listed?
2) How much time do you study in a typical week?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

With an August 1st Test Date, you have plenty of time to continue studying (and you probably won't need all of that time, so there might be a point at which pushing up your Test Date is something to consider).

With your score goal (the overall GMAT score is in 10 point increments, so we'll call it 740), you'll have to put an emphasis on making your CATs as realistic as possible, so they "match up" with Test Day in as many ways as you reasonably account for. This means that you must take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections), away from your home, at the same time of day as your Official Exam, etc.

All things being equal, you're in a great position to hit your goals.

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by outsidethesidelines » Fri Apr 10, 2015 8:59 am
Rich,

In response to your questions:

(1) I have "worked through" the materials that I listed in that I watched all of the Magoosh videos and thoroughly read/reviewed the written Manhattan GMAT books (i.e. took notes, prepared outlines, memorized things, etc.). I have not, however, really completed any of the practice problems from either source, and have only started doing that this past week. Up until now, I've tried to focus my studies on learning raw material and have intentionally deferred the completion of practice problems until I felt that I had a solid level of understanding to work with. Perhaps I was/am wrong on this, but I did not feel that it would be beneficial to do a lot of practice problems without first having a solid bedrock of knowledge of the underlying material.

(2) The amount of time that I study in a typical week, unfortunately, tends to be erratic given my work schedule, but in general I would say that I get in roughly 15 hours per week on average. I typically get in around two hours per night Monday through Friday, and then nearly three hours per day on the weekends. I am hoping to increase my study time in the weeks ahead once our trial calendar calms down a bit.

(3) My tentative plan is to submit my business school applications this September, with the intent being to matriculate in the fall of 2016. Provided that test-taking difficulties or real-life constraints preclude this, however, I intend to postpone my applications until the next calendar year, though I am hopeful that this won't be necessary (especially in light of the fact that I am already slightly older than the typical MBA applicant).

Regarding the August 1st test date, the rationale behind that date is that it should give me enough time to fully prepare, but will also give me a couple of more opportunities to re-take the test in September and October if things do not go as well as I hope. If I am feeling very strongly about my chances of success on the exam, I may try to move that date up.

My timeline right now is to begin taking one practice test per week beginning in the first week of June, so hopefully I should have a good gauge on where I am at by that point. (Incidentally, on the initial CAT I took earlier this week, I did work through the entire exam in one sitting -- AWA, IR, quant, and verbal -- while taking advantage of the designated breaks, because I wanted to get the most realistic simulation possible of the test-taking process.)

Many thanks for your reply, and any further advice would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I've enjoyed many of your explanations on the Problem Solving board. Keep up the good work.
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by [email protected] » Fri Apr 10, 2015 9:34 am
Hi outsidethsidelines,

From your posts, I think that you have the right mindset and forward-thinking to absolutely hit your goals. With the time that you've allotted, you have the opportunity to work as you see fit and still have the necessary time to adjust your plans as needed.

I do want to suggest one adjustment to your plans:

Waiting the better part of 2 months before taking another FULL-LENGTH CAT is not a great idea. If there is any problem with how you're studying, it would be better to know earlier rather than later (so that it can be 'fixed'). While you don't have to take a CAT every week just yet, you should plan to take another one in 2-3 weeks time. Those score results should provide some evidence as to your consistency in certain areas and whether you're focusing on the right concepts/tactics to raise your Quant score.

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by ceilidh.erickson » Sat Apr 25, 2015 1:23 pm
the actual questions presented just seemed so vastly different than the raw, isolated material I've been reviewing the past few months. Nothing was at all straightforward, and it seemed at times like every question was convoluted layer upon convoluted layer.
You've just described the GMAT in a nutshell! The higher-level you get, the less like it is that you'll see any questions that are simply straightforward applications of basic concepts. The GMAT is at its core a logic test, not a math test. Basic 10th grade math is just the language that they use to test logic.

So, it's your job to make connections between the convoluted test questions that you see and the simple concepts at their core. The most important part of your process is how deeply and how thoughtfully you review each problem (right and wrong) after you take a CAT.

