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Help: Regressing after 3 month prep

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Help: Regressing after 3 month prep

by Cedric3 » Sun Jun 04, 2017 6:34 am
Hi all,

Gmat is killing me. I have regressed from 520 to 450.
I have been using EMPOWERGMAT material for the last 3 weeks.
I am planning to sit the 2nd of August with a goal of 700+ (obviously.)

I have been preparing for the GMAT since early March. My diagnostic test from GMATPREP resulted in a miserable 410 (Q26,V20). I firstly focused on catching up with math, with TOTAL GMAT MATH by Jeff Sackmann. I studied about two to three hours a day, 5 days a week.

On 1st of May I got a 520 (Q32 V28) with the second CAT (I went through some verbal material too, but not too seriously).

It is important to note that at that time, I had no clue about all strategies required to give a bump to the score ( triage , skipping hard questions, 1st 10 questions etc...)

The 5th of May I decided to give EMPOWERGMAT a go to boost my verbal score and found it exceptional: Great content, great strategies. Feeling confident and excited to use these strategies, I decided to take the 3rd CAT the 1st of June with a 600+ expected score... and got a 450 (Q32 V20)!! What happened??

For the first 10 questions I got Q1,Q2, Q4, Q9 and V1V2V4V7V9 wrong (450) meanwhile I got Q2,Q3,Q9 and V7 V8 V9 wrong for the 520. Did that play a key role?

How can I tell if that was just an accident? Should I retake a CAT asap?

I am feeling quiet down since then. I have worked on my verbal weaknesses ( SC and CR) but something is clearly not working. I don't know what I should do.

Clearly not a GMAT assassin yet,

Cédric

PS: I have taken the AWA & IR sections for the last two CATs
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by [email protected] » Sun Jun 04, 2017 10:55 am
Hi Cedric,

Many GMATers find the study process to be challenging at certain points, so you're not alone. I'll be happy to answer any questions that you have - and you can always feel free to email me (or the Support Team) directly.

To start, I'm hoping that you can clarify exactly when you started using the EMPOWERgmat Course. You state that it's been 3 weeks, but a May 5th start would be closer to 4.5 weeks. I checked our records, and the only person with the first name Cedric enrolled on May 19th, which would be closer to 2 weeks. This is all meant to say that there can be a big difference between 2 weeks of study and 4.5 weeks of study, so it would help to know the actual amount of time that you've been working through our Course.

Beyond that question, the data you've provided about your 2 recent CAT scores clearly defines a difference in the number of wrong answers (in the early part of each section). While the scoring Algorithm for the Official GMAT involves more than just the number of correct/incorrect answers, your data shows that you got 3 more questions wrong in the early-going on the 450 than you did on the 520 (and those extra wrong answers equated to a 50% increase in the number of wrong answers). Thus, it's likely that the score difference is at least partially due to those additional wrong answers. One of the 'keys' to improving is to try to define WHY you got questions wrong (not just those early questions, but all of the questions throughout the Test).

While the full Mistake Tracker will involve far more details, there are some basic questions that you should answer about your performance. After reviewing each section, how many questions did you get wrong....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some math/verbal that you just could not remember how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?
4) Because you were low on time and had to guess?
5) In the Verbal section, how many questions did you "narrow down to 2 choices", but still get wrong?

At this point, you should NOT take another CAT until you've done some additional practice and clearly defined what you need to work on. A CAT is really a 'measuring device' - when used correctly, it will give you a realistic score and help define your strengths and weaknesses, but it will NOT help you to fix any of those weaknesses. To raise your scores, you have to put in the necessary practice and repetitions.

Thankfully, the GMAT is a predictable, standardized Test, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at [email protected]
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