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HELP! Just took Practice Test 1 from mba.com

by galacticos » Mon Jun 22, 2009 2:03 pm
Ok, so here's a quick summary of my situation :

I'm a junior economics/polisci major. I actually took the LSAT a few weeks back and while I probably did pretty well, I know I didn't hit my target score. I've been thinking about tossing an application to HBS for their 2+2 program (hey, nothing to lose, right?) for a while now and my little screw up on the LSAT made me impulsive and I registered for a June 27 test.

I hadn't done ANY studying until today when I decided to download the mba.com software and take a full practice test.

I don't really understand the scaled score business yet, but here were my results:

quant 44 (-13)
verbal 41 (-6)

700

I was a little disappointed with the verbal score but then again I wasn't really trying my hardest and finished 25 minutes early (that's what the LSAT does to you... makes everything else seem easy).

I wasn't expecting to do very well on quant since I didn't really pour much effort into it and would simply half-guess tough questions since I didn't know how to pace myself (I don't remember how early I finished).


Can I reasonably expect to replicate this result if I walk into the test on Saturday? I have a 3.6ish GPA so I know I'm going to need 700+ to have a shot at 2+2. I guess the real question is... is it worth going through with this? (I finished school a week ago and so I haven't had any time to really think about it and get recommendations) And, are the practice tests realistic indicators (one studies for the LSAT primarily using PTs and their reliability as estimators varies greatly from unreliable for old tests to very reliable for newer tests).

If I'm going to pour my effort into this for the next five days I'd like to focus on quant and just re-learning some of that HS algebra/geometry/trig that I've forgotten (we don't do anything but bloody calculus in econ) - It took me until the middle of the quant section to remember what a prime number and factoring are.


Thanks in advance and sorry if I haven't searched enough.
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by alexhard » Mon Jun 22, 2009 3:23 pm
GMATprep is a very good indicator of your test performance, barring any type of complication. You should be able to lift your quant score by at least a couple of points in 5 days. Take another couple of practice exams to make sure that you've got the pacing and endurance down.

Don't focus too much on geometry, as its not a very large part. If you can get hold of the OG on time, just try to do the last 100-150 questions or so.
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by galacticos » Tue Jun 23, 2009 9:08 am
I'm sorry... what's the "OG"? That sounds like a good idea.

Anyone else?


As for Practice Exams, I think I'm going to take the Manhattan GMAT one on Wednesday and then finish on Thursday or Friday with the GMAT Prep #2.
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by VP_Jim » Tue Jun 23, 2009 9:49 am
I'll agree with the advice above. Getting a 700 cold is excellent. With a little study, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to get that up even higher.

Since you don't have very much time, I'd focus on the things that lend themselves to memorization:

1. The GMAT grammatical errors (sentence correction). This isn't on the LSAT, so you should definitely spend some time on GMAT grammar. I would imagine that you will be okay on reading comp and critical reasoning if you did well on the LSAT.

2. Math definitions (prime number, even number, integer, etc.) and number properties (e.g., an even number times an odd number is an even number). These come up all the time, particularly on harder problems.

3. The format/thought process for data sufficiency, especially yes/no data sufficiency.

With a little extra time, I'd work on learning how to solve the common word problems, such as plug ins, work problems, mixture problems, etc. However, if you're good at math, you should be able to figure that stuff out on the fly during the test as long as you've learned your definitions are are pretty quick with mental math.

Good luck, and let us know how the studying is progressing!
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by 4seasoncentre » Tue Jun 23, 2009 2:58 pm
galacticos wrote:I'm sorry... what's the "OG"? That sounds like a good idea.
OG = Official Guide aka the book that is published by the Graduate Management Admissions Council (aka, the guys in charge of the GMAT)
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by Stacey Koprince » Wed Jun 24, 2009 7:01 am
Received a PM asking me to respond. Jim has some good practical suggestions above re: what to concentrate on in the few days you have to study.

The one major wildcard here is the fact that you're going to know the official test counts; you knew your practice test didn't count. Are you the kind of person who tends to under-perform, over-perform, or stay about where you should be when you take standardized tests? Think to the LSAT and SAT. If you tended to under-perform on those due to the general stress of the situation, it's likely (though not guaranteed) that the same thing will happen with the GMAT. If you tended to over-perform, or stay about the same, ditto.

Re: your practice test scores, you did much better on the verbal than the quant. The scores are not on the same scale. Your quant score was about the 70th percentile. Your verbal score was about the 90th percentile. You may want to take that into consideration as you decide where to focus your attention for the next few days. (And slow down! Use that time to your best advantage on verbal and maybe that alone will boost your score - double-check on tougher ones to make sure you're not missing something or falling into a trap!)

I don't think there's any major downside to taking the GMAT and seeing what happens. If you don't like your score and take it again, the vast majority of business schools, including HBS, will look at your higher score. (This is NOT what law schools do - many law schools will average your scores.) So, yeah, you might as well take it and see what happens! Just be realistic about expectations - you may decide afterwards that you want to do some more serious preparation and take it again.

