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last week before the test day!!!!

by Gurpinder » Mon Sep 06, 2010 5:29 pm
Hey all,

I am writing the GMAT on Sept 21. 2 weeks to go! Kind of confident, kind of scared. Mixture of feelings!!!!

I would assume this one to be my last "strategy" post for "myself", so I want some expert opinion for my situation.

I have only taken 1 practice test and did horrible on that (it was the diagnostic before I had even start studying and I had no past knowledge of math as I completed my undergrad in Law.) I'm 200% sure that I improved ALOT!

I still havent taken any practice exams, but have been doing practice questions with a stopwatch and study consistently for more than 4 hours everyday. I have done LOTS of practice questions. I should mention that I simply need a 600+ score, nothing more. So I don't need a 700 or anything.

I just need some expert help divising how I should practice in my last 2 weeks! Should I do lots of CATS? Complete OG (I have completed about 70% of it)?

I have completed about 70% of both verbal and quant from OG 12.
I used the error tracker tool on this website.

Score breakdown: (questions range from all difficulty levels)
Quant:
Number properties: 89% correct
Equation/Inequali/Vic 88% correct
Word Translations 93% correct
FDP 95% correct
Geometry 80% correct

Verbal:
Sentence Correction 89% correct
CR 80 correct
I didn't do any RC as I am pressed aganist time, and I have been reading complex passages for the past 4 years as my degree was in law.
However I do read newspaper everyday and different sections of it.


Thank you all for your help!!
Last edited by Gurpinder on Tue Sep 07, 2010 7:35 am, edited 2 times in total.
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by InkyBinky » Mon Sep 06, 2010 5:50 pm
If I were you, I would focus on taking many CAT's. Take the free ones from Manhattan, Princeton, Kaplan, Knewton, Veritas and Platinum GMAT. But don't get bummed by the scores because some are more accurate than others. And, of course, take GMAT Prep. It comes with two tests and each is good for at least two attempts.

I think the CAT's will really improve your ability to pace yourself during the test. I have taken every available CAT I could get my hands on and now consistently finish the quant section with a minute to go and the verbal with about 10 minutes to go (I never seem to need the extra time).

Good luck!
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by debmalya_dutta » Mon Sep 06, 2010 7:46 pm
Best of Luck Gurpinder ...

I have my exam in the first week of October....
@Deb
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by uwhusky » Mon Sep 06, 2010 8:07 pm
Good luck, you'll do fine.
Yep.
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by Tani » Mon Sep 06, 2010 9:08 pm
Practice exams are important not just for the material, but for the experience of concentrating on the subject for an extended period. You should also try to take at least one test that mimics the computer adaptive format so that you are not thrown by the rather weird way in which it operates.

Do not, however, try to cram two months worth of work into two weeks. Burn out is at least as big a problem as inadequate preparation. When you feel that you can't face another practice problem -- don't. Working when you are tired and frustrated will not build your skills and will hurt your confidence. You will develop poor habits that will take away from your ability to do well on test day. I have had students push themselves unreasonably the last few days and end up with their worst score ever. Kaplan advises all students to take the day before the test off. It's okay to review your list of math formulas or methods for a few minutes, but realistically you are not going to learn anything new that day and the risk of burn out is very real.

A few bits of practical advice: get everything you will need to take with you together the night before so you aren't frantically hunting for pencils or your admission ticket. If possible, visit the test site a day or two before so that you know where you are going, how long it will take to get there and what you need to do about parking. You don't want to be late because you cn't find a place to park, nor do you want to be distracted worrying whether your car has been towed from the no parking zone.

Above all, relax and know that you have prepared well and are ready to do your best.
Tani Wolff
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by Gurpinder » Tue Sep 07, 2010 8:56 am
Thank you Tani,

and Thanks to everybody else for the encouragement and tips!

You are all great!
"Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress."
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by missrochelle » Tue Sep 07, 2010 9:22 am
InkyBinky wrote:If I were you, I would focus on taking many CAT's. Take the free ones from Manhattan, Princeton, Kaplan, Knewton, Veritas and Platinum GMAT. But don't get bummed by the scores because some are more accurate than others. And, of course, take GMAT Prep. It comes with two tests and each is good for at least two attempts.

