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After 2-months Studying, What to do?

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After 2-months Studying, What to do?

by fermar84 » Sun Oct 19, 2014 12:48 pm
Hi, here is my situation:

1. I started with the basic concepts following the 60-Days study guide following the MGMAT books. Then stopped at the 45 days mark and started doing mocks. I use the OG13 + Verbal Review + Quant Review.

2. My mock CATs scores since then are:

Score (AWA / IR / Q / V)
- GMATPrep 540 (Yes / 3 / Q34 / V30)
- Veritas Free 660 (No / No / Q44 / V37)
- Kaplan 1 590 (Yes / 2 / Q45 / V26)
- Kaplan 2 560 (Yes / 2 / Q42 / V25)
- Kaplan 3 610 (Yes / 4 / Q47 / V29)

3. Each mock is taken under the following conditions:

- Every Saturday at 8 am in a meeting room at the office (no noise, no distractions).
- Use a laptop, It is a real challenge to find a Desktop these days.
- Both complete breaks of rest.
- I have been trying one energy drink before the start of the Quant section but no effect.
- Breakfast before each CAT.
- Use the MGMAT erasable pad.
- After each mock I review my mistakes, take notes and join them with previous notes.

4. I think that my Quant scores are consistent, although I hope to stabilize them at the Q45 mark.

5. My biggest problem as you see is Verbal. I enrolled e-GMAT only for the SC module since I guessed that CR and RC is pure logic and I read A LOT (Economist, NYTimes and Washington Post, for the first two, I read the available articles per week since I am not subscribed).

6. The Kaplan Verbal section has me extremely frustrated, It is very difficult, I searched around and found that it is more difficult than the real thing.

7. My study routine:
- Saturday: CAT (morning) + Post-Review (afternoon)
- Sunday: Rest
- Monday - Friday: (Veritas Question Bank: 5 PS + 5 SC + Review) + Study-Notes Review

8. My target score is 680.

9. My target schools are Rotman/UBC with 674/646 GMAT Score averages respectively. Deadline 2nd round is January 5.

10. I have not scheduled my GMAT exam, but my deadline is November 29.

My questions are:

1. You can advise on any of the previous points I already make.

2. I have 2 Kaplan Tests + 1 GMAT Prep + 2 Add GMAT Prep = 5. Would you advise me to finish the Kaplan tests or should I buy the Veritas CATs (to check my real Verbal status)?

3. I heard that the 4th GMAT Prep CAT (from the additional pack) it is not worth because it uses the same questions from previous CATs, is it true?.

4. What can I do with the Verbal section, I mean, my issue is with the RC and CR sections, I was expecting a high accuracy on these sections but I am not making it. What resources do you advise? I know that the SC section is my biggest weakness but I train every day and go over my notes.

That is everything, sorry for going so detailed but is in order to receive the best advise possible.

Thanks in advance,
Fernando
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by [email protected] » Sun Oct 19, 2014 8:17 pm
Hi Fernando,

The attention to detail that you put into how you take your CATs is impressive and you should continue to work in that highly-detailed way.

The challenges that you are facing in the Verbal Section are not really a mystery - you actually defined them in your post. Your point of view about CR and RC is not correct and it's costing you a lot of points. The CATs are not the problem. It sounds like you have not learned how to properly deal with CR and RC; until you fix THOSE problems, you're not going to be able to hit your goal score.

Thankfully, you do have enough time to learn and properly practice those tactics AND pick up some points in the Quant section. Using more books is probably not going to be enough though; you'll likely need to invest in some new computer-based resources that will "force" you to approach the entire Verbal section in the proper way.

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by JTuquero » Mon Oct 20, 2014 8:26 am
Hi fermar84

In terms of RC, remember to actively read passages (as opposed to passively read passages, which we're used to doing). You're on the correct path by reading a lot more. Now, while you read, change your aproach by asking yourself the following questions:

What is the main idea of this passage?
What is the author's position and tone (neutral? critical? etc.)?
What is the structure of the argument (e.g. two opposing sides vs. one sided, informational vs. author's opinion)?

Asking these questions while you ready will help you understand a passage in general terms as well as determine what the arguments may be--two key skills you will need for the GMAT's RC section.

Hope this helps you with the RC section!