I'll caution you about one thing: don't do much on the day before the real test. Definitely don't take a practice test that day. Think of it this way: you're about to run a marathon. Would you run a practice marathon the day before the real thing? Of course not - you'd tire yourself out! Same thing here - this test is a mental marathon.

Good luck - let us know how it goes!
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by galacticos » Wed Jun 24, 2009 2:44 pm
Stacey Koprince wrote:The one major wildcard here is the fact that you're going to know the official test counts; you knew your practice test didn't count. Are you the kind of person who tends to under-perform, over-perform, or stay about where you should be when you take standardized tests?
I don't think this will be a factor - the LSAT is my most recent example and I didn't feel particularly nervous or anxious. I didn't hit my target score (well, I'm pretty sure I didn't) because I got thrown a major curveball and my target was an absurdly high score to begin with.
Re: your practice test scores, you did much better on the verbal than the quant. You may want to take that into consideration as you decide where to focus your attention for the next few days.
As I went over my incorrect answers, I found that every question I got wrong in Verbal was a sentence correction, so I'll work on those and disregard the rest of the section. I think just reviewing some of the math concepts is going to help me a lot with quant. I couldn't even remember how to subtract/multiply/add on paper before yesterday.
I don't think there's any major downside to taking the GMAT and seeing what happens. If you don't like your score and take it again, the vast majority of business schools, including HBS, will look at your higher score. (This is NOT what law schools do - many law schools will average your scores.)
Many (if not most) law schools actually don't average scores anymore... The reporting criteria recently changed. That said, this is my only shot at the GMAT (for the time being) because the HBS application deadline is July 1.
Good luck - let us know how it goes!
Thanks. I do love that I immediately find out my score.
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by zuleron » Thu Jun 25, 2009 4:29 am
Dude, if you got only 6 wrong in Verbal and they were all SC, then you can, even in two days, reduce that to 2 worng and then you are probably looking at a 47 in verbal. Imbibe, burn in your brain by osmosis, just internalize Manhattan SC strategies and you will be golden.


And if you can raise the quant to 46 also (doable if you are now at 44), and there is your 750.

Good Luck!
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by Stacey Koprince » Thu Jun 25, 2009 6:34 am
Cool - thanks for letting me know that the law schools changed how they handle multiple scores! :)
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by galacticos » Thu Jun 25, 2009 7:28 pm
well i found out my lsat score today and completely bombed it (163... 13 points below my practice avg)

that's inspiration but it's also killing any desire to study.

did 30 problem solving
now on to 30 data sufficiency
then 30 sentence correction

(and that's pretty much all of my GMAT studying... i wish i had more time)
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by zuleron » Fri Jun 26, 2009 4:48 am
163 on LSAT is not that bad. I got a 161 and then I tried again and got 170. But I'm sure you know that the LSAT CR and RC are much tougher than GMAT CR and RC so if a 163 is around the 92%ile, you will have NO problems with GMAT CR and RC. Just focus today on SC and you will be surprised how well you will score.

GOOD LUCK!!!
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by galacticos » Fri Jun 26, 2009 2:35 pm
Obviously a 163 is 88th percentile so it's not bad. But in my assesment of 163 being a disaster I keep in mind that I was easily churning out 99th percentile scores on my PTs. My last 5 included two 177s, a 175, and a 176

But I digress. (and yes, GMAT RC and LR are a joke compared to the LSAT)



I took Practice test #2 today:

Quant 47
Verbal 44
740

I'm pleased and I just hope I can replicate this result tomorrow and I'll be very happy. I finished verbal 30 minutes early so I can take my time more tomorrow, I'll keep that in mind. I didn't finish 2 questions in verbal because I got caught and allowed my brain to spend like 10 minutes on one question... Will pace myself better tomorrow. Wish me luck!

BTW... You guys have said that the GMATPrep tests are fairly realistic indicators... Just how similar will my test tomorrow be to the two tests I took this week?


Thanks
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by crejoc » Fri Jun 26, 2009 3:04 pm
You are doing great on your practice tests.. Wish you good luck.. Post your score and debrief after your exam.
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by galacticos » Sat Jun 27, 2009 12:12 pm
woohoo i think i beat the gmat... :P

quant 45
verbal 47
740

i wish i had matched yesterday's quant practice... would've been like a 750 or 760?

but yeah i'm very satisfied. 750 was my arbitrary target but i would've been happy with pretty much anything 700+. i kind of wish mba programs were like law schools now... hopefully my score can make up for a lack of extracurriculars.

i was kind of surprised at how 'secure' the whole operation was. palm scans, photo, video cameras everywhere, the whole 9 yards. crazy stuff, impossible to cheat.

i felt like the real thing was very similar to the PTs, though i felt like my verbal was really hard (but that may have been bc i got a little lucky and did so well on it). also was nice that i got there an hour early but they let me start right away regardless.
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by yoon1que1 » Sat Jun 27, 2009 6:54 pm
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