I think the CAT's will really improve your ability to pace yourself during the test. I have taken every available CAT I could get my hands on and now consistently finish the quant section with a minute to go and the verbal with about 10 minutes to go (I never seem to need the extra time).

Good luck!
I am retaking the test and decided to do Practice tests to help with pacing and also to help keep me focused even when I see new problems. Which of these did you find the most helpful for quant and how many did you take in total?
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by InkyBinky » Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:11 am
missrochelle wrote:
InkyBinky wrote:If I were you, I would focus on taking many CAT's. Take the free ones from Manhattan, Princeton, Kaplan, Knewton, Veritas and Platinum GMAT. But don't get bummed by the scores because some are more accurate than others. And, of course, take GMAT Prep. It comes with two tests and each is good for at least two attempts.

I think the CAT's will really improve your ability to pace yourself during the test. I have taken every available CAT I could get my hands on and now consistently finish the quant section with a minute to go and the verbal with about 10 minutes to go (I never seem to need the extra time).

Good luck!
I am retaking the test and decided to do Practice tests to help with pacing and also to help keep me focused even when I see new problems. Which of these did you find the most helpful for quant and how many did you take in total?
Even though I think the Manhattan GMAT CATs are unrealistically difficult, I think those are best for quant because they force you to think more quickly than will be needed on the actual test. I think it's better to be over-challenged than under-challenged on the practice tests.
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by e-GMAT » Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:30 am
Hi Gurpinder,

Your accuracy level in Verbal and Quant is pretty good. Seems like your hard work is paying. As all others have suggested, you should take CATs now to simulate the real test experience. In my experience, I have seen that at times our brains work very well when we look at similar kind of problems, e.g. just SC or just CR, etc. However, when different types of problems are thrown at us, our brain behaves differently. So now that you have learned the course material, its time for you to expose your brain to different types of problems in one sitting so that you can train your mind well for the D-day.

I would suggest you start with one GMAT-Prep test. Then take a few MGMAT tests and then finish with the 2nd GMAT Prep test.

Tell me your score after you take your 1st GMAT prep test.

Thanks,

Payal
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by Brian@VeritasPrep » Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:53 am
Hey Gurpinder,

Thanks for the invite to reply, and sorry to chime in late (the perils of living on the West Coast, I suppose...we're always slightly behind the rest of the world).

My variation on the "yes, take practice tests" theme:

Definitely take a few tests to simulate the testing environment and procedure, as that can be a wild card for a lot of people. Your accuracy rates are pretty impressive, but they're probably helped by the fact that when you're doing Sentence Correction problems, for example, you're focusing on Sentence Correction and you get into that grammatical groove. When you need to transition between an RC passage and an SC question, you may not have that same level of comfort.

Make sure that you spend time in between practice tests analyzing what the tests tell you. Just "taking tests" will help you gain familiarity with the format, but a huge gain to be had comes from learning how you react on the test and then game-planning accordingly. If you know that you make silly assumptions and mistakes on math questions when you're rushing, you can address that; if you realize that you're spending too much time reading for detail on RC passages, you can address that. Make sure that you spend an hour or so reviewing each test - even questions you got right but that took you a while, or questions on which you had to guess between two answers - so that you can learn some things about your test performance.

I'm not sure I added too much different from everyone else here, but keep us all posted. You've put in a ton of work so we're all pulling for you,and confident that it will pay off!
Brian Galvin
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by Gurpinder » Tue Sep 07, 2010 11:44 am
Thank you Payal and Brian!!

You guys are awesome!!!!
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by Rahul@gurome » Wed Sep 08, 2010 4:14 am
Hi Gurpinder!

I think you are ready with your prep. I would strongly advise you to do some GMATPrep tests (do both a couple of times - hopefully you do not remember any questions from your practice with the OG material). Don't do any tests the day before, nor should you do very many questions the day before. Over preparing does not always help.

Hope that helps. Wish you the very best.
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by Gurpinder » Wed Sep 08, 2010 6:11 am
Thanks Rahul :D
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