Need Advice

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Need Advice

by mdavis » Fri Feb 20, 2009 9:47 pm
Well I took my GMAT today and got a score of 540. Needless to say, I am very disappointed.

Materials used:

Manhattan Sentence Correction Guide
Official Guide 11
Quantitative Guide

Here are my test scores:

Manhattan GMAT

Cat 1 540
Cat 2 590
Cat 3 620
Cat 4 650
Cat 5 640

GMAT Prep

570 (31q, 37v) 1st
600 (35q, 37v) 1st RETAKE
600 (40q, 32v) 2nd
640 (44q, 32v) 2nd RETAKE

Actual GMAT

540 (31q, 35v)

For one thing, I did not time myself with the Manhattan GMAT cats. I attempted to do so but the questions for math seemed very long and hard to understand. So I just did them for practice.

I believe the GMATPrep gave me a false sense of confidence, mostly because some questions were repeated from the OG and I already knew them.

Anyways, I set myself for my next test on March 30. I ordered the rest of the Manhattan GMAT books for math and I do have my sentence correction guide. I have done the questions for all the math 2x over in the OG. I do feel that I am putting quantity over quality. But I also feel that I have exhausted all my resources and I do not know how to improve my studies.

How should I do my prep differently? I must be honest with myself and do a better job at understanding the concepts involved, but don't know how to do it when I already exhausted the OG. Will I trick myself into a false sense of security going over answers when I already know the answer simply due to the fact that I have looked at it many times before?

Please help!
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by beatthegmat » Tue Feb 24, 2009 4:56 pm
I'm sorry to hear that you didn't reach your goal on the test. Keep your head up though, this is just a minor setback that you can certainly overcome!

Two pieces of advice for your second round of prep:

(1) Work on your pacing! One red flag I saw in your last post was that you did not practice your timing consistently. This is a big no-no, you should definitely work this time around to master pacing. In all practice problem sets or tests you take, time yourself and stick with it. This discipline will pay off in a big way for your test and make the next experience feel way more comfortable.

(2) Be tactical in how you review your answers. I recommend that you take a look at this GMAT Practice Grid post, it features a good strategy for analyzing your strengths and weaknesses as well as addresses review strategy.

Good luck to you!
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by siownschu » Tue Feb 24, 2009 11:06 pm
i def agree with Eric you practicing the MGMAT CATs without time does not give a good indication of your real standing. I've noticed a huge swing in my ability to get a question right under timed and un-timed conditions.

your practices should be close to the actual test itself as much as possible, so there will be no surprises when you are sitting in that exam room!

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GMAT Score:550

by Wall.Street.Sweeper » Wed Feb 25, 2009 12:38 pm
exactly! and also do the writing portion on all the CATs....I know its annoying, but the writing section causes some fatigue.

Also consider buying the yellow laminate paper and marker to make your practice CAT exams even closer to the real thing.