Jessica
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by BestGMATEliza » Mon Oct 20, 2014 9:31 am
1. I agree with Rich, it seems like you need to get a good grasp on RC and CR strategy to progress further in those question types. You can do this either through a book (I used MGMAT and found that very helpful) or purchasing just the verbal section of a course (MGMAT, GMAT Pill, and Magoosh online on demand courses all let you do this). Once you have got a handle on the strategy THEN practice it with question banks and CATs

2. I think practicing with tests that are harder isn't necessarily a bad thing. It will help you get used to the more difficult level of questions that will help you improve your score, even though they give you a lower estimate of your score. I would finish the Kaplan and if you want more tests, you can purchase them.

3. I don't believe this is the case. I think there are some problems the the GMAT prep software Exam expansion pack (when you use it on Macs especially). Mine essentially deinstalled after I took test #3, so I had to reinstall it and then when I went to take test #4 it was the same as the previous test I had taken, however when I took exam #3 again it was all new to me.

4. see answer to 1

Hope this helps and good luck!!
Eliza Chute
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by fermar84 » Mon Oct 20, 2014 10:13 am
Thank you all Rich, Jessica and Eliza.

Just a small feedback:

1. Today I took the GMAT Prep #2 and I am really sad with my score 590 (Yes / 4 / Q42 / V28). I took the test in a very relaxed way treating Quant a little more lightly than normal (a bit unprofessional if you ask me), specially because I wanted to check how far was my Verbal score from the Kaplan tests. To my surprise it is exactly within range of previous CATs.

2. However for the Verbal section I made a special effort. I understand that % of correct answers does not matter but the level of difficulty of the questions. Look how I performed in the image:

a) In the first 10 questions I made 3 mistakes not in a row.
b) In the first 23 questions I made 5 mistakes spread apart.
c) In the last 18 questions I made 9 mistakes with two blocks of 3 mistakes in a row.
d) Do not you think I should have performed better? Specially given the first 23 questions?

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3. I agree with Rich and eliza that I need a strategy on the RC/CR questions. I followed the MGMAT book but it is very heavy, I think I need online audio-visual aid for these types of questions.

4. With that result on the GMATPrep #2, specially with the verbal part, now I plan to finish the Kaplan CATs.

Thanks everybody,
Fernando
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by fermar84 » Sun Oct 26, 2014 3:04 pm
Hi everyone, sorry to bring back this topic but I would like you to help me with those last questions and I wont bother anymore. Thanks in advance, FM
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sun Oct 26, 2014 5:01 pm
fermar84 wrote: a) In the first 10 questions I made 3 mistakes not in a row.
b) In the first 23 questions I made 5 mistakes spread apart.
c) In the last 18 questions I made 9 mistakes with two blocks of 3 mistakes in a row.
d) Do not you think I should have performed better? Specially given the first 23 questions?
Hi Fernando,

The only question I see in your previous post is bolded above.

If those are the results of a GMATPrep test, then the score you received is the score from the official GMAT scoring algorithm. So, this is your score.

Aside: when I was writing the article Taking the GMATPrep Practice Tests Multiple Times (https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/03/ ... iple-times), I took GMATPrep Practice Test #1 four times, and each time I answered every second question correctly (I did this for the quant section only)

Given that I correctly answered exactly half of the questions each time, you'd expect my quant scores to be roughly the same for all 4 tests.

My 4 scaled scores were: 19, 23, 26 and 42

This represents a percentile range from approximately 8th percentile to the 63rd percentile.

My advice: don't try to spend a lot of time trying to understand the GMAT scoring algorithm. Instead, try your best to answer every question correctly and quickly. That's it.

Cheers,
Brent
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by [email protected] » Mon Oct 27, 2014 7:19 pm
Hi Fernando,

You already seem to understand that the number of correct answers is not how the GMAT determines your score, but you're asking for analysis based on the number of correct answers. I suggest that you post each of the questions that you got incorrect (in the respective Forum, one question per post) and see what the Experts and other users have to offer (in terms of insight, advice, etc.). In that way, you can get a better sense of which questions you could (or SHOULD) have gotten correct.

Since this latest practice CAT score is within range of your other scores, it does not make much sense to take another CAT until you've put in some serious time to learn (and practice) some new tactics. Taking more CATs right now will likely lead to similar score results.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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