Received a PM asking me to reply. I have been traveling and haven't been on BTG for several weeks. Sorry I haven't replied yet.
Some good advice already upthread. I'll comment on your original post:
1) FYI - scoring is not based on percentage correct, so focusing on that metric will not tell you much. As you get better, you still get a similar number of questions wrong (except at the very highest end of the test) - what changes is the difficulty level of the questions you're getting right.
2) You'll always make *some* careless mistakes, but it is important to try to minimize them as much as possible. Keep an error log (if you don't already) in which you note down what the mistake was (or mistakes were, if there were multiple), WHY you made the mistake, and what habits you need to make or break in order to minimize the chances of repeating that mistake in future.
3) As Dana said above, PowerPrep is the older version of GMATPrep and is not quite as valid as GMATPrep, though PP is still a pretty good indicator. GP has about a +/- 30 point standard deviation. PP will be a bit higher than that. Also, in order to have a valid comparison score, it is CRITICAL that you take the test under full official conditions (do both essays, take only 8 minute breaks between sections, etc). If you don't, then your score is likely inflated (eg, skipping an essay or two gives you a major advantage, as does taking a longer break).
If SC is a weakness, then yes, you need something that will teach you SC, so sounds like you've already got a plan for that. You mention RC as a weakness, but you don't mention what you're going to use to get better at RC. Just doing practice problems is not enough - you need something that actually teaches you how to get better at questions of that type (especially if you're going for a 750!). OG also isn't enough, unfortunately - although OG contains the best practice problems available, the explanation don't do much to teach you how to get better.
So, if you haven't already, get yourself an RC resource (book or whatever, likely from a GMAT test prep company, because that's who teaches you how to get better!).
4) You seem very focused on the quantity of what you're going to do - number of problems, number of tests, etc. It's better to focus on the quality of your learning. If you don't know what you need to know, then doing more problems will help only marginally - but it won't help you make a big difference in your score. So concentrate instead on what you need to learn: grammar rules, methodology for reading RC passages, methodology for answering SC and RC questions, comprehension on RC passages, ability to spot (and eliminate!) tempting wrong answers, ability to avoid mistakenly dismissing the correct answer, etc.
Most of the above should come from our SC book and whatever book you choose for RC (we have a book for that, too, but you should ask around or browse in a store yourself to find what works best for you).
On the wrong answer analysis, ask yourself (even if you got the question right):
- why was the wrong answer so tempting? why did it look like it might be right? (be as explicit as possible)
- why was it actually wrong? what specific words indicate that it is wrong and how did I overlook those clues the first time?
- why did the right answer seem wrong? what made it so tempting to cross off the right answer? why were those things actually okay - what was my error in thinking that they were wrong?
- why was it actually right?
5) Finally, CAT exams are really good for (a) figuring out where you're scoring right now, (b) practicing stamina, and (c) analyzing your strengths and weaknesses. The actual act of just taking the exam is NOT so useful for improving. It's what you do with the test results / between tests that helps you to improve. This is back to that quantity vs. quality thing again. Quality study involves making significant improvement before taking another practice test to gauge your performance. If you take another practice test before you've done significant work, the practice test results don't tell you much (and you end up getting frustrated because you don't see a big change in your score).
I don't recommend taking a practice test more than once a week (and sometimes even that is too frequent!). It takes at least a week (and usually longer) to see any kind of measurable improvement.
p.s. Re: AWA, do you have a specific question about it? In general, always do the essays on practice tests (you need to practice stamina as well). Also, know exactly what you need to do on AWA so that you can write the essays with minimal energy / brain power. Save your energy for the main event!
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Stacey Koprince
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Manhattan GMAT
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