If you're looking to boost your quant score into the 45+ range, I recommend the Mprep Advanced Quant guide: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/stor ... mat-quant/
This will give you the strategies to connect the simple concepts to complicated problems.

Good luck!
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by outsidethesidelines » Thu Apr 30, 2015 9:55 am
I wanted to follow up on recent developments and hopefully get a bit more feedback and advice for moving forward.

I took my second GMAT Prep CAT yesterday and scored a 690 (41Q, 42V, 8IR). This second test came three weeks to the day after I took my initial CAT, where I scored the 680, and that was a bit earlier in time than I had wanted, but unfortunately the work schedule isn't likely to allow me to take another CAT until another month, so I felt I should just go ahead yesterday.

As above, my overall score was slightly better. Was hoping to join the 700 Club, and was a bit disappointed that I came up just short on that, but by the same token I was also happy to get some confirmation that the initial CAT wasn't just a one-off fluke, so I'll take the small victories as they come for now. In general, I did slightly better on the Verbal, and slightly worse on the Quant, and the dip in the Quant score, I think, kept me below 700.

The dip in the Quant score, slight as though it may be, has perplexed me. Since I took the initial CAT, I have worked through all of the Magoosh quant practice problems --which is no small matter, mind you, considering that entails working through 512 different problems --- and have tried to focus heavily on Quant preparation in general. I generally felt a lot more comfortable doing the Quant problems on the CAT the second time around (noted improvement over the head-spinning sensation I had throughout the first CAT) and thought that I performed better at the time I finished the section, but obviously that didn't prove to be the case once the Quant score was calculated. Maybe that, in and of itself, was a bit of a one-off, but to paraphrase Bill Parcells, you are what your GMAT score says you are.

For what it's worth, time did become a bit of an issue on the Quant section yesterday. I essentially ran out of time at the end and had to guess on the final three questions -- two of which I got wrong, with one lucky guess). Perhaps I am just taking this the wrong way, but I actually felt a bit comforted by the time management issue, just because I felt like that meant that I was more engaging with the problems and able to attempt to actually work through them, whereas on the first exam I had to just guess on a handful of questions because I didn't have a clue as to how to solve them. Perhaps my positive connotation to that is entirely misplaced, perhaps not.

On the Verbal section, I had a bit of an uptick in performance, which I think was due to getting some hands-on experience with all Verbal question types, but in particular the SC questions. In general, I just feel really comfortable and really at ease on Verbal. In fact, I ended up having a lot of time left over at the end, and answered all of the questions in about 68 minutes total. I still have some meaningful room for improvement on SC, but in general I feel very good about my prospects on the Verbal section come actual test day.

Obviously I want to focus on Quant, but where should I turn next for prep? I haven't really started to review the Magoosh problems that I completed, but began doing so last night. Is that really something I can expect to provide me a decent boost in performance? The same question applies to the Manhattan GMAT practice questions, which I have yet to start. In the same vein, would any other material source -- GMAT Pill, Empower, etc. -- be particularly useful (and I ask that knowing that some of you may have some bias in self-interest).

In terms of additional materials, how should I incorporate the OG (along with its questions), and the OG Quant Guide? Should I simply work through the practice problems, and then review accordingly? I have also considered purchasing the OG mobile app, but have decided against for now due to some poor online reviews. Is that something that is also worthwhile?

Once again, many thanks for all of your help on this.
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by outsidethesidelines » Thu Apr 30, 2015 10:38 am
ceilidh.erickson wrote:If you're looking to boost your quant score into the 45+ range, I recommend the Mprep Advanced Quant guide: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/stor ... mat-quant/
This will give you the strategies to connect the simple concepts to complicated problems.
I actually didn't even know that this book was available, so many thanks for the heads-up. Is there anything in particular that this book covers that is not otherwise covered in the Manhattan GMAT quant books? FWIW, I did think the Manhattan books were quite good, but if it's just largely a re-hash of previously covered material I just don't know how much good I can expect it to do me.
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by ceilidh.erickson » Thu Apr 30, 2015 11:48 am
Nope, it won't be a rehash of material already covered in the other guides. In fact, it doesn't get into specific content topics. It focuses on looking for patterns in DS questions, how to efficiently test cases on complex statements, etc. The most helpful part, in my view, is the drill sets at the end. We provide several hundred extreme challenge problems to try - great for stretching your recognition skills.
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by outsidethesidelines » Mon May 04, 2015 1:40 pm
I hate to bump my own thread, but my earlier post was actually flagged for a couple of days as potential spam, for whatever reason, and I haven't gotten any responses to my follow-up inquiry since.

