Hi All,
Prep so far:
I have been preparing for GMAT over the last 2 months on and off (~10 hrs a week).
Quant: 65% of my overall prep time has gone into Quant. I think I am good in quant (engg background but graduated 10 yr ago) but still wanted to get a hang of all concepts before diving into problems. Completed all MGMAT Quant Strategy books (except a bit of word problems) + Question Bank of Number Properties & Geometry + practice Qs from Jeff Sackmann's Challenge sets (Number properties, geometry, word problems).
Verbal: 35% of prep time gone into Verbal. I have spent most of this time on SC and CR. I think I am okay in RC (reading obsure articles while completing my PhD is coming in handy). For SC: partially read MGMAT guide; CR: partially read MGMAT guide. For practice, done a bit of Aristotle SC Grail questions (have not read the concepts section of it yet), RC99 passages for RC. For CR, some questions from OG based on MGMAT's chapters.
It was getting a bit boring and I was losing track of what to prepare/study over the next few weeks. I understand that I have enough basic material to go through (MGMAT SC, CR, RC guides) but I thought its best to take my first CAT to see how I am doing and which areas I should focus on in the coming weeks.
MGMAT CAT 1: 670 (Q47, V34)
Further breakdown:
Q: Accuracy PS (64%), DS (47%): questions in 700-800 group 25 out of 37; accuracy on 700-800 questions ~44%
V: Accuracy SC (47%), CR (50%), RC (58%): questions in 700-800 group 30 out of 41; accuracy on 700-800 questions ~43%
I took the test under timed conditions i.e. 75 mins for each section. I finished both Quant & Verbal with ~1 min to spare. I am okay with my Quant score but a bit disappointed with my Verbal score. I was expecting Verbal to be atleast 3-4 points more. I know that I have not practiced Verbal much yet and I can expect some improvement in that area after practice. I would like to get guidance and advice from fellow members or from GMAT instructors on these questions/areas:
Questions for Advice:
1. I felt quant on this CAT to be slightly tough. I could feel that I can complete the problem but that it is going take over 3-3.5 mins so I guessed and moved on. Do others felt the same?
2. I felt CR to be quite tough as well and sort of not clean CR i.e. statements were fine but questions and answer choices seemed to be very hotch-potch. Testing logic can be done in a clean fashion and still be difficult (which is the case with OG problems) but on this test it seemed like they are trying to make things difficult by using difficult wordings such as 3 negations in one sentence. Do others felt the same?
3. On Accuracy, MGMAT suggests that it is normal to get half the questions wrong i.e. ~50% accuracy. What do you guys think? I got 16 wrongs in Quant and 20 in Verbal.
4. What prep tips/suggestions would you give me for the next few weeks? My target score in 750 and GMAT date is around 2 months away.
5. Also, what is the best source for practicing CR questions? i.e. not concepts but practice questions.
Thanks a lot in advance. The reason for posting such a long post is also to help others you might have got similar results from their first CAT exam.
Prep so far:
I have been preparing for GMAT over the last 2 months on and off (~10 hrs a week).
Quant: 65% of my overall prep time has gone into Quant. I think I am good in quant (engg background but graduated 10 yr ago) but still wanted to get a hang of all concepts before diving into problems. Completed all MGMAT Quant Strategy books (except a bit of word problems) + Question Bank of Number Properties & Geometry + practice Qs from Jeff Sackmann's Challenge sets (Number properties, geometry, word problems).
Verbal: 35% of prep time gone into Verbal. I have spent most of this time on SC and CR. I think I am okay in RC (reading obsure articles while completing my PhD is coming in handy). For SC: partially read MGMAT guide; CR: partially read MGMAT guide. For practice, done a bit of Aristotle SC Grail questions (have not read the concepts section of it yet), RC99 passages for RC. For CR, some questions from OG based on MGMAT's chapters.
It was getting a bit boring and I was losing track of what to prepare/study over the next few weeks. I understand that I have enough basic material to go through (MGMAT SC, CR, RC guides) but I thought its best to take my first CAT to see how I am doing and which areas I should focus on in the coming weeks.
MGMAT CAT 1: 670 (Q47, V34)
Further breakdown:
Q: Accuracy PS (64%), DS (47%): questions in 700-800 group 25 out of 37; accuracy on 700-800 questions ~44%
V: Accuracy SC (47%), CR (50%), RC (58%): questions in 700-800 group 30 out of 41; accuracy on 700-800 questions ~43%
I took the test under timed conditions i.e. 75 mins for each section. I finished both Quant & Verbal with ~1 min to spare. I am okay with my Quant score but a bit disappointed with my Verbal score. I was expecting Verbal to be atleast 3-4 points more. I know that I have not practiced Verbal much yet and I can expect some improvement in that area after practice. I would like to get guidance and advice from fellow members or from GMAT instructors on these questions/areas:
Questions for Advice:
1. I felt quant on this CAT to be slightly tough. I could feel that I can complete the problem but that it is going take over 3-3.5 mins so I guessed and moved on. Do others felt the same?
2. I felt CR to be quite tough as well and sort of not clean CR i.e. statements were fine but questions and answer choices seemed to be very hotch-potch. Testing logic can be done in a clean fashion and still be difficult (which is the case with OG problems) but on this test it seemed like they are trying to make things difficult by using difficult wordings such as 3 negations in one sentence. Do others felt the same?
3. On Accuracy, MGMAT suggests that it is normal to get half the questions wrong i.e. ~50% accuracy. What do you guys think? I got 16 wrongs in Quant and 20 in Verbal.
4. What prep tips/suggestions would you give me for the next few weeks? My target score in 750 and GMAT date is around 2 months away.
5. Also, what is the best source for practicing CR questions? i.e. not concepts but practice questions.
Thanks a lot in advance. The reason for posting such a long post is also to help others you might have got similar results from their first CAT exam.
