Need Help! GMAT in less than a month

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Nut_IX: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2014 8:24 am

by Nut_IX » Thu Mar 27, 2014 8:26 am

Hello Everybody,

Thank you for taking the time to read my post.

I am taking the GMAT on 4/18/2014, and I my target score is a 600 (Yes, I know, it is low, but it is all I need).

I have the MGMAT books (all 9) and the OG13. I am studying from every resource possible (GMAT.com, MGMAT, OG13, Veritas, etc...). With less than a month of studying, I feel as if I am making little headway and I wanted to get some advice.

I took two practice exams:

MGMAT CAT 1 (Q37:V29) 550

MGMAT CAT 2 (Q34:V18) 440

I am taking a practice test every weekend. I am studying the problems I get write/wrong to understand how to do the problem more efficiently.

I am having trouble seeing a new problem and associating it with an old, previously computed, problem.

What advice can you guys give me?

Thanks

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Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Thu Mar 27, 2014 8:26 am

GMAT/MBA Expert

[email protected]: Elite Legendary Member; Posts: 10392; Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pmFollowed by: 511 members; Location: Palo Alto, CA; Thanked: 2867 times; GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Thu Mar 27, 2014 10:19 am

Hi Nut_IX,

Your Official GMAT is 3 weeks from now; I'm curious about whether you can push it back or not. Are you on an admissions deadline?

The immediate problem that you're facing is one of familiarity - you haven't studied enough to build up the "muscle memory" to link new questions to questions that you've already successfully solved. This usually takes 3 months (or more) to accomplish.

Your Verbal score on your second CAT was considerably lower than the one on your first. What was different about that exam?

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

Contact Rich at [email protected]

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Nut_IX: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2014 8:24 am

by Nut_IX » Thu Mar 27, 2014 10:38 am

I have to meet an admissions deadline. If I did not have the deadline, I would not be in this predicament.

The verbal portion is interesting. I do well in RC, but CR and SC are my vice. I am currently working to get better at solving the latter two. I am getting much better at CR, but I need to work on SC.

Second exam, I got many more SC and CR questions than RC questions. It was the opposite on the first test.

I will let you know how I do on my test this weekend. Like I said, the goal is a 600 (not impossible in 3 weeks).

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GMAT/MBA Expert

[email protected]: Elite Legendary Member; Posts: 10392; Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pmFollowed by: 511 members; Location: Palo Alto, CA; Thanked: 2867 times; GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Thu Mar 27, 2014 5:11 pm

Hi Nut_IX,

Your goal is reasonable given the timeframe. The big "swing" in your two practice CATs needs to be addressed. We essentially need to know if you're someone who scores 550 on a typical day or 440.

To improve in the Verbal section, you should expect to take notes on all RC and CR questions. For SCs, grammar and idiom knowledge are a must, then there's recognizing the patterns that the GMAT uses to test all of those grammar rules.

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

Contact Rich at [email protected]

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Nut_IX: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2014 8:24 am

by Nut_IX » Fri Mar 28, 2014 5:53 am

Can you PM me examples of the type of notes you are referring to? Thanks!

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Nut_IX: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2014 8:24 am

by Nut_IX » Sun Mar 30, 2014 11:23 am

Ok... finished the third practice test.

(Q36:V29)540, worse than the first one, better than the second one.

My target score is approximately (Q40:V32)

I think I am getting there. With three full weeks to study and consider MGMAT quant is much harder than the real thing, I believe I will be just fine. I will keep you posted. Thanks for the advice.

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GMAT/MBA Expert

[email protected]: Elite Legendary Member; Posts: 10392; Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pmFollowed by: 511 members; Location: Palo Alto, CA; Thanked: 2867 times; GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Sun Mar 30, 2014 2:01 pm

Hi Nut_IX,

You should plan to review this CAT question-by-question. When doing so, make note of WHY you're getting questions wrong. How often is it because the question is too hard? How often is it because you made a silly mistake or "narrowed it down to 2 and guessed wrong?" These "little things" are likely costing you big points. You should be able to fix them in the time that you have left.

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

Contact Rich at [email protected]

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VivianKerr: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1035; Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 11:13 amFollowed by: 365 members; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 474 times

by VivianKerr » Sun Mar 30, 2014 3:59 pm

I'm curious as to HOW you are approaching your Verbal questions -- how are you strategically using your scratch paper (i.e. "Step 1, I do X. Step 2, I do Y.")?

I agree that you don't seem to know the Sentence Correction concepts all that well, otherwise your Verbal score would be higher. For example, can you answer the following questions:

- how does the GMAT test "which" versus "that"?
- what is the proper use of the past perfect tense?
- what are the most common countable/uncountable words on the GMAT?

If you can't, you probably haven't reviewed as well as you might think. You've GOT to be able to NAME the concept every GMAT Verbal question is testing, otherwise you're in serious trouble.

I'd suggest you make an Error Log for your last two CATs, logging each incorrect question in the following columns:

Column 1 - Question Type
Column 2 - Primary Concept Tested (EX: Inference, Parallelism, Assumption, etc.)
Column 3 - Secondary Concept Tested
Column 4 - Why Incorrect (EX: didn't know concept, missed idiom, didn't see the extreme language in 2nd choice, etc.)
Column 5 - Action Steps (write down what you need to do NEXT time to get a similar question correct)

The more strategic content review you do and the more you re-examine and adjust HOW you're using your scratch paper and approaching each Q, the faster you'll get to you target score. It's totally do-able. Good luck!

Vivian Kerr
GMAT Rockstar, Tutor
https://www.GMATrockstar.com
https://www.yelp.com/biz/gmat-rockstar-los-angeles

Former Kaplan and Grockit instructor, freelance GMAT content creator, now offering affordable, effective, Skype-tutoring for the GMAT at $150/hr. Contact: [email protected]

Thank you for all the "thanks" and "follows"!

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Nut_IX: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2014 8:24 am

by Nut_IX » Mon Apr 21, 2014 7:03 am

Ok Guys. I appreciate all of the help. Unfortunately, I took the GMAT this past week and scored a dismal 480 (Q35:V21). I clearly need to focus on the verbal portion. I am a native English speaker, but my grammar skills are lacking. I plan on re-taking the test in 3-6 months.

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GMAT/MBA Expert

[email protected]: Elite Legendary Member; Posts: 10392; Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pmFollowed by: 511 members; Location: Palo Alto, CA; Thanked: 2867 times; GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Mon Apr 21, 2014 12:15 pm

HI Nut_IX,

While it's understandable that you're disappointed, you have to keep your eye on the real goal - to get into your first choice Business School. Since you were facing a deadline, you tried to do too much in too short a period of time and the result wasn't what you wanted. The good news is that Business Schools don't care if you take the GMAT more than once and you can still apply at a later date.

It's important to learn from this process though. When you start your studies back up, you have to give yourself enough time and make sure you have the professional resources you need to improve in the Verbal section. The GMAT is a standardized, predictable exam, so you can learn to beat it.

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

Contact Rich at [email protected]

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