Can anyone provide me with some more insight?

Many thanks in advance.
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by Rich@EconomistGMAT » Wed May 06, 2015 6:41 am
Hi outsidethesidelines,

I'm glad to hear your practice scores are proving to be consistent. Now that you have a couple under your belt, have you had the chance to review and compare both of your practice CATs? Take the time to review for patterns in your test-taking habits right now and you'll likely find a concept or two you struggle with more than the others, which will help you narrow down where to focus the next few months of study.

In terms of additional resources, feel free to try a 7-day trial of Economist GMAT Tutor by following this link: https://bit.ly/1bPAHuW. Once you take a practice exam and go through some of the lessons, GMAT Tutor will adapt to cater to your specific needs.

Best of luck,
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by [email protected] » Wed May 06, 2015 8:34 am
Hi outsidethelines,

These two CAT performances are essentially the same result (even though the scores are slightly varied). This means that 'your way' of doing things puts your performance in the 690 +-30 'range.' So on a good day, you could easily score 700+, but there's enough variation that you might not necessarily do so.

As you noticed before, the bulk of your missing points are going to be found in the Quant section. The practice that you've done so far in that area has not been enough to help you to adapt your tactics - in essence, your 'instinct' during a CAT has you performing a certain way. To improve in Quant, you have to take on a new mindset, practice the proper tactics again and again, and then remember your training during your CATs (so that you don't default back to this same way of performing).

I think that you'll find the Quant Score Booster Study Plan to be quite helpful. Most of our clients can complete the Plan in under a month (although you can take longer if you choose to), so it should fit nicely with your overall timeline. If you have any questions, then you can feel free to contact me directly.

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by outsidethesidelines » Thu May 21, 2015 7:41 am
All right guys, a few more questions:

In the three (3) weeks since I took my second CAT, I've focused very heavily on Quant and Sentence Correction, my two weak areas, with a particularly heavy emphasis on Quant. I've worked through all of the OG quant problems (both PS and DS), have gone over several Magoosh questions, have reviewed Manhattan GMAT quant materials and worked through many of the practice problems in their books, have thoroughly reviewed my own handwritten notes (which are roughly 30 pages at this point), and have spent a lot of time on that Quant forums on this site (some of those problems are quite time and some of you guys on here are just plain math ninjas)...

... And I still don't know where I'm at on Quant.

I feel like I've learned a lot, and I do feel that I'm more proficient than I was even three weeks ago, but I still struggle with some problems and make far too many simple mistakes. I just don't have anywhere near the same feeling of confidence that I do on Verbal -- which, in and of itself, is probably not helping my performance -- and I just feel like far too often I end up with an end game of either "I have no idea how to do this problem," or "I thought I had this figured out but the answer choice I'm getting is not anything near the answer choices listed."

Is this just something that I can expect to improve in time, or am I just doing something wrong in my prep? I generally feel like I'm pretty good at math -- even if I never use it in my career and haven't really used it in a decade -- and that I should be able to do better, but at times I just feel like I'm spinning the wheels and going nowhere.

Again, I understand not a tremendous amount of time has passed since my last CAT, and I do feel like I will improve a decent bit over the next couple of months, but at the same time I am also feeling a bit of a time panic because my target test date is now only about eight weeks away. I just feel like that, although I have a decent bit of prep time left, I don't so much time remaining that I have the luxury of being somewhat inefficient in utilizing my remaining time. Should I just be doing something entirely different than what I am right now?

