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Pls help on prep strategy

by LSB » Fri Aug 15, 2008 3:56 pm
Hi - I am struggling with defining my ultimate prep for the next 16 days.

I finished the quant OG supplement (green book) and am midway through the blue book. I am targeting to do 60% of the OG11 book (latter 500 Qs), as well as take 3 MGMAT and 2 GMAT Prep CATs.

I completed one MGMAT CAT two days ago and got a disappointing 640 (V39 89% / Q38 55%). My math skills are solid ... I am struggling hugely with time, however, especially on PS.

Should I be focussing more on times OG .. or simulate CATs. I am finding that reviewing my tests takes twice as long as writing them. So, even though I am currently on vacation until test day, I feel that I need to be careful with time allocation.
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by madeline » Fri Aug 15, 2008 5:45 pm
In case you haven't heard yet... the MGMAT quant section is WAY more difficult than the actual test. Have you taken a GMATPrep (or any other CAT) yet? I think you have a fairly good verbal score, and I would suggest that to get a more accurate grasp of which quant topics you need to work on, take a GMATPrep CAT and see where you go wrong.
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by LSB » Sat Aug 16, 2008 3:13 am
I know about MGMAT math. I am planning to take another MGMAT today (it has gotten personal now ... me agaist the MGMAT CAT :-) )

I will do a GMAT Prep in three days as well. In terms of weaknesses ... MGMAT provides really good analysis of what went wrong. It seems that I spend wayyy too much time on the majority of math topics (no single area is particularly weaker than others) when we I get into mid 600 (and up) questions.
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less painful as last time - still not good enough for 700

by LSB » Sat Aug 16, 2008 9:09 am
Took another MGMAT CAT.

Much better than a few days ago. Math still a problem. Spent 7 mins on one question and 4 minutes on another. Ran out of time and guessed the last 7 questions (out of 37). 6 out of those 7 guesses were wrong.

Verbal seems to be consistently strong. Same feeling as last time. Thought I had a good handle on most of the questions.

Quantitative 43 70 %
Verbal 38 85 %
Total 670 89 %

If you had asked me a few months ago I would have said Math will be a breeze. Little did I know.

Here is the track record of GMAT CATs:

Date / CAT Source / Total Score / V Score / V% / Q Score / Q%

Nov-07 Kaplan Free CAT 600 (no V/Q Split)
Nov-07 MGMAT CAT 600 V32 / 67% Q42 / 66%
Apr-08 GMAC CAT 640 V38 / 86% Q39 / 59%
Apr-08 MGMAT CAT 600 V32 / 67% Q41 / 64%
Aug-08 VP CAT 730 V42 / 95% Q54 / 99%
Aug-08 MGMAT CAT 640 V39 / 89% Q38 / 55%
Aug-08 MGMAT CAT 670 V38 / 85% Q43 / 70%

VP CAT seems like it was a complete fluke. Felt way too easy. Another GMAT Prep CAT is due in 3 days.
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by madeline » Sat Aug 16, 2008 9:12 am
MGMAT quant is very time consuming, yes... they sometimes require convoluted calculations not found anywhere else. If you're not too weak in anything in particular, I wouldn't worry too much about the MGMAT timing - seeing how you do in GMATPrep would give you a much better idea. Having said that, I still wish you the best in your battle against MGMAT CAT. :)
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by mayonnai5e » Sat Aug 16, 2008 9:58 am
Yes the VP cat seems to be a fluke. I have no idea what VP is, but that test cannot be readily compared with the MGMAT cat scores because they are based on the provider's interpretation of the scoring algorithm.

In the next two weeks, I suggest doing both GMATPrep cats as they will give you the indication of where you stand now. It is good that reviewing each cat takes much longer than actually taking the test - it shows that you are spending a lot of time trying to understand your mistakes and learn from them. I approve. You should skip the rest of the MGMAT cats because you will not have enough time to complete 2 GMATPrep, 3 MGMAT cats, 500 questions in OG, review the questions, create lessons learned AND absorb/practice/implement your ideas and findings. Doing the latter 500 questions, which are the hardest ones and for which you will need to do well on to maximize your score, takes far more precedence than the MGMAT cats.

To sum up, in the next two weeks your goal should be to: 1) finish all 500 questions left, log your errors, and create/review lessons learned and 2) do both GMATPrep cats.

Also, at this point you do not want to let either Q or V slip by not practicing certain topics so I recommend alternating Q and V days - do Q one day then V then next then Q again (e.g. CR, PS, RC, DS, SC or something similar). This keeps all topics fresh in your mind.

Hope this helps and good luck!
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by LSB » Tue Aug 19, 2008 8:34 am
Latest Score

GMAC CAT 2 (first attempt ... but recognized 1-2 Verbal questions from OG)

Date / CAT Source / Total Score / V Score / V% / Q Score / Q%
Aug 08 GMAC CAT 2 740 V 47/99% Q 45/75%


Time was much less of an issue in math as compared to MGMAT. I was also very focused (was actually hoping for a better Q score)

When it came to verbal I was exhausted at the beginning and fell behind my schedule pretty early ... but was able to catch on by guessing blind on a CR question.

Couldn't be more confused about this score. I would have expected that the scores would become less erratic as one moves through prep. We shall see what comes out of all this on Sep 2. Will continue beavering away on math until then.

Here is the history so far (updated percentiles as per published data on MBA.com)
Nov-07 Kaplan Freet CAT 600 (no V / Q split)
Nov-07 MGMAT CAT 600 V32/64% Q42/63%
Apr-08 GMAC CAT 1 640 V38/83% Q39/55%
Apr-08 MGMAT CAT 600 V32/64% Q41/61%
Aug-08 VP CAT 730 V42/95% Q54/99%
Aug-08 MGMAT CAT 640 V39/87% Q38/53%
Aug-08 MGMAT CAT 670 V38/83% Q43/68%
Aug-08 GMAC CAT 2 740 V47/99% Q45/75%
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