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One month out from the Exam!

by kdn508 » Sun Jun 29, 2014 3:56 pm
So I recently finished up my Veritas Class and took my post test and here are my results!

Veritas Test #1 430 28Q 28V
Veritas Test #6 630 43Q 30V

(both tests I finished with extra time left over) I also made a few silly math mistakes as well!

I'm not surprised because I spent a huge amount of my time/focus on the Quant due to insecurities about math, so now I think what I'm hoping to do is focus basic verbal and keep my math sharp by working on Official Guide questions.

I know pushing up verbal should be my #1 priority but, would MGMAT advanced math and the Kaplan 800 be within my ability for Quant practice?


My goal is to hit 700. I would love any feedback or advice!
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by [email protected] » Sun Jun 29, 2014 5:27 pm
Hi knd508,

With month to go, you still have plenty of time to improve. You should not be taking an "all or nothing" approach in these last few weeks. With these Scaled Scores, you have opportunities to pick up points in both the Quant and Verbal sections.

As is, you have a GREATER opportunity to make up points in the Verbal section than in the Quant section, so there's a reasonable argument for you to spend more time on Verbal than on Quant. You won't be able to score 700+ with a Verbal in the low 30s.

In that same way, it would still be tough to score 700+ with a Quant score at 43, but it is possible if your Verbal score is also in the 40s. Raising your Quant score will give you a greater "range" to score in the Verbal and still score 700+.

Your immediate priority should be to fix the silly mistakes. Go back and redo all of the questions that you got wrong but SHOULD have gotten right. In the next few weeks, you should plan on taking 1 CAT/week with an emphasis on making the experience as "real" as possible (take it somewhere other than your home, take the ENTIRE CAT, take it at the same time as your real GMAT, etc.).

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by kdn508 » Sun Jun 29, 2014 7:43 pm
Hi Rich,

Thanks for helping me out again! I also agree that I'm going to focus more on Verbal, but, I'm afraid of not being able maintain the Quant score. Do you think it is wise for me to try more challenging problems in Quant to keep my skills sharp?
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by [email protected] » Sun Jun 29, 2014 10:50 pm
Hi kdn508,

You used an interesting phrase in your last post: "more challenging problems." What does that phrase mean to you? What types of questions do you think fall under that definition.

With a Q43, "hard" problems are NOT what you need to be focusing on. Instead, focus on your organization and precision. As a measure of what I mean, can you tell me how many Quant questions you got wrong on your last CAT because of a silly mistake?

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by kdn508 » Mon Jun 30, 2014 5:34 am
In the Quant section I missed 9 questions in total, 4 of which I either didn't read the question clearly or simple miscalculations!

What I meant by more challenging was higher level questions like those in the advanced GMAT Quant Book or Kaplan's 800
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by [email protected] » Mon Jun 30, 2014 12:15 pm
Hi kdn508,

Before you invest too much time in harder questions, you really need to work hard to remove inconsistencies in your work (silly mistakes, knowledge gaps, disorganized work, etc.). You can certainly include some higher level practice among your other assignments, but those questions, in and of themselves, are not what you need right now.

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by kdn508 » Tue Jul 08, 2014 9:09 am
UPDATE:

Just took another practice CAT

Veritas Test #1 430 28Q 28V
Veritas Test #6 630 43Q 30V
Veritas Test #2 650 40Q 39V

I'm feel like i'm soooooo close but will I be able to make a 50 point jump with about 45 hours over the next 2 weeks!?
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by [email protected] » Tue Jul 08, 2014 7:08 pm
Hi kdn508,

Your latest CAT shows a considerable "bump up" in the Verbal Scaled Score. Since this is Test #2, is this the first time you took this CAT or did you take this CAT before?

Have you done a review of this CAT as well? You mentioned that on the prior CAT you missed 4 Quant questions due to silly mistakes. How did your Quant performance go on this CAT?

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by kdn508 » Wed Jul 09, 2014 11:22 am
[email protected] wrote:Hi kdn508,

Your latest CAT shows a considerable "bump up" in the Verbal Scaled Score. Since this is Test #2, is this the first time you took this CAT or did you take this CAT before?

Have you done a review of this CAT as well? You mentioned that on the prior CAT you missed 4 Quant questions due to silly mistakes. How did your Quant performance go on this CAT?

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

This is my first time taking this exam! One thing I noticed was that with the Verbal the only "mistake" i'm making is losing focus, not reading carefully, and just plain out tired.

I believe with the quant this time because I was being cautious, time became a problem so I believe that caused the dipped. But I'm starting to notice a group of problems that are stumping me so I plan on to work on these set of problems on top of practicing verbal to keep my close reading skills sharp!
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