I do know that I need to take another CAT, but I'm hesitant to take either of the two remaining official GMAT Prep CATs that I have left, because I want to save those for later in my prep. Am I wrong in thinking that? My plan for now is to take a Manhattan GMAT CAT next, but from what I've read online those tend to be harder than the official practice tests -- particularly on Quant, which is my biggest weakness -- so I don't know whether I can accurately gauge my progress (or lack thereof) by taking the same. In a lot of ways, I'm just not sure exactly where I am right now in relation to my target goal, and I'm not sure how I can determine that either without possibly wasting an official practice CAT (I'm also not sure that it matters where I'm at right now and if I'm just wasting my time and energy fretting over the same).

Also, with my target test date roughly eight weeks away, how often should I start taking practice CATs? I don't want to waste hours of potential prep time on the raw materials (taking a single full-length CAT is a big commitment of time, obviously), but by the same token I feel like I probably need to take at least three or four more CATS before I sit down for the real thing, and I understand that taking the test is a skill that must be acquired and honed in and of itself that is distinct from knowledge of the actual materials being tested.

In the same vein, how should I stagger taking the two remaining official GMAT Prep CATS?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
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by outsidethesidelines » Thu May 21, 2015 7:50 am
ceilidh.erickson wrote:If you're looking to boost your quant score into the 45+ range, I recommend the Mprep Advanced Quant guide: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/stor ... mat-quant/
This will give you the strategies to connect the simple concepts to complicated problems.
So I picked up the book a couple of days ago, but haven't gotten into it just yet.

My concern is that on the last CAT that I took, as noted above, I only scored a 41Q. Can/should I just dive into this book now, or should I try to review / practice more fundamental principles/questions before getting into this? I just don't want to miss getting the full benefit of the material if I'm not yet up to that baseline level.
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by outsidethesidelines » Thu May 21, 2015 8:02 am
Rich@EconomistGMAT wrote:I'm glad to hear your practice scores are proving to be consistent. Now that you have a couple under your belt, have you had the chance to review and compare both of your practice CATs? Take the time to review for patterns in your test-taking habits right now and you'll likely find a concept or two you struggle with more than the others, which will help you narrow down where to focus the next few months of study.
I have reviewed my practice CATS, but unfortunately, on the Quant portion, I was not able to pick up on any discernible patterns of weaknesses. I did tend to have slightly more problems with DS than PS, which I expected because I hadn't practiced nearly as many DS problems, but at the end of the day my performance on DS and PS was roughly similar, so that did not substantially drive my score down. For better or worse, I tended to miss a variety of different problem types with no real rhyme or reason, so I felt/feel like I just need a lot of work on a lot of different things more so than just a few weak areas.

On Verbal, Sentence Correction was my clear weakness, and I did quite well on RC and CR. For the SC, I know that I just need to learn the applicable rules a bit better, and figure out how to do a better job of working through the problems and eliminating answer choices via splits, etc.

In general I'm not too worried about Verbal, but unfortunately with me already being in the V42 range, realistically I cannot expect much improvement on that portion of the test, so if I'm really going to raise my score, I have to seriously increase my performance on the Quant section.

Also worth noting that I finished the Verbal section very early on both CATs (with roughly 10 minutes remaining). I do know that in general I need to slow down on that portion of the test, and I will do so come actual test day, but sitting down taking the practice CATs, by the time I got to the Verbal section, I was already roughly 3 hours in, and just felt like on many SC problems, "I just don't know this rule and I'm not going to figure it out no matter how long I stare at the screen," so I would just pick an answer and move on. Probably not the best strategy, and I won't do that when I sit down for the real test, but hopefully I can use this excess time to my advantage to squeeze another point or two out of the Verbal section. My target Verbal score is 45, and I figure anything over that will be exceedingly difficult to achieve.
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by Rich@EconomistGMAT » Thu May 21, 2015 11:14 am
Hi outsidethesidelines,

Thanks for your response. With all of your work in mind, it might be time to start considering the online resources I mentioned earlier more seriously. A few of us have previously mentioned that online resources not only help you understand concepts, but are also great at teaching you test taking tactics that will help you get more points out of each section of the exam.

Best,
